Nico von Lahnstein
Encyclopedia
Nicola "Nico" von Lahnstein (born as Nicola Brandner) is a fictional character
of the German
soap opera
Verbotene Liebe
(Forbidden Love). The character has been played by actress Verena Bonato from October 1, 2002 to September 11, 2007. While on contract, the actress took a seven months break from February 2006 to September 2006. Verena returned on a guest stint from March 5 to March 7, 2008 and returned on contract on April 15, 2010.
(Vanessa Jung
) and Robin (Nils Brunkhorst). It's explained that their mother Vera died tragically and father Achim is swamped with raising three children. Robin pays a visit to his uncle Arno Brandner
(Konrad Krauss), who lives with his then wife Elisabeth
(Martina Servatius) in Düsseldorf. The three are having problems with the youth welfare office and Robin wants to ask Arno for help. But before he can do so, the two get into a fight and Robin wants to leave the Brandner house, when his two younger sisters arrive. Jana is portrayed as a shy beautiful woman, while Nico appears as a rebel, who loves punk music and seems to be hard to deal with.
to her and can give all three siblings the attention they needed. Eventually Nico shows how much she cares about her uncle. Even though without changing her style, being still covered with a unique style for clothes and her love for punk music. While the years change Nico's style, she still is a person who speaks her opinions out loud. With her difficult and almost unique persona in German soaps
, Nico becomes a fan favorite and is said to be one of the most complex heroines.
. The relationship between Nico and Christian wasn't popular with the fans and some would even call out the lack of chemistry both actors seem to have with each other.
of his younger sisters with the help of their uncle Arno. But he refuses to just get custody and let the girls live with the barely adult brother. He agrees to get custody for them, if they life under his roof. Nico is not impressed and thinks that her uncle is an old Babbitt. As a favor to her sister Jana, Nico agrees to live with Arno. But for some time, Nico is causing much trouble for the family. Only with time, she and Arno finally get along and he becomes one of her biggest supporters and a father figure she can count on.
. There, Nico discovers an old letter from their dead mother Vera, in which she confesses to have had an affair, which is why Jana and Nico might not be Achim's daughters. After they take a paternity test it becomes clear that Jana and Nico are twins after all, but don't share the same father. Only Jana is Achim's child, making Nico and Jana to a special phenomenon called Superfecundation
. Nico is heartbroken, while Achim doesn't know how to deal with the truth and leaves his children once again. Now that Nico knows that she isn't Achim's daughter, she wants to find her biological father. After a while she even gets a clue that could lead her to his identity. Nico is shocked when she discovers that Johannes von Lahnstein
(Thomas Gumpert
), a rich aristocrat
, is her father. She wants to get to know her newly-found family better and therefore starts working as a maid on Castle Königsbrunn. But it doesn't take long until her hidden identity is discovered and she gets thrown out of the Castle. Nico tries to tell Johannes the truth, but he believes that she must be a gold digger who is after his money. Nico is disappointed and wants to have nothing to do with Johannes. But when another paternity test is made, Johannes respects the result and the fact that Nico is his daughter. He apologizes to her and invites her to live with him in order to get to know him and her siblings better. Nico agrees on Johannes' invitation, but is sad when Jana can't understand her decision to leave the Brandner's house. Nico moves and gets her rightfully title as countess of Lahnstein. In the following years, father and daughter grow closer, while Johannes is having problems accepting the wild side of his daughter.
