A century, a family, a house in the suburbs – in the ninth and last part of the “Universum History” series “Our Austria”, Katharina Heigl tells the eventful history of Vienna through the dramatic experiences of the Erdheim family.

The Jewish entrepreneurial family has made it prosperous in Galicia, today’s Ukraine. This fulfils their dream – to move to Vienna, the glamorous metropolis of the fin de siècle. But with the First World War and the collapse of the monarchy, they find themselves in a city in a state of emergency. Hunger, unemployment, thousands of people from the crown lands trying to build a new existence.
In Vienna, the Erdheims are part of an upper middle-class, secular social class that has moved away from the Orthodox Judaism of their ancestors. Some family members are well-known doctors. With the rise of National Socialism, they are increasingly in danger of becoming victims of politics – and of racial mania. These experiences become central themes of the family’s history – which the writer Claudia Erdheim cannot let go of until today.

The film was made as a co-production of ORF, Satel Film and BMBWF, funded by Filmfonds Wien and Zukunftsfonds der Republik Österreich, supported by the City of Vienna and Vienna Tourism Board.