Chapter 1
Early in the morning, Edith Falkenstein woke up, realizing her husband Julius had once again not returned home to sleep in his bed, because she couldn’t hear him snoring in the adjacent room.
Fixing her eyes on the clear blue sky streaming in through the curtains, she gave a sigh. Julius had a habit of throwing himself into work, and with rampant hyperinflation, he was needed at the bank he owned day and night.
Another sigh escaped her throat. Despite all their riches, even they felt the desolation taking hold of the German population.
After they had lost the Great War, the country had rapidly spiraled downward until it seemed like everyone was out of a job.
Beggars and war invalids lined the streets of the formerly rich and beautiful city of Munich.
She rang the bell on her nightstand, and mere moments later her maid Laura entered the room in her freshly starched black dress, a white apron and white bonnet completing the outfit. At least some things hadn’t changed.
Laura curtsied. “How may I serve you, gn?dige Frau?”
It had taken Edith a long time to get used to having servants around, speaking to her so formally.
In contrast to her husband, a rich and powerful man fifteen years her senior, who came from a long line of merchants and bank owners, she’d grown up as the daughter of an elementary schoolteacher on the outskirts of Berlin.
Five years ago, after their wedding, she had followed Julius to Munich, way down in the South of Germany, far away from her family and friends.
“Please prepare coffee for me, and advise the driver to shine the car, as I’m going to pick up my brother from the train station later today.”
“Yes, gn?dige Frau.” Laura was an industrious girl, quite versatile in all household chores and a devout Christian. Unlike Edith and Julius, who were Protestants in name only, and rarely, if ever, went to church.
“Have you had word from Herr Falkenstein?” She only ever referred to her husband by his last name in the presence of staff.
“He called around three a.m. to advise the driver that he had been held up at work and wished to be picked up for breakfast,” Laura said. “If you wait for another hour, you may eat with him.”
“Thank you, I will wait then. Bring me the coffee now, will you?” Even without comprehending much about business, Edith understood that Julius was fighting for the survival of his bank. Nonetheless, she wished he would spend more time with her.
After moving to Munich she had barely made any friends.
In all honesty, Edith was horribly bored.
Brought up as the daughter of a teacher, she’d never been idle in her life.
That had changed after marrying Julius, when she suddenly found herself with a plethora of servants taking care of her every wish.
At least in Berlin she’d had her friends to spend time with. Here, the days were endlessly dull. She could go shopping only so much, especially now that there was barely anything on display in the glamorous Maximilianstrasse.
In these unusual times the pendulum was swinging from a frantic urge to spend before the paid salary lost its worth, to not buying anything at all because the money wasn’t even worth the paper it was printed on.
An hour later, her husband arrived home. She heard the car engine long before she peeped out the window to see his Mercedes limousine coming up the driveway toward their beautiful mansion, right next to the English Garden near the center of Munich.
Edith glanced in the mirror to make sure she looked her best. A habit Julius appreciated not only for himself, but also because he often brought unannounced guests with him.
“Good morning, Julius,” she greeted him, since he’d long ago told her never to call him darling or some other term of endearment in public—their servants counting as public for him.
“Good morning, Edith,” he responded, giving her a tired glance from bloodshot eyes. “Is breakfast ready?”
“Yes, I have ordered the cook to prepare scrambled eggs for you, and, of course, coffee.”
“Will you join me?” he asked with a pleasant smile.
“I took coffee already, but waited with breakfast for your return,” she said.
“You look beautiful this morning,” he complimented her. “Have you slept well?”
“I did,” she lied, not wanting to let him know that she woke up several times, listening for whether he would arrive to sleep at home.
He put his hand on the small of her back and led her into the dining room, where the maid had already served steaming hot coffee and two plates of scrambled eggs, each with a richly buttered piece of bread.
“How was your work?” she asked, once they settled at the table.
“Tough. The government has our backs against the wall with this inflation. You won’t believe the amount of people storming our offices each morning to retrieve any money that was deposited overnight, for fear it won’t be worth a thing by evening.
