Lahnstein family


The Lahnstein family is a very wealthy and aristocratic prestigious fictional family on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The Lahnsteins have been a staple on Verbotene Liebe since their introduction in September 2003.
The Lahnsteins are a family of tradition and appear with high morals to which they don't see to hold up to. They are known for their conversations on the dinner table. It became a choice by the producers over the years that the "evil characters" would sit on the right side of the table, while the "good characters" sit on the left side with the patriarch of the family on the head.
Over the years, the Lahnsteins also became known for their celebrations and events. Several weddings took place at their residence, Königsbrunn Castle. There were also festivities like a masquerade ball or an oldtimer race. All events are known for going not as planned. A hostage crisis, shocking paternity reveal, attempted murder or the reveal of affairs took place at those events. But they are also known for the beginning of great love stories.
It has become known that members of the Lahnstein family have had affairs with their servants. These affairs may have ended in producing illegitimate children or even marriage. This fact also caused the family to gain a reputation of hypocrisy and caused them to be known as a dysfunctional clan.

Family history

Background

The Lahnstein family, according to story in 2012, is first mentioned in 1512 and is one of the prestigious names along the German aristocracy. Their back story starts in the 1960s, when Johannes von Lahnstein is about to marry Francesca di Balbi, after having an affair with her younger sister Maria. She ends up pregnant with Johannes' child, but eventually has to give up her baby boy as she is committed to an insane asylum after trying to shoot Johannes. Her sister Francesca takes the boy, names him Ansgar and raises him as her own. Francesca and Ansgar have a special bond and she always looks out for him, while Johannes starts to resent the boy somehow at a young age. While Johannes and Francesca end up with the first child of their own, a daughter named Carla, Johannes' older brother Ludwig falls in love with a maid named Madeline. Dietrich von Lahnstein, Johannes' and Ludwig's father, wants Ludwig to end things with Madeline as she is below its level. Ludwig doesn't want to leave Madeline and gets disowned by his father. Ludwig and Madeline end up living aboard, raising their five children.
In the meanwhile, Johannes and Francesca's marriage is troubled. While Francesca finds comfort in the arms of Johannes' best friend, Adrian Degenhardt, Johannes has a one-night stand with young maid Elke Käppler. Francesca ends up pregnant with Adrian's child, which gives her marriage to Johannes new strength as Johannes doesn't know about the affair. Elke ends up pregnant as well. After she hides her pregnancy, she gives up her daughter for adoption. Francesca and Johannes welcome a boy named Leonard. As Francesca and Johannes get estranged from each other, Johannes has an affair with the married Vera Brandner. The affair is short-lived, but his marriage with Francesca stays unhappy. Francesca soon finds comfort in the arms of Adrian again and wants to break free from Johannes. But ending up pregnant once again, Francesca is unsure if a future with Adrian is what she really wants. Johannes finds out about Francesca's affair and wants her to stay, even telling her that he will take on Adrian's bastard, a boy named Constantin, as his own. Francesca agrees as she knows that Johannes can provide better for her than Adrian.
Ludwig and Madeline live a happy marriage in the aboard but are thorn apart as Madeline kills some South American business man in self-defense. Madeline faces prison time as there is no proof to her shooting in self-defense. Ludwig takes the blame and gets separated from his family. As he faces a lifetime in prison, he and Madeline decide that it's better if their children think their father has died. Madeline never overcame her guilt and died later on. Adrian became provider and father figure for Ludwig's children. His oldest son Hagen, not wanting to deal with his parents' death, takes off and the second oldest Sebastian starts to take care of his three younger siblings.
Francesca, while accepting her marriage to Johannes, is never ever really happy again in spite of Johannes trying to make things work. Their children grow up with a distorted picture of Johannes and Francesca, believing that they are happy and that Johannes carries his wifs on his hands. Ansgar is the only one who seems to notice Francesca's sadness. She later dies in her children's youth in a car accident with Leonard behind the wheel, who would blame himself for the death of his mother for the rest of his life. After Francesca's death, Johannes sends Constantin to Francesca's sister Carlotta as he resembles his mother the most and can't bare to look at him. Constantin starts to blame himself for his father's resentment, while Ansgar becomes vicious towards Johannes and is power hungry for his inheritance.

2003-2009

Johannes' love for oldtimer stars a friendship with Cécile de Maron. She just had a troubled relationship and isn't interested in anything more than a friendship with Johannes. But he soon falls for the dark haired French. Johannes tries to win Cécile over, which is soon crowned with success. In the meanwhile, Vera Brandner's husband Achim finds out that he's not the biological father of his daughter Nico. She starts to look from where she came and finds old letters, written by Johannes. Nico soon is revealed to be Johannes' illegitimate daughter. After some differences, Nico and Johannes have a healthy father-daughter relationship.
Against the will of Carla and Ansgar, Johannes soon decides to marry Cécile just when Leonard comes back to town. Leonard and Cécile soon find themselves drawn to each other and start having an affair. In the meanwhile, Carla is a closet lesbian and can't bring herself to come out to Johannes. Instead she starts a relationship with Bernd von Beyenbach. As he finds out about Carla's secret, Bernd makes sure that Carla thinks of him as a friend she can trust and soon opts to marry Carla. She thinks it might be the best idea and agrees. Even though Johannes finds out about Carla before the wedding takes place, he wants his daughter to go along with the ceremony. With tears in her eyes, Carla exchanges the 'I do's' with Bernd.
As Constantin comes back to Königsbrunn, it does not take long for him to clash with Johannes over shipping him off to Italy to live with Carlotta. Johannes tries to assure Constantin that he loves him and even feels sorry for his doings, when Constantin finds out about not being Johannes' son. That causes them to drive apart even further. However Johannes eventually makes right by Constantin and even though they continue to have their differences, the two share a loving relationship with each other.
Johannes' marriage with Cécile falls apart after she can't hide her feelings for Leonard anymore. When Johannes finds out about Cécile and Leonard, he disowns his son and divorces Cécile. She tries to reconnect Johannes and Leonard, but Johannes thinks she made a fool out of him while he's hurt by Leonard's actions. Only after Cécile is killed in a car accident and Leonard not only loses the love of his life but also their unborn baby, he and Johannes reunite at Cécile's grave.

