Hotel Métropole: From Grandeur to Terror 

Built for the 1873 World Exhibition, the Hotel Métropole was one of the most opulent hotels in the Habsburg Empire. Travelers from around the world, including Mark Twain, stayed here to experience its modern comforts. It stood as a beacon of progress—until history took a dark turn.

With the Nazi occupation in 1938, the hotel became a center of terror. The Gestapo used it as their headquarters, systematically persecuting Jewish citizens and political dissidents. The once-grand hotel became a place of fear, interrogation, and death, symbolizing the brutal machinery of oppression.

From 1938 to 1945, the Gestapo’s Vienna headquarters orchestrated mass persecution, detaining, interrogating, and murdering tens of thousands. Fear and mistrust were deliberately instilled in society to maintain control. Brave resistance fighters like Rosa Grossmann barely survived the brutal conditions of what were once luxurious hotel rooms. Their personal stories reveal both the immense suffering and the courage of those who opposed tyranny.

The film explores the stark contrasts between the era of optimism and the horrors of totalitarian rule. Featuring powerful reenactments, rare archival footage, and personal testimonies from descendants of survivors, the documentary invites viewers to confront the past and uncover the traces of history that remain.