(Dominic Saleh-Zaki) becomes a real buzz kill for Nico. She doesn't understand what her sister finds attractive about him and gives Andi a hard time when she is around him. When they spend a night together at one of the shooting boxes of the Lahnsteins, Nico and Andi are alone when they get into a fight again. In a skirmish it comes to a passionate kiss between them. It doesn't take Nico long to come to the conclusion that she is falling in love with her sister's boyfriend. Nico tries to downplay her kiss with Andi and tells him that it was a mistake and will never happen again. To hide from her own feelings, she begins to flirt with Carsten (Jan Hartmann), one of Andi's friends. Andi is jealous and wants to keep Carsten away from Nico, but at the same time can't admit that he has feelings for her as well. After he could avert that Carsten can make a move on Nico, he and Nico almost sleep together. They both stop right in time and agree that they can't do this to Jana and try to stay away from each other. But they can't hide her feelings for long and Andi and Nico do sleep together after all. Nico and Andi feel bad about what happened between them and they wanna tell Jana the truth. When Jana finally finds out about them, all what she can feel is hate. She wants revenge for what Nico and Andi did to her. Together with Vanessa (Inez Bjørg David
) she tries to destroy Nico and Andi's relationship. After an accident with Andi's motorcycle, Jana sees that she has gone too far. After a while Nico and Andi think that Jana has learned to live with the situation, when Jana even moves into a flat-share together with Andi. But the truth is that Jana is still deeply in love with Andi and has still problems with his relationship to Nico. She asks herself why Andi left her for her sister and wants to prove herself. Inspired by Gregor Mann
(Andreas Jancke), Jana wants to make money as a call-girl. It takes a long time until Nico finds out about her sister's double life and is shocked. She gets into a dispute with Andi, when he defends Jana after Nico calls her out of being a whore. Nico is disappointed that Andi tries to understand Jana's lifestyle and gets wasted with the Italian exchange student Luca (Cem Erzincan). She sleeps with him and because she feels bad about it afterwards, Nico takes a trip to England
, without telling anyone. When Nico comes back and tells Andi the truth about what happened with Luca, he is furious and cheats on Nico with his ex-girlfriend Jana. While Andi finds out that he still has feelings for her, Jana discovers that she is over Andi. Both sisters end things with Andi and reconcile.
(Yvonne Burbach), Johannes and Leonard
(Lars Korten) can make peace with each other, which leads Johannes to think to finally having his entire family back together. But Mimi has wanderlust and wants to leave town. Johannes sees that he needs to let his mother go, but is even sadder when Nico wants to go with Mimi. Nico promises her father to make her graduation after her return and tells him that she just needs to get away from all of this. When Andi finds out about Nico's plans to leave, he is sad as well and finally realizes that Nico is the woman he truly loves. He wants to hold her back from leaving town, but when he arrives Andi is too late and Nico already left.
(Claudia Hiersche
) with Susanne (Claudia Scarpatetti), she discovers that Johannes has an affair with Arno's wife Elisabeth. Mad at both of them, they agree to end their affair after Arno got shot, while he was taken hostage by Susanne's ex-husband Alex (Frank Behnke). In the end, Johannes and Elisabeth can't hide from their feelings and Arno eventually finds out the truth. Nico has a hard time accepting her father and Elisabeth as a couple, but sees that she once was in similar situation with Andi and Jana and gives them her blessing. As for her own romantic happy end, Nico has to wait. Even with her and Andi back together in the same town, they both feel that they are better left of as good friends and don't want to open old wounds again. When Nico meets Christian Mann
(Thore Schölermann
), she is eventually interested in him. But her good friend Coco (Mariangela Scelsi) has her eyes on Christian too. While it's eventually pretty clear that Christian is also interested in Nico, Coco just can't get over her feelings for him. She tries to be happy for Nico and Christian, but then Nico finds out for Coco's feelings for her boyfriend. Nico tries to push a professional career as a photographer and begins to work with some of the biggest names in the business. Proud to have it earned by her own talent and not by her name, Nico gets a wake-up call when her new boss tries to rape her. Christian comes to Nico's rescue and can avert worse things from happening. He beats Nico's boss down, leading for him to get arrested for assault. While in jail, Christian wants Nico to write him letters that can keep him going. But even though she feels badly for Christian, she just can't find the right words to say to him. In the end, she discovers Coco's talent for writing love letters and realizes with her words how strong her feelings for Christian are. When Christian gets free, Nico tells him the truth about the letters and eventually breaks up with him, when she finds out that Christian has feelings for Coco too. With being single again, Nico decides to get back to her career and takes a new job at a photo studio. But the photographer, who would be Nico's new boss wants to leave for South Africa
and work there. He asks Nico to come with her and she decides to leave Düsseldorf
once again.
