Task: Story Composition
Input (English): Fact1: Baron Felix von Geigern supports himself as card player and occasional jewel thief, Fact2: dying accountant has decided to spend remaining days in lap of luxury, Fact3: Kringelein 's former employer is at hotel to close important deal, Fact4: Baron is desperate for money to pay way out of criminal group, Fact5: Preysing As part of travel to London desperate merger plan
Output (English): Doctor Otternschlag, a disfigured veteran of World War I and a permanent resident of the Grand Hotel in Berlin, observes, People coming, going. Nothing ever happens — after which a great deal transpires. Baron Felix von Geigern, who squandered his fortune and supports himself as a card player and occasional jewel thief, befriends Otto Kringelein, a dying accountant who has decided to spend his remaining days in the lap of luxury. Kringeleins former employer, industrialist General Director Preysing, is at the hotel to close an important deal, and he hires stenographer Flaemmchen to assist him. She aspires to be an actress and shows Preysing some magazine photos for which she posed, implying she is willing to offer him more than typing if he advances her career. Another guest is Russian ballerina Grusinskaya, whose career is on the wane. When the Baron is in her room to steal her jewelry and she returns from the theatre, he hides in her room and overhears as she talks to herself about wanting to end it all. He comes out of hiding and engages her in conversation, and Grusinskaya finds herself attracted to him. The following morning, the Baron returns Grusinskayas jewels, and she forgives his crime. She invites him to accompany her to Vienna, an offer he accepts. The Baron is desperate for money to pay his way out of the criminal group he had been working with. He and Kringelein get a card game going, and Kringelein wins everything, then becomes intoxicated. When he drops his wallet, the Baron stashes it in his pocket, intending to keep the winnings. However, after Kringelein begins to search for his lost belongings, the Baron – who desperately needs the money but has become very fond of Kringelein – pretends to have discovered the wallet and returns it to him. As part of a desperate merger plan, Preysing must travel to London, and he asks Flaemmchen to accompany him. Later, when the two are in her room, which opens on to his, Preysing sees the shadow of the Baron rifling through his belongings. He confronts the Baron; the two struggle, and Preysing bludgeons the Baron with the telephone, killing him. Flaemmchen sees what happened and tells Kringelein, who confronts Preysing. He insists he acted in selfdefense, but Kringelein summons the police and Preysing is arrested. Grusinskaya departs for the train station, expecting to find the Baron waiting for her there. Meanwhile, Kringelein offers to take care of Flaemmchen, who suggests they seek a cure for his illness. As they leave the hotel, Doctor Otternschlag again observes, Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens.