Ernst Nadherny

A troubled and neurotic Italian Countess betrays her entire country for a self-destructive love affair with an Austrian Lieutenant.

Johann Strauss firmly established himself as the leader of a dance orchestra in Vienna in the 1840s. His sons Johann junior and Josef have clearly inherited their father's talent. Nevertheless, father Johann is strictly opposed to both of them training as composers.

Princess Dagmar's life is boring, so depressed - so depressed that the doctor has to come. And the doctor advises: The girl must get out of the regulated aristocratic everyday life. Princess Dagmar is sent to a girls' boarding school, located on a farm, where everyone studies hard and gets stuck in and eats simple, healthy food. In keeping with the surroundings, Princess Dagmar also falls in love with a tough country boy. He is determined to found a school where individual boys are welded together in camaraderie - so that they can find the values that will enable them to fulfill their leadership roles in the world of tomorrow. Of course, Princess Dagmar will entrust her son to him one day.

In 1910, the landlord's daughter Agnes from the Steiermark gets to know the diplomat Hans. They have a short love affair and then part from one another. Hans gets sent to Beijing, where he marries and American and has a son with her. Agnes, too, has a son by Hans and moves to Vienna, where she works in a restaurant. She is still in love with Hans ...

Vienna is celebrating New Year’s Eve 1913/14. It is the year, which will see the outbreak of the First World War. In Hotel Sacher, the mood is excellent; and although the political atmosphere is charged, there’s an undercurrent of hate and intolerance in the air. It is with this background that Nadja, a Russian spy, meets the Austrian civil servant Stefan. He loves her, but comes under suspicion of being an agent because of this love.