Frl. Schroeder is the owner of the boarding house where Christopher and, later, Sally live in Berlin. She was formerly a wealthy woman, but the economic inflation that Germany experienced after World War I forced her to begin taking boarders in her apartment. This fact of her character represents a larger truth about 1930s Berlin: the events of World War I greatly affected many the financial situations of many Berliners. Frl. Schroeder also takes a great interest in the personal lives of her boarders, encouraging Christopher and Sally to marry one another.