TOset in Germany between the end of the First World War and the eve of the Secondtonight on first TV it airs at 9.20pm on Rai 3 Hotel Europa. The historical miniseries, in two episodes (90 minutes each), is inspired by true events. Rtells the story of a family that owns a luxury hotel and its struggle for survival over two decades. The whole told from the point of view of the young protagonist.
Hotel Europaplot and previews of the first episode
Set in Germany between the end of the First World War and the eve of the Second, Hotel Europa tells Emil Dreesen’s homecoming (Jonathan Berlin). A boy still tormented by his experiences at the front but full of ideas and plans for the family luxury hotel: the Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bonn, on the banks of the Rhine river.
Shortly after his return, Emil comes into conflict with his nationalist father Fritz (Benjamin Sadler) and with his mother Maria (Katharina Schütter) due to differences in views on running the family business. Emil, however, looks ahead and, to attract new guests, focuses on creating cultural events and entertainment. With the support of his younger sister Ulla (Pauline Rénevier) and his lively Jewish grandmother Adelaide (Nicole Heesters).
One day, however, a former comrade of Emil shows up at the hotel to blackmail him. The protagonist can count onunexpected help from the waitress Elsa (Henriette Confurius)a young communist who fights for women’s rights. Meanwhile, Emil discovers that one of the hotel’s next guests is Adolf Hitler and conflicts with parents become increasingly exacerbated.
The fresco of an era inspired by a true story
Based on the 2021 book Das Weiße Haus am Rhein by Helene Winter, the two-part miniseries tells the story a story not very well known linked to the rise to power of Hitler in Germany.
That is, the choice of “occupy”, starting from 1926, some rooms of the Rheinhotel Dreesen to make it the headquarters, in the western part of Germany, of the Nazi party, with which it came to power in 1933.
While the plot is inspired by historical events that actually happenedand the true story of the Rheinhotel Dreesen, the family affairs of the owners are largely fictitious. But it is true that Fritz and Maria Dreesen, Emil’s parents, entertained an extensive correspondence with Hitler until his last days of life.
Jonathan Berlin and Henriette Confurius in a scene from “Hotel Europa”.(Photo by Krzysztof Wiktor/Degeto)
The miniseries, told in chronological order, spans nearly two decades and the pace of the narrative matches the ups and downs experienced by Hotel Dreesen. Where drama and intimacy balance each other in a coherent manner for three hours.
Directed by Thorsten M. Schmidt, Hotel Europa it is also a fascinating portrait of the Rhine and its magnificent landscapes. Christoph Pellander, the producer of the series, declared «Hotel Europa wants to propose an “alternative” look about the Weimar era. From a perspective that is no longer metropolitan, as happened in the past, but rather rural.”
«A change that may seem very ambitious but what won me over was precisely the challenge tell the dramatic story of an entire nation through the biography of a single person: Emil Dreesen.”
The Rheinhotel Dreesen is still in business today
Built between 1893 and 1894 from an old restaurant closed for several decades, the hotel is found a few kilometers from Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, and it still is very popular with tourists from every part of the world. Among the reasons of charm, the stunning location overlooking the river and its white facade full of red flowers on the roofs of the terraces.
The luxury hotel has hosted, in addition to the Führer, many personalities: from Charlie Chaplin to Marlene Dietrichto Greta Garbo. And right in the rooms of the Dreesen, in September 1938, the meeting took place between the English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler. On this occasion, the German dictator imposed the ultimatum for the annexation of the Sudetenland territory to Germany, lighting the fuse that would then explode the Second World War.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED