The Empress - The extraordinary story of young Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, and her true love // Available worldwide from September 29, exclusively on Netflix

Showrunner: Katharina Eyssen

Executive Producers: Jochen Laube, Fabian Maubach, Scarlett Lacey

Producer: Annie Schilling

Directors: Katrin Gebbe, Florian Cossen

Screenplay: Katharina Eyssen (head author), Bernd Lange, Jana Nandzik

Camera:Christopher Aoun, Christian Almesberger

Costume design: Gabriela Reumer

Production design: Matthias Müsse

Cast: Devrim Lingnau, Philip Froissant, Melika Foroutan, Johannes Nussbaum, Elisa Schlott, Jördis Triebel, Wiebke Puls, Almila Bagriacik

Production: Sommerhaus Serien GmbH

The first-look images are available HERE

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Available worldwide from September 29, exclusively on Netflix

Berlin – June 21, 2022 – For now almost 200 years, fans and audiences across the globe have been fascinated by Elisabeth; by her passion, her beauty and her non-conformist lifestyle. In this six-part series, Netflix gives us a glimpse into the inner turmoil of a young woman far ahead of her time, battling tradition and state conventions and fighting for her individuality and freedom. The royal love story of Elisabeth (Devrim Lingnau) and young ruler Franz (Philip Froissant) is unique. It’s a story of two young people, battling with their own personal doubts, desires and inner conflicts as the weight of an entire empire rests on their shoulders. 

Katharina Eyssen (Holiday Secrets) is showrunner and head author for The Empress. Katrin Gebbe (Pelican Blood) and Florian Cossen (NSU: German History X) direct, while Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach from Sommerhaus Serien GmbH (When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Berlin Alexanderplatz) are responsible for production. Costume design is by Gabriela Reumer (Dreamfactory, Rabbit Without Ears). The cast includes Devrim Lingnau and Philip Froissant, alongside Melika Foroutan, Johannes Nussbaum, Elisa Schlott, Jördis Triebel, Wiebke Puls and Almila Bagriacik. This six-part series was filmed entirely in Germany, utilizing historical settings and atmospheric castles. 

Showrunner and Head Author Katharina Eyssen: “We wanted to tell the story of an exceptional, unconventional woman in a new way. The characters are multi-layered and passionate, and both have their inner demons. We’re thankful to Netflix for their collaboration and commitment to telling this historical epic in a unique way.”

Executive Producer Jochen Laube: “The Empress is an exciting series full of twists and turns. We didn’t lean on the well-known and tragic love story, instead we really anchored it in the political situation of the time. With Devrim Lingnau and Philip Froissant we found the perfect cast for our unconventional story.”

Netflix Content Lead Eva van Leeuwen “It takes courage, creativity and intuition to retell a story as iconic as that of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It’s a challenge that Katharina Eyssen, Sommerhaus Serien GmbH, the fantastic team of directors and the excellent cast have all impressively mastered. We’re very happy to be able to present the result to our German and global audiences.”

About The Empress

When rebellious Elisabeth (“Sisi”) meets Franz, the young Emperor of Austria, it’s love at first sight. But their impetuous relationship causes chaos in the dynasty and upsets the balance of power. After the wedding, the young Empress has to find her place in a totally foreign world while standing her ground against overbearing mother-in-law Sophie – until now, the most powerful woman in the Viennese Court. Meanwhile, Elisabeth’s feelings are put to the test by Maximilian, the second-in-line who lives perpetually in his brother’s shadow. Hostile troops gather at the borders of the Habsburg Empire and revolution is in the air in Vienna. Elisabeth needs to learn who she can trust and the price she must pay for being the Empress and a symbol of hope for an entire nation.

About Sommerhaus Filmproduktion

Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach have been running Sommerhaus Filmproduktion together since 2015. Their projects so far include the films In the Aisles by Thomas Stuber (Berlin International Film Festival 2018) and What Doesn’t Kill Us by Sandra Nettelbeck (world premiere at the Piazza in Locarno 2018), as well as TV productions like Tatort: Der Rote Schatten (episode The Red Shadow for crime series Tatort) by Dominik Graf, and Katharina Eyssen’s Netflix series Holiday Secrets directed by Samira Radsi. Now with over a million viewings in cinemas, the adaptation of the novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Caroline Link was released in cinemas in 2019 and was awarded the Bavarian Film Award (Bayerischer Filmpreis) and the German Film Award (Deutscher Filmpreis) for Best Children’s Film.

Burhan Qurbani’s adaptation of the world-famous novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, by Alfred Döblin, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2020 and won 5 Lolas at the German Film Awards 2020 for Best Production Design, Best Score, Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor, as well as a silver Lola in the Best Feature Film category. At the 33rd European Film Awards, composer Dascha Dauenhauer was awarded the European Excellence Award in the category Best Score for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Maggie Peren’s romantic comedy Hello Again - A Wedding a Day was recently shown in cinemas and Sebastian Marka’s science-fiction film Exit was recently launched in the main program of German TV channel ARD. Sommerhaus Filmproduktion has offices in Berlin, Ludwigsburg and Munich. Sommerhaus Serien GmbH was founded in 2020. 

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