Hotel Sacher

Luxury. Privacy. Secrecy.

The imperial era is about to end; but what will come in its place? One key, or rather many keys, lay in the hands of Anna Sacher, the domineering proprietor of the Hotel Sacher, the most distinguished hotel in Vienna. The city is the center of Europe, where the aristocracy still sets the tone and servants still know where they belong. And Anna, the unchallenged “Queen of Vienna,” makes sure that the “upstairs” and “downstairs” folk will each keep to themselves. They know they can rely on her discretion.

At the center of all this are two couples, the independent-minded publisher Martha and her unsuccessful writer-husband Max; the romance novel authoress and princess Konstanze and her socially committed husband Georg. Living on the edge, their destinies get intertwined as they conduct passionate but doomed affairs.

But there is another figure waiting in the wings to take her place on the chessboard of a new society: Marie. The illegitimate child of Georg – who had no idea of her existence – escapes the miserable conditions she was raised in and claims her rightful place. A new era is about to begin…