The writing of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch impacted the world, but in his birthplace of Lviv, in western Ukraine, his controversial legacy has not been officially recognized.
An unwitting tourist who wanders into Lviv’s Masoch Cafe after dark may be in for a shock. Inside the late-night drinking den, it’s not uncommon for passing waitresses to thwack customers with a leather whip.
The cafe is named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, a writer born in today’s Lviv whose cultural impact on the world is enormous. Nearly all major languages use the word “masochist” to describe someone who derives pleasure from pain, and Masoch’s book Venus In Furs was the inspiration for the icy, classic Velvet Underground song of the same name. The book also spawned a broadway play and a movie directed by Roman Polanski.
