Residents of the Schloss Castle Berwick on RĂ¼gen Island, Baron Paulus has a shiny bald head and is clean shaven. He is polished with a military bearing and loud voice. The Baroness Hilde is a timid woman, bereft of three sons during World War I and nervous about hyperinflation in the Weimar era. She has wavy gray hair and the face of a falcon. Their beautiful eighteen-year-old niece, Baroness Hannelore "Lori" becomes protagonist Paul Christopher's mother. During World War II, Paulus dies in service, while Hilde survives and lives after the war in the basement beneath the rubble. A beautiful young woman called Ilse Bauer visits to convey an invented story about Lori.