It’s stretching our cash inventory to the limit and we can’t source the bills with the printed-on denominations fast enough.
I’ve had to hire more security guards to keep customers from turning violent against the cashiers. ”
“Can’t you do anything?” she asked, taking a tiny forkful of egg, the way her mother-in-law had taught her during the nine months of their engagement, when she’d lived with her in-laws in Berlin—obviously with Julius not sleeping in the same house.
Frau Falkenstein senior had been a harsh mistress, teaching Edith exactly how a woman of society was expected to behave.
Edith had never complained. Since she and Julius had been very much in love, she’d eagerly picked up every piece of advice, to be a perfect wife—and to make him proud.
Julius gazed at her indulgently. “It’s not as easy as it might seem.
Our bank has a duty to serve all our customers.
At least that is the mission issued by the government, but when that same government isn’t able to provide us with enough banknotes to satisfy the public’s need, it really gets us into a bind. ”
Edith knew all about his dislike for the previous Reichskanzler Wilhelm Cuno, whose call for a strike against the reparations due after the defeat in the Great War had ruined the country.
Three months ago he’d been replaced by Gustav Stresemann.
“Hasn’t the new chancellor tackled this problem? ” she asked.
“Hmm,” Julius puffed. “He’s good for nothing. Almost got himself sacked by a communist coup last month. Can you imagine? The communists, of all people?”
Edith nodded, inwardly bracing herself for a lecture on the evil communists, whom Julius, a wealthy and powerful bank owner, loathed by default.
“God, I have no idea why all our politicians are a bunch of corrupt weaklings without a brain among them!” he blurted out.
“Perhaps you should go into politics?” she suggested.
“I should.” He seemed pleased at her suggestion. “But then, who would run the Falkenstein bank? Father is much too old, and I’m his only son.”
Julius was very fond of his younger sisters, Adriana and Silvana.
He especially adored and indulged Silvana, a feisty woman who wouldn’t allow anyone to tell her what to do.
Yet, it was unthinkable that one of them should step into the family business, even if they had the inclination to do so. “What about your brothers-in-law?”
He shook his head. “While they both are good men, Florian has his hands full with his rubber factory and Markus doesn’t have what it takes to run such a business.”
Edith smiled. Markus Lemberg preferred the fine arts over business. He was a celebrated author and professor of literature at the university in Berlin. “Perhaps one of my brothers then?”
“Don’t take it personally, Edith, but your brothers come from a middle-class background with no prior education in business.
It would be a very steep learning curve for them.
” He emptied his plate and rang for the maid to bring him another one.
After Laura was gone, Julius added, “No, what our country needs is a strong and honest man with the best interest of all people at his heart. Someone who won’t be pushed around by communists, separatists and whoever else is leading our nation into bankruptcy with their unworkable ideas.
Someone, perhaps, like this Hitler fellow, though I can’t see him succeeding as his views are too extreme. ”
Edith didn’t want to hear more about this supposed savior, who’d recently been elected to the German Battle League, since she considered him a man who offered nothing but the spread of hate.
Not wanting to get into a political discussion, she changed the topic.
“You do remember that my brother Joseph will be staying with us for a few days, don’t you? ”
“Of course I do, darling. When is he due to arrive?”
“This afternoon.” Edith suspected that Julius had indeed forgotten about the visit. He was always too preoccupied with problems at work to remember such mundane events.
“I need to attend to business this afternoon. I assume the driver will pick your brother up from the train station? Have you arranged for a welcome dinner tonight?”
“Of course.” Edith was in charge of their busy social life.
Since his mother had impressed on her how important it was in their circles to mingle, she used every occasion to invite important guests.
She immensely enjoyed the planning, scheduling and organizing of events.
Julius often complimented her on how good she was at it, and that much of his success was due to her efforts in maintaining relations with a multitude of important people.
“Your secretary has it in your schedule. The mayor will be attending, as well as a few of your business partners.”
Julius beamed with pride. “Always up to the game. I couldn’t have wished for a better wife.”