The first biography of Martin Haller (1835 - 1925), the "private and luxury architect" of Hamburg's Belle Époque, reads like a textbook on successful upbringing and like a novel. The recently transcribed manuscripts written in his later years reveal the secret of his successful life in Hamburg between 1860 and 1920. After studying in Potsdam, Berlin, and Paris, Haller finds his first clients—thanks in no small part to social connections. Villas on the western shore of the Alster, bank buildings around the stock exchange, and entertainment venues between Uhlenhorst and Reeperbahn quickly fill the order books of the senator's son, who is also gifted in drawing. Overall, he carries out over 500 new constructions and renovations in Hamburg. Some of his clients include the wealthy Ohlendorff brothers, the Schinckel bankers, and the Warburgs, as well as the American couple B.