It is 1996. A receptionist shows the White Suite at the Hotel Astoria in Leipzig, in the former East Germany. She says she still has hope that a guardian angel will save the Astoria. But seven years after the fall of the Berlin Wall that divided the Federal Republic of Germany from the German Democratic Republic, the curtain also falls on this legendary hotel. The contradictions that were part and parcel of the Astoria are reflected in the testimonials of its former employees. Some remember a culture of fear, while others describe it as the best times of their lives. The absurdities of everyday life in the GDR, which survived as a country for a mere 51 years, are brought to life through a mixture of archive material and animation in this fascinating documentary, which had its international premiere at the prestigious IDFA Amsterdam in 2020.