. After finding out that Leonard, who Jana was married to, cheated on her sister with her other sister Sarah Hofmann
(Sina-Valeska Jung
), she is outraged with Leonard and tells him that she will never forgive him for what he has done. Heart broken over the loss of her sister, Arno is the only one who can give Nico enough footing to get through Jana's funeral. She later has a last conversation with Leonard, in which she tells him that she hopes that he can be happy again, after Nico realizes how hard Jana's death is for him. After a few days, Nico tells Elisabeth that she can't stay in town and probably needs some time before she can call Königsbrunn her home again. After she says goodbye to her family, Nico leaves again for South Africa
.
being a couple. When she meets Prince Phillipp zu Hohenfelden, she is smitten, even though Phillipp is married to he late wife Antonia Weber, who became the new castle administrator after Stella Mann left. Phillipp helps Nico with The Jana von Lahnstein Foundation, named after her late twin-sister Jana.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Verbotene Liebe
Verbotene Liebe
Verbotene Liebe , often abbreviated to VL, is a Rose d'Or Award-winning German television soap opera. The show was created by Reg Watson and first broadcast on Das Erste on 2 January 1995...
(Forbidden Love). The character has been played by actress Verena Bonato from October 1, 2002 to September 11, 2007. While on contract, the actress took a seven months break from February 2006 to September 2006. Verena returned on a guest stint from March 5 to March 7, 2008 and returned on contract on April 15, 2010.
Introduction
The character of Nico is introduced together with her siblings JanaJana von Lahnstein
Jana von Lahnstein is a fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character was played by actress Friederike Sipp from October 1, 2002 to March 21, 2005...
(Vanessa Jung
Vanessa Jung
Vanessa Jung is a German actress.After school she went to New York and had a professional acting training. Before, she had a modern dance training in Munich....
) and Robin (Nils Brunkhorst). It's explained that their mother Vera died tragically and father Achim is swamped with raising three children. Robin pays a visit to his uncle Arno Brandner
Arno Brandner
Arno Brandner is a fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character is portrayed since the show's debut on January 2, 1995 by actor Konrad Krauss.-Background:...
(Konrad Krauss), who lives with his then wife Elisabeth
Elisabeth von Lahnstein
Elisabeth von Lahnstein is a fictional character from the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe, portrayed by actress Martina Servatius...
(Martina Servatius) in Düsseldorf. The three are having problems with the youth welfare office and Robin wants to ask Arno for help. But before he can do so, the two get into a fight and Robin wants to leave the Brandner house, when his two younger sisters arrive. Jana is portrayed as a shy beautiful woman, while Nico appears as a rebel, who loves punk music and seems to be hard to deal with.
Personality
Nico is a young woman who is very difficult to deal with. She appears as a rebel that doesn't let any authority interfere in her life. But with time it's shown a softer side of her, which leads to the conclusion that Nico just needed a stable environment and people that really care for her. Arno becomes a father figureFather Figure
"Father Figure" is the U.S. number-one song written and performed by George Michael and released on Columbia Records in 1988 as the third single from the album Faith.-History:...
to her and can give all three siblings the attention they needed. Eventually Nico shows how much she cares about her uncle. Even though without changing her style, being still covered with a unique style for clothes and her love for punk music. While the years change Nico's style, she still is a person who speaks her opinions out loud. With her difficult and almost unique persona in German soaps
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Nico becomes a fan favorite and is said to be one of the most complex heroines.
Reception
In the beginning, the audience was split about the character of Nico. But with showing more of her vulnerable side, the role became pretty popular with fans. The love story between Nico and Andi brought a bigger attention to the character. The love of Andi and Nico had a popular following and remains as one of the most memorable couples. With time Nico became a fan favorite who could be a member of the traditional Lahnstein family, but still a character viewers could relate to. When Verena Zimmermann took a break in the beginning of 2006 and came back later that year, fans expected that a possible reunion of Nico and Andi could be in the works. But when the character returned, she was taken in a different direction giving her less scenes with former on-screen partner Dominic Saleh-Zaki. Instead Nico became a bigger role in the Lahnstein family with knowing from her father's affair and later being once again part of a love triangleLove triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
. The relationship between Nico and Christian wasn't popular with the fans and some would even call out the lack of chemistry both actors seem to have with each other.
