Accommodating the post-war order: the Hotel Brauner Hirsch and the diplomacy of the Paris Peace Conference in Teschen Silesia, 1919–1920

Abstract

During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 multiple commissions were dispatched to manage the birth of the post-First World War order across central and eastern Europe. Examining the two commissions which managed the dispute over the former Habsburg Duchy of Teschen, Silesia, from the perspective of the Hotel Brauner Hirsch where they resided, this article examines the connections between diplomacy, tourism, geopolitics, and the hotel. While their hotel provided a place of work and security, its social function as a site of entertainment and enjoyment often interfered with the commissions’ diplomatic functions. Meanwhile, the real and perceived behaviour of the members of these bodies within the hotel, as well as the potential dislocation caused by their presence in the region, made their hotel a complicating factor in their diplomacy.