# The Breaking of the Storm — Character guide

> Key figures in The Breaking of the Storm by Friedrich Spielhagen.

- [Reinhold Schmidt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/reinhold_schmidt.md): Reinhold moves between two worlds: the aristocratic circles where a general's visit can interrupt his morning, and the smoky manufactory where his uncle's workers seethe with grievance. He is drawn to Elsa von Werben whi
- [Elsa von Werben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/elsa_von_werben.md): Elsa belongs to the proud but strained von Werben family, adored by her brother Ottomar and watched over by a father whose sternness masks deeper troubles. She is the object of Reinhold's growing attachment, yet the feud
- [Ottomar von Werben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/ottomar_von_werben.md): Ottomar is a young officer whose aristocratic name cannot cover his gambling debts, and whose father's patience is running thin. He dreams of proposing to Carla von Wallbach to end his financial worries, yet his pride an
- [The General](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/the_general.md): The General rules his family with the same discipline he once brought to the battlefield, but anonymous letters and his son's debts are eroding his authority from within. He arrives at Reinhold's door with a document mea
- [Signor Giraldi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/signor_giraldi.md): Giraldi operates from the margins of the Werben family's world, collecting visiting cards and studying the weaknesses of those who once wronged him. He speaks of a single foolish action he would give anything to undo, an
- [Ferdinanda Schmidt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/ferdinanda_schmidt.md): Ferdinanda works in her father's studio, carving a maiden with a sickle whose lovely face carries a warning rather than a welcome. She moves through the household with a half-sullen, impenetrable manner, accustomed to he
- [Uncle Ernst](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/uncle_ernst.md): Uncle Ernst runs his marble works and his family with the same iron rule, summoning his entire workforce to publicly confront three men accused of union organizing. His authority is absolute but not cruel — he gives time
- [Carla von Wallbach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/carla_von_wallbach.md): Carla moves through the social world of the novel with practiced charm, collecting information from Count Golm and Signor Giraldi and deploying it where it serves her best. She is caught between her interest in Ottomar v
- [Meta von Strummin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/meta_von_strummin.md): Meta has just won her father's consent to marry Justus after the dramatic breakup of the Wissow company, and she moves through the aftermath with a mixture of giddy happiness and genuine grief for others. She insists tha
- [Herr Philip Schmidt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/herr_philip_schmidt.md): Philip Schmidt has risen from tradesman to railway promoter and art patron, hosting Count Golm and the Councillor among his Riefstahls and his carefully cultivated connections. His success is a rebuke to men born to priv
- [Justus Anders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/justus_anders.md): Justus moves between the studio and the social world, carrying messages, reading faces, and speaking uncomfortable truths with disarming humor. He is engaged to Meta von Strummin, whose impulsive affection he returns wit
- [Cilli](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/cilli.md): Cilli is the daughter of the honest workman Kreisel, and she moves through the novel's households as a gentle presence whom everyone loves and no one quite knows how to protect. She has borne Ferdinanda's cruelty with a 
- [Signor Antonio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/signor_antonio.md): An Italian musician and associate of Giraldi.
- [Count Golm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/count_golm.md): Count Golm belongs to one of the oldest families on the island, a line that once rivalled the Princes of Prora but has been sliding downhill through generations of extravagance. He inherited a mass of debts and a curious
- [Aunt Rikchen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/aunt_rikchen.md): A kindly older relative of the Schmidt family.
- [Baroness Valerie Warnow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/baroness_valerie_warnow.md): Baroness Valerie Warnow grew up in Berlin with the Princess and married Baron Warnow after a single impulse of love, giving up his diplomatic post to devote himself to her. The couple lived at Warnow from 1840 to 1843, a
- [Frau Louisa von Wallbach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/frau_louisa_von_wallbach.md): Carla's mother, a good-natured but somewhat scatterbrained woman.
- [Captain von Schönau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/captain_von_schonau.md): A fellow officer and friend of Reinhold.
- [Bertalda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/bertalda.md): A young woman in the social circle, possibly a friend of Elsa.
- [Herr von Wallbach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/herr_von_wallbach.md): Carla's father, a somewhat flustered and conventional gentleman.
- [Grollmann](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/grollmann.md): An old family retainer or friend, gruff but loyal.
- [Hugo Lübbener](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/hugo_lubbener.md): A friend of Reinhold, possibly a fellow officer.
- [Herr von Strummin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/herr_von_strummin.md): Meta's father, a local landowner.
- [François](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/francois.md): A French servant or valet in the von Werben household.
- [Herr von Werben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/herr_von_werben.md): Herr von Werben is the proud father of Elsa and Ottomar, a man whose name alone is enough to provoke an old antagonist into imaginary battles he never actually fights. Ferdinanda notes that if her father ever met him fac
- [Princess Heinrich August](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/princess_heinrich_august.md): A visiting royal figure, adding social tension to the story.
- [Frau Pölitz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/frau_politz.md): A local woman, possibly a housekeeper or innkeeper.
- [Antonio Michele](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/antonio_michele.md): A celebrated Italian singer, admired by the characters.
- [General von Werben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/general_von_werben.md): The General of the von Werben family, a military patriarch.
- [Fräulein Sidonie von Werben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/fraulein_sidonie_von_werben.md): A younger relative of the von Werbens, possibly Elsa's cousin.
- [Councillor Schieler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/councillor_schieler.md): A legal advisor involved in family affairs.
- [Papa Kreisel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/papa_kreisel.md): An older gentleman, possibly a family friend or relative.
- [Herr Damberg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/herr_damberg.md): A minor character, possibly a merchant or official.
- [Herr Pölitz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/herr_politz.md): The husband of Frau Pölitz.
- [Frau von Strummin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/frau_von_strummin.md): Meta's mother.
- [President von Sanden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/president_von_sanden.md): A local president or official.
- [Signor Roller](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters/signor_roller.md): An Italian performer or musician.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_breaking_of_the_storm_se/characters