The arrival
Nico and Jana arrive in Düsseldorf after they think that Robin could manages to get custodyChild custody
Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
of his younger sisters with the help of their uncle Arno. But he refuses to just get custody and let the girls live with the barely adult brother. He agrees to get custody for them, if they life under his roof. Nico is not impressed and thinks that her uncle is an old Babbitt. As a favor to her sister Jana, Nico agrees to live with Arno. But for some time, Nico is causing much trouble for the family. Only with time, she and Arno finally get along and he becomes one of her biggest supporters and a father figure she can count on.
The biological father
After Nico became at home in Arno's house, Achim (Matthias Hasse) comes to town. He wants to be a part of his children's lifes again. While Nico doesn't have a problem to forgive, Jana and Robin want to have nothing to do with him. Achim begs Nico and Jana to come to Mexico with him, where he has started a new life. Nico is excited and can even convince Jana to come with them. Before they want to leave the country for good, Nico, Jana and Achim visit their old house in HanoverHanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
. There, Nico discovers an old letter from their dead mother Vera, in which she confesses to have had an affair, which is why Jana and Nico might not be Achim's daughters. After they take a paternity test it becomes clear that Jana and Nico are twins after all, but don't share the same father. Only Jana is Achim's child, making Nico and Jana to a special phenomenon called Superfecundation
Superfecundation
Superfecundation is the fertilization of two or more ova from the same cycle by sperm from separate acts of sexual intercourse. The term superfecundation is derived from fecund, meaning the ability to produce offspring....
. Nico is heartbroken, while Achim doesn't know how to deal with the truth and leaves his children once again. Now that Nico knows that she isn't Achim's daughter, she wants to find her biological father. After a while she even gets a clue that could lead her to his identity. Nico is shocked when she discovers that Johannes von Lahnstein
Johannes von Lahnstein
Johannes von Lahnstein is a fictional character on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character was portrayed by actor Thomas Gumpert from September 23, 2003 to January 9, 2008.-Storylines:...
(Thomas Gumpert
Thomas Gumpert
Thomas Gumpert is a German actor.He studied acting from 1972 to 1976 in Leipzig.Since 2003, he played the role of the patriarch Johannes von Lahnstein in the soap opera Verbotene Liebe.-Theater:...
), a rich aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
, is her father. She wants to get to know her newly-found family better and therefore starts working as a maid on Castle Königsbrunn. But it doesn't take long until her hidden identity is discovered and she gets thrown out of the Castle. Nico tries to tell Johannes the truth, but he believes that she must be a gold digger who is after his money. Nico is disappointed and wants to have nothing to do with Johannes. But when another paternity test is made, Johannes respects the result and the fact that Nico is his daughter. He apologizes to her and invites her to live with him in order to get to know him and her siblings better. Nico agrees on Johannes' invitation, but is sad when Jana can't understand her decision to leave the Brandner's house. Nico moves and gets her rightfully title as countess of Lahnstein. In the following years, father and daughter grow closer, while Johannes is having problems accepting the wild side of his daughter.
The first love
Jana and Nico still try to spend as much time as possible with each other. But Jana's boyfriend Andi FritzscheAndi Fritzsche
Andreas "Andi" Fritzsche is a fictional character of the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character is played by actor Dominic Saleh-Zaki from October 4, 2001 to November 8, 2007. In July 2009 it was announced that Saleh-Zaki would reprise his role. Before reappearing on-screen, the...
(Dominic Saleh-Zaki) becomes a real buzz kill for Nico. She doesn't understand what her sister finds attractive about him and gives Andi a hard time when she is around him. When they spend a night together at one of the shooting boxes of the Lahnsteins, Nico and Andi are alone when they get into a fight again. In a skirmish it comes to a passionate kiss between them. It doesn't take Nico long to come to the conclusion that she is falling in love with her sister's boyfriend. Nico tries to downplay her kiss with Andi and tells him that it was a mistake and will never happen again. To hide from her own feelings, she begins to flirt with Carsten (Jan Hartmann), one of Andi's friends. Andi is jealous and wants to keep Carsten away from Nico, but at the same time can't admit that he has feelings for her as well. After he could avert that Carsten can make a move on Nico, he and Nico almost sleep together. They both stop right in time and agree that they can't do this to Jana and try to stay away from each other. But they can't hide her feelings for long and Andi and Nico do sleep together after all. Nico and Andi feel bad about what happened between them and they wanna tell Jana the truth. When Jana finally finds out about them, all what she can feel is hate. She wants revenge for what Nico and Andi did to her. Together with Vanessa (Inez Bjørg David
Inez Bjørg David
Inez Björg David is a Danish and German actress.- Life :She went to a theatre school in Copenhagen and took private acting classes. Fluent in German, she featured in featured in the filmlets "The Date", "Dasein" and "Wilde Jungs"...
