Legacy
Towards the end of his life, Baedeker told friends that he regretted not having accomplished more in his life and wondered whether his work would survive. Little did he know that the name Baedeker would one day become a synonym for a travel guide, whatever its provenance, and that Verlag Karl Baedeker, which still exists and continues to bear his name, would, in its heyday which lay ahead, become the premier and most successful travel guide publishing house in the world.
Karl Baedeker died in Koblenz on October 4, 1859. He was only 57. In The New Yorker profile of the House of Baedeker Herbert Warren Wind wrote:
"For years, he had attempted to do the work of several men, preparing the new guidebooks single-handedly, and periodically revising the older ones. At length, his sturdy phydical endowment had worn out under the strain."
Michael Wild wrote in his article mentioned earlier:
"It is a moot point whether he invented tourism or tourism invented him."
Baedeker lies buried at the main cemetery (Hauptfriedhof) in Koblenz.
- See Baedeker for the separate Wikipedia article on Verlag Karl Baedeker, the publishing house.
Read more about this topic: Karl Baedeker
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)