In 1929, Germany was still struggling with the political and economic mess left by World War I. Friedrich Ritter was a Berlin physician who wanted to get away from it all and live a simple, natural life. So he left his wife and went to Floreana, an uninhabited volcanic island in the