The gates of Schönbrunn Palace are opening one final time. Netflix has just dropped the official trailer, first-look images, and key artwork for the third and final season of its hit German historical drama, The Empress. Set to premiere globally on November 12th, the grand finale is now just over a month away.
If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of Elisabeth and Franz, the wait is almost over. Just recently we covered the November release date, and now Netflix has officially kicked off the marketing campaign for what promises to be a drama-filled final outing.
Since its initial debut in 2022, The Empress has become one of the most watched global titles from Germany, spending 13 weeks in the global top 10 lists, featuring in the daily top 10 charts in 91 countries around the world and per the Netflix Engagement Reports between 2023 and mid-2026, has picked up 462.1M viewing hours globally.
Before we dive into what’s next for the Austrian royal family, check out the newly released trailer for The Empress Season 3 below:
What to Expect from The Empress Season 3
Following the devastating Sardinian War, Emperor Franz (Philip Froissant) returns to Vienna a traumatized man, heavily weighed down by the guilt of losing thousands of young men on the battlefield. Elisabeth (Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu) desperately tries to stand by her husband, passionately fighting for their marriage while advocating for the future of the empire.
However, her efforts are largely in vain. Pushed to the brink by Franz’s unfaithfulness and facing mounting resistance from the court, Elisabeth’s physical and mental health rapidly declines. Constrained by the tight corset of the Viennese court, she is forced to leave Vienna, setting off for a distant island to recover and find her voice again.
It is on this journey that she crosses paths with the leader of the Hungarian revolution, Count Andrássy (played by new cast addition Dejan Bućin). Their chance encounter immediately sparks a fierce intellectual and physical attraction, leaving Elisabeth with the ultimate choice: follow her heart unconditionally, or be the sincere empress her people need her to be.
Meanwhile, Franz’s brother Maximilian (Johannes Nussbaum) and his wife Marie (Josephine Thiesen) are setting off on a massive adventure of their own as he prepares to ascend the imperial throne in far-off Mexico.
Who is behind the final season?
Katharina Eyssen returns to serve as showrunner for the final season, sharing creative responsibilities with executive producer Robert Eyssen. The series is produced by Sommerhaus Serien GmbH, spearheaded by executive producers Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach. Scarlett Lacey returns as an executive producer alongside co-executive producer Lars Gmehling.
Directing duties for the final season were split between Florian Cossen and Julia Langhof.
As we covered during our first look at filming, production took the cast and crew across Europe, with filming locations spanning Bavaria, the Czech Republic, and Spain.
The End of an Era
While it is certainly bittersweet that Netflix announced Season 3 would be the show’s last, fans of lavish German period dramas shouldn’t fret too much.
Netflix is already hard at work on its spiritual successor. We recently broke the news that filming has already begun on Dolly, a brand new German historical drama that will effectively step in to fill the void The Empress will leave behind.
For now, though, we have one last dance with Elisabeth.
The brand-new batch of promotional images gives us a stunning glimpse into the final season’s aesthetics and character arcs. The official Season 3 poster features a regal but somber Elisabeth standing beside an ornate red and gold throne, draped in a heavy grey coat.
Elsewhere, we see a highly tense, candlelit moment between Franz and Elisabeth; Franz standing alone in a bleak, foggy field in his military uniform; and a stern Archduchess Sophie presiding over a dining table. Meanwhile, Maximilian is shown in full grand velvet regalia inside a grand cathedral, surrounded by high-ranking clergy. Other images highlight Elisabeth’s escape from Vienna, showing her connecting with a desperate commoner through an iron gate, relaxing under a parasol by the sea, walking thoughtfully along a sandy beach, and even joyfully jumping off a rocky cliff into the ocean with a companion. Finally, a lush forest shot gives us our first look at the Hungarian revolutionary Count Andrássy walking alongside a woman in riding attire.
