Hair dresser
Professor Karl Michaeli is a former star cellist and grantler , as he is in the book. After the death of his beloved wife Maria in 2014, the retired music professor lives alone in a three-room apartment in Vienna. To his displeasure, several foreign families are housed in his apartment building. The widowed, free-spirited apartment building owner Esther Polgar also houses refugees in his home. These are a special thorn in Karl's side.
Bauernmagd
In the dark middle ages young unruly Goldmund is sent to a monastery by his father to atone for the sins of his mother, who abandoned them. It is there that he meets Narcissus, a brilliant, scholarly novice, who is introverted and aloof. A unique and deep life-long friendship is born. Narcissus chooses to remain detached from the world in prayer and meditation. Goldmund, who is passionate, sensual and impulsive, runs away from the monastery to live a picaresque wanderer’s life, his amorous and artistic adventures leading him to discover the extremes of both ecstasy and pain. Several thrilling years pass, until one day these friends cross paths again...