) she tries to destroy Nico and Andi's relationship. After an accident with Andi's motorcycle, Jana sees that she has gone too far. After a while Nico and Andi think that Jana has learned to live with the situation, when Jana even moves into a flat-share together with Andi. But the truth is that Jana is still deeply in love with Andi and has still problems with his relationship to Nico. She asks herself why Andi left her for her sister and wants to prove herself. Inspired by Gregor Mann
Gregor Mann
Gregor von der Waldenau is a fictional character from the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe , portrayed by actor Andreas Jancke. He made his first appearance on screen on 16 February 2005 and left the show on 12 March 2010.-Background:Gregor's childhood was far from easy...
(Andreas Jancke), Jana wants to make money as a call-girl. It takes a long time until Nico finds out about her sister's double life and is shocked. She gets into a dispute with Andi, when he defends Jana after Nico calls her out of being a whore. Nico is disappointed that Andi tries to understand Jana's lifestyle and gets wasted with the Italian exchange student Luca (Cem Erzincan). She sleeps with him and because she feels bad about it afterwards, Nico takes a trip to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, without telling anyone. When Nico comes back and tells Andi the truth about what happened with Luca, he is furious and cheats on Nico with his ex-girlfriend Jana. While Andi finds out that he still has feelings for her, Jana discovers that she is over Andi. Both sisters end things with Andi and reconcile.
Too late
After their break-up, Nico and Andi manage it to still be friendly with each other. When Nico meets Mimi Baxter (Christa Strobel), she has no idea that the old woman is her grandmother. Mimi already wants to leave town, when Nico can hold her back and Mimi decides to stay a little bit longer. Nico is fascinated by Mimi and her lifestyle. She was married nine times and has seen almost the entire world. The unlikely pair become friends, when Nico is shocked to find out that Mimi is Johannes' mother and that she left her own son when he was just a little boy. Mimi regrets her past mistakes and wants to make up for the lost time. She tries to stay in front of the Castle for as long as she can, when Mimi breaks down after a cold night. Johannes takes her in, but refuses to forgive his mother. Nico recognizes Mimi's trying and is furious with her stubborn father. Johannes rethinks the situation and he and Mimi reconcile after all. After the tragic death of Cécile de MaronCécile de Maron
Cécile Antoinette de Maron is a fictional character on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The role was portrayed by actress Yvonne Burbach from October 24, 2001 to January 23, 2006.-Storylines:...
(Yvonne Burbach), Johannes and Leonard
Leonard von Lahnstein
Dr. Leonard Antonio Sebastian von Lahnstein is a fictional character on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe portrayed by actor Lars Korten from March 11, 2004 to September 10, 2009.-Storylines:...
(Lars Korten) can make peace with each other, which leads Johannes to think to finally having his entire family back together. But Mimi has wanderlust and wants to leave town. Johannes sees that he needs to let his mother go, but is even sadder when Nico wants to go with Mimi. Nico promises her father to make her graduation after her return and tells him that she just needs to get away from all of this. When Andi finds out about Nico's plans to leave, he is sad as well and finally realizes that Nico is the woman he truly loves. He wants to hold her back from leaving town, but when he arrives Andi is too late and Nico already left.
No happy ending planned
When Nico returns to the wedding of her sister CarlaCarla von Lahnstein
Carla Sophia von Lahnstein is a fictional character from the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe , portrayed by actress Claudia Hiersche. She made her first appearance on screen on September 19, 2003 and left the show on November 10, 2009. Hiersche then returned for a guest stint on January 29, 2010...