Critical response

Over the years, the Lahnstein family has become the "soapiest soap family", thanks to unexpected twists such as Johannes' never ending affairs from the past and juicy schemes in their own family, like poising, attempted murder and blackmail. Overall the Lahnstein family has remained very popular with fans, thanks to viewer's favourites Claudia Hiersche, Wolfram Grandezka and Verena Zimmermann and the involvement with other popular actors like Miriam Lahnstein and Yvonne Burbach. In 2009, even though the character Maria di Balbi was a success, fans felt that former patriarch Johannes, who supposedly died in 2008 in a plane crash, was made out to be a hypocrite and liar, who seemed to treat Maria like dirt. It didn't seem to fit in with the character the audience had watched for years. With the change in the family and the focus pushed onto Ludwig's children, the audience didn't respond well by saying that Helena, Rebecca, Sebastian and Tristan just weren't characters you cared about. Only new family patriarch Ludwig, who became center of a love triangle with Johannes' former wive Elisabeth and Maria seemed to be interesting.

Residence

The family residence is Castle Königsbrunn
The city residence is a Penthouse

The Lahnstein Holding

Once appeared as the Lahnstein empire, founded for over hundred years. Johannes von Lahnstein was the CEO for a very long time, later omit by his eldest son Ansgar, which led to Johannes founding a company named JCL Investment. After Johannes could reclaim his title as CEO of the Lahnstein Holding, he merged JCL into the Holding. After Johannes died, Ansgar faked his father's will. In that he made the family believe that Ansgar's son Hannes is the heir and Ansgar can have control over the business until Hannes is at a legal age to take charge of his inheritance. The family later realizes that Ansgar faked the will, and Carla took over as the rightful heir. Ansgar tried to scheme his way back to the head of the company, but failed several times in his attempts to discredit Carla as a businesswoman.
After Carla leaves town, she leaves control over the company to her stepmother Elisabeth and her uncle Ludwig. The company soon gets in serious money trouble and Ludwig has to buy off some parts of the company. Ansgar's devilish wife Tanja von Anstetten manages to get her hand on the real estate department, while Ludwig decides to form a new company named Lahnstein Enterprises.

Lahnstein Enterprises

Lahnstein Enterprises was founded by Ludwig von Lahnstein with the help and money of his nephew Ansgar in 2010. Part of the company also becomes the real estate department that Tanja von Anstetten bought off from the Lahnstein Holding. In June 2011, a board is formed that's headed by Ludwig. The Lahnstein Bank rejoins the company when Ansgar signs on and the Lahnstein Entertainment department is formed. In order to bring Tanja to sign on, Ludwig buys her the fashion company Ligne Clarisse, a company formerly owned by Tanja's archenemy Clarissa von Anstetten, out of the heritage of late Marie von Anstetten. When Clarissa turns up alive, she gets half of her former company, only to be blackmailed by Tanja to leave her shares to her.

Employees

Is a model agency founded and owned by Tanja von Lahnstein. Former known as v. A. Faces. The company is written out without any explanation in late 2009.

Employees

Ligne Clarisse is a fashion company founded by Clarissa von Anstetten and appears for the first time in the show's premiere. As a business rival to Cara Donna, another fashion house owned by Clarissa's rival Barbara von Sterneck, the company was used in many storylines within the first five years of the show. For a short time, Clarissa's arch enemy Tanja von Anstetten could get her hands on the company before Clarissa got it back. When Clarissa was presumed dead in 2001 the company went to Marie von Anstetten, Clarissa's goddaughter, as part of her will. Marie suddenly dies ten years later and Tanja buys the moribund company, who now becomes part of Lahnstein Enterprises to one last laugh over Clarissa. But it is eventually explain that Clarissa isn't dead. Instead she spent the last ten years in prison and has now to find out that Tanja is owning her lifelong work. Even though she promises her children to stay away from Tanja, Clarissa secretly plans to get her company back. Later in 2011, the company is renamed to Ligne Clarisse Lahnstein and plans a comeback with the legendary Incest campaign, who presents the company's golden year of 1997. As of February 2012, Tanja owns now half of the company.

Family

The forefathers

Children of Ludwig von Lahnstein

Legend
LinesBoxes

  • Dashed = Romance/Marriage
  • Solid = Child

Descendants

Legend: