THE PALACE - Eps 1

THE PALACE - Eps 1

Berlin, capital of the GDR, 1988. The country is still in a political slumber - the old comrades rule and believe in an invincible socialism. At the Friedrichstadt-Palast, however, they don't care about the morbid state politics. Here, the spectacular show "Jubilee" is being prepared as the highlight of the 40th anniversary of the GDR. It's all about top performance for the dancers, the musicians, for the directors and technicians. Christine Steffen, dancer in the famous girls’ line, will finally get her long-awaited solo. In these exciting hours, which will give Christine's career a decisive turn, she suddenly comes face to face with the twin sister she doesn’t even know exists. Marlene Wenninger has come to East Berlin from Bamberg in Bavaria to conduct negotiations with the GDR Foreign Trade Ministry on behalf of her family business, Wenninger & Co. KG. As the highlight of this German-German meeting, she had been invited by the Ministry to the Friedrichstadt-Palast and discovers her doppelganger on stage. What happened that separated the sisters? Why didn't they know about each other?

After the initial shock, Chris and Marlene have to part ways once again. They agree to search for the truth in their respective families.
While the forceful Marlene in Bamberg immediately confronts her family with the extraordinary situation and many questions, Chris in East Berlin is more reluctant. She has grown up thinking that her father died in a traffic accident. Now she does not dare to accuse her mother, Rosa Steffen, of lying. Chris is a single mother herself. Nine-year-old Lilia dances in the children's ensemble of the Palace - a real Palace kid.

Chris - torn from her calm centre - stumbles during rehearsals. Competitor Bettina Wilke is only too happy to take her part. Chris feels that her solo career is in danger, but first she has to let her injured foot heal.

The doctor and Chris’ childhood friend, Georg Weiss, urgently advises her to question her family history and to stop protecting her mother. But then Rosa is hospitalized with a stomach ulcer and Chris again stops short of confronting the seriously ill mother with questions about the past.

Things go from bad to worse when Chris learns that Georg has applied to leave the country. He wants to leave the GDR for good, because he can't stand being behind the Wall any longer. In a heated conversation, Chris realises that Georg is running away from his problems, including his feelings for Chris. She is too busy with herself and her confusing family situation to handle this.

Sunday in East and West - while in the West Marlene confronts her family with the lie, in the East Chris still isn’t ready. Marlene learns that Doris Wenninger is not her biological mother.