Plot
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 Gaigern, 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. Kringelein's 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.
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 her contemplating suicide. He comes out of hiding and engages her in conversation. The two fall in love and spend the night together. The following morning, the baron returns Grusinskaya's 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 has been working with. He and Kringelein start a card game, and Kringelein wins everything, then becomes intoxicated. When he drops his wallet, the baron stashes it in his pocket, intending to keep not only the winnings but the funds that are intended to see Kringelein through the last weeks of his life. However, moved by the sight of Kringelein's despair, 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 England, and he asks Flaemmchen to accompany him. Later, when the two are in her room—which opens onto his—Preysing sees the shadow of the baron rifling through his belongings. He confronts the baron, who hands his wallet back to him. The two struggle, and Preysing bludgeons the baron with the telephone, killing him. Flaemmchen sees what happened and runs to tell Kringelein, who confronts Preysing. He insists he acted in self-defense and asks Kringelein to lie, 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 visit Paris together. As they leave the hotel, Doctor Otternschlag again observes "Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens."
