Using a wealth of largely unknown eyewitness accounts and visual material, the author traces the life of Bergner and approaches the aura of an actress who captivated more than one generation through her art and presence—far beyond the world of critics, theater and film enthusiasts, and the borders of Germany. With the death of Elisabeth Bergner in 1986, the "Golden Twenties" came to a definitive end, as she was the last interpreter and witness of a theatrical era that will never be replicated.