(Claudia Hiersche
Claudia Hiersche
Claudia Hiersche Claudia Hiersche Claudia Hiersche (* 22 February 1977 in Frankfurt (Oder), German Democratic Republic [now Federal Republic of Germany] is a German host and actress and is well known for her portrayal of the lesbian fictional character Carla von Lahnstein in the soap opera...
) with Susanne (Claudia Scarpatetti), she discovers that Johannes has an affair with Arno's wife Elisabeth. Mad at both of them, they agree to end their affair after Arno got shot, while he was taken hostage by Susanne's ex-husband Alex (Frank Behnke). In the end, Johannes and Elisabeth can't hide from their feelings and Arno eventually finds out the truth. Nico has a hard time accepting her father and Elisabeth as a couple, but sees that she once was in similar situation with Andi and Jana and gives them her blessing. As for her own romantic happy end, Nico has to wait. Even with her and Andi back together in the same town, they both feel that they are better left of as good friends and don't want to open old wounds again. When Nico meets Christian Mann
Christian Mann
Christian Mann is a popular fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe portrayed by actor Thore Schölermann since November 27, 2006.-Storylines:...
(Thore Schölermann
Thore Schölermann
Thore Schölermann is a German actor.- Career :After graduation in 2004 he trained to be a professional actor at Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He then took part in a few short movies until he came to the soap opera Verbotene Liebe...
), she is eventually interested in him. But her good friend Coco (Mariangela Scelsi) has her eyes on Christian too. While it's eventually pretty clear that Christian is also interested in Nico, Coco just can't get over her feelings for him. She tries to be happy for Nico and Christian, but then Nico finds out for Coco's feelings for her boyfriend. Nico tries to push a professional career as a photographer and begins to work with some of the biggest names in the business. Proud to have it earned by her own talent and not by her name, Nico gets a wake-up call when her new boss tries to rape her. Christian comes to Nico's rescue and can avert worse things from happening. He beats Nico's boss down, leading for him to get arrested for assault. While in jail, Christian wants Nico to write him letters that can keep him going. But even though she feels badly for Christian, she just can't find the right words to say to him. In the end, she discovers Coco's talent for writing love letters and realizes with her words how strong her feelings for Christian are. When Christian gets free, Nico tells him the truth about the letters and eventually breaks up with him, when she finds out that Christian has feelings for Coco too. With being single again, Nico decides to get back to her career and takes a new job at a photo studio. But the photographer, who would be Nico's new boss wants to leave for South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and work there. He asks Nico to come with her and she decides to leave Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
once again.
Tragedy
When Nico pays her family a visit in March 2008, she has to face two tragedies. Her father Johannes is presumed death after a plane crash and her sister Jana died of a pulmonary embolismPulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...
. After finding out that Leonard, who Jana was married to, cheated on her sister with her other sister Sarah Hofmann
Sarah Hofmann
Sarah von Lahnstein is a fictional character on German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character was portrayed by actress Sina-Valeska Jung from July 11, 2006 to May 5, 2009....
(Sina-Valeska Jung
Sina-Valeska Jung
Sina-Valeska Jung is a German actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Hofmann on the long-running German soap opera Verbotene Liebe on the German television channel Das Erste. Her first appearance was on July 11, 2006...
), she is outraged with Leonard and tells him that she will never forgive him for what he has done. Heart broken over the loss of her sister, Arno is the only one who can give Nico enough footing to get through Jana's funeral. She later has a last conversation with Leonard, in which she tells him that she hopes that he can be happy again, after Nico realizes how hard Jana's death is for him. After a few days, Nico tells Elisabeth that she can't stay in town and probably needs some time before she can call Königsbrunn her home again. After she says goodbye to her family, Nico leaves again for South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
2010 return and Prince Phillipp zu Hohenfelden
When Nico returns, she is as shocked about the changes around the city as Andi did when he returned, especially about her ex, Christian and OliverOliver Sabel
Oliver Sabel is a popular fictional character in the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe . The character is portrayed by actor Jo Weil from December 31, 1999 to September 3, 2002 and again since November 2, 2007....
being a couple. When she meets Prince Phillipp zu Hohenfelden, she is smitten, even though Phillipp is married to he late wife Antonia Weber, who became the new castle administrator after Stella Mann left. Phillipp helps Nico with The Jana von Lahnstein Foundation, named after her late twin-sister Jana.