Günter Sachs, the eccentric jet traveler and heir to a large fortune
Defined as a “billionaire playboy” and “extravagant”, Gunter Sachs was described as a very rich jet traveler, tireless seducer and master of spectacular gestures to attract attention.
Young Günter Sachs with friends and family on a speedboat in Saint-Tropez, France.
© Photo di Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images
The words of Brigitte Bardot reported by Ardisson
For example, immediately after his wedding to Brigitte Bardot in Las Vegas, the photographer and collector decided to board his helicopter and drop a myriad of roses over La Madrague, BB’s property in the Tropez region. On the set of the program Thierry Ardisson, Günter Sachs: his life with Bardot and astrology at Thierry Ardissonpreserved in the archives of the INA, we learn that Brigitte Bardot said of her ex-husband: «I needed a character like Gunter Sachs, who wouldn’t let me get away with it» e «it was one of the only moments in my life where I was truly impressed and dazzled». Born November 14, 1932 a Mainbergnear SchweinfurtGermany, and died on May 7, 2011 in Gstaad, Gunter Sachs was a great art collector and friend of Andy Warhol, whose works cheerfully decorated his homes around the world.
Günter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot, love at first sight
Günter Sachs’ fortune was first and foremost a family one. Both of his grandfathers were renowned German industrialists: his paternal grandfather, Ernst Sachswas one of the founders of the automotive empire Fichtel & Sachswhile the maternal grandfather, Wilhelm von Opelwas the son of Adam Opel, founder of Opel. The love story between Gunter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot began in the summer of 1966, when the young actress went to a restaurant in Gassin, near Saint-Tropez, and met the millionaire: it was love at first sight. The dinner was followed by a wild evening at Parrot, the famous nightclub in Tropez, and then an overnight stay atHotel La Ponchecompletely renovated a few years ago by the architect Fabrizio Casiraghi. The romance culminated in a lightning-fast marriage proposal: the couple flew to Las Vegas to get married, and the ceremony, on July 14, 1966, lasted just eight minutes.
