Interview: Fabienne Kinzelmann
Herbert Schott (79) had it all. The former Intercontinental director met around 300 heads of state in Geneva – from Fidel Castro (1926–2016) to Ronald Reagan (1911–2004). “Those were the times back then!” Says the former host of the mighty in cheerful Rhenish singsong on the phone. For 35 years he worked in the “United Nations dormitory”, where the American delegation will be staying at the Biden-Putin summit next week.
Despite being a Swiss citizen – “after 45 years there they practically gave me this!” – The native German Schott now lives again in his hometown near Bonn. It’s nice there, he says. Only that the world is his guest, of course that is sometimes missing, says the top hotelier who is still active on the Intercontinental’s board.
Mr Schott, are you traveling personally to Geneva again to meet Biden?
Herbert Schott: No! Now it’s the turn of the new gentlemen. But of course I’ve already given you a few pointers.
What food should be served and where is the entrance to the secret floor?
Just how it was back then. In 1985 we had six months to prepare, our poor colleagues now much less.
The meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev in the Intercontinental brought about the turning point in the Cold War. Did you suspect that?
That this meeting shows that the Soviet Union will fall apart or that Germany will regain its East? Not at all. In advance, we were mainly busy explaining to our regular customers why they cannot come to us during this time. We asked them very politely, they felt important. We also gave them a champagne as a present.
How did that work in 1985 at the Intercontinental?
The Americans rented the hotel for two weeks – for a three-day summit meeting. They installed themselves properly there, with all the equipment and their offices.
Reagan just had to borrow the bed from you. Can you tell us the story?
Well, it was like this: he came with his wife Nancy, and he didn’t want to bring her into this confusion of conference. That’s why the Americans rented a villa near the hotel and only found out, when Reagan arrived, that the bedroom wasn’t what he wanted. The bed was too small for him! I understand, he was about as tall as me – I’m 1.93 meters. (Reagan was 1.85 meters, editor’s note)
So you helped out.
Exactly, I thought to myself: I’ll just give him mine – that was 2 by 2.20 meters – so that the man has his comfort. But I never saw that again afterwards.
Please what?
That went to Washington. The Americans have packed it.
Seriously – Reagan stole your bed?
That’s what the American ambassador told me! I went back to the villa myself and checked to see if it wasn’t lying around somewhere. The bed was gone.
Did you meet Reagan personally at the time?
Briefly, about five minutes. I got a nice portrait of him, signed. At that time I had already met 180 heads of state, but it wasn’t like taking photos all the time.
You also met four US presidents in total: in addition to Reagan, there were Carter, Bush and Clinton. Which was your favorite?
Clinton. It was very simple, very well adjusted, very friendly. Carter was also very, very friendly, quick, dynamic. They all came back in retirement, and I even had a coffee with Carter. I imagine Biden to be similar in type.
And what about Gorbachev and his team?
They didn’t sleep in the Intercontinental back then. The Russian Embassy is just around the corner, and they have at least 50 rooms and two suites. Whenever a Russian diplomat came to the UN, he was always housed there.
Does the Intercontinental have any special safety precautions?
No, the Geneva police take care of security. The hotel doesn’t have any special architecture or anything. Its success is solely due to its location: it is close to the American and Russian embassies in Geneva, only 100 meters from the United Nations and only ten minutes from the airport. What security precautions are then taken, they could not do in the city. That would create chaos. And the hotel is big, we have conference rooms with up to 2000 square meters. Nothing is missing there.
Had it been up to his parents, Herbert Schott (79) would have become a lawyer or doctor. “But it didn’t work out so well!” Says the Rhinelander happily. When he was 17, he “checked out” at home, 100 kilometers from his German hometown of Königswinter (near Bonn), he started in a hotel. From 1967 to 2002 he worked at the Intercontinental in Geneva, he is still on the board of the operating company. He recorded his memories in «L’Hotelier» (2007).
Keystone
A conflict is best resolved on a neutral ground. Mikhail Gorbachev (90) – then General Secretary of the Communist Party, later President of the Soviet Union – and US President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) knew that in 1985: They also met in Geneva at the time to discuss nuclear disarmament and relations between to speak to the two countries. It was a turning point in the Cold War between the two superpowers, which Reagan had looked forward to as a “peace mission” and Gorbachev “without expectations”. In a joint final declaration, the two heads of state agreed on a compromise. And the central sentence that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” – the “balance of horror” that US President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) spoke of in his inaugural address.