Who was, who is Stefan Zweig? Ulrich Weinzierl, a connoisseur of 20th-century literary history, presents the melancholic witness of the "World of Yesterday" in a very personal way: How did Friderike Maria von Winternitz manage to turn the passionate bachelor into a husband? Was the author of the novella "Confusion of Feelings" actually a repressed homosexual, and what was the "burning" secret of his life? These are all delicate questions and an attempt at an answer. An intimate biography of the writer and "psychologist by passion," a story of his friendships - from Sigmund Freud to Klaus Mann - and a tale of betrayal.