Vienna, a few days before the shots in Sarajevo which would trigger what was first called the Great, later simply the First World War: Job seekers from the crown lands flock to the capital of the empire in search of a better life, even if it's the factory hell . A new social class is growing faster and faster, the city overflows with the poor, lower-class workers and the unemployed. Labor fighters can be heard louder, better, clearer, every day. The nobility strongly suspects its end.

Susanne, the pretty landlady from the Lahn River, has an equally attractive sister in Hungary named Ilona. Ilona is in dire straits: Her uncle is desperate to match her with a French nobleman. Meanwhile, a sexual emergency has broken out among the Swabians stationed in Hungary.