1872, Munich: More than 30,000 people in Munich and the surrounding area lose their savings. Livelihoods and entire communities are suddenly ruined, and countless individuals take their own lives. The culprit is a woman: Adele Spitzeder. Completely destitute and a failed actress, she founds the Dachauer Bank in 1869, becoming the architect of the largest Ponzi scheme in the entire Empire. In her private apartment, she stacks bags of money unsecured, and there is no accounting. In 1872, the system collapses. Much of this feels familiar even today, despite the fact that Bismarck and the Bavarian fairy-tale king Ludwig II were in power at the time: the gullibility towards quick profit promises, the importance of effective public relations, and the emergence of investment bubbles without the necessary securities. History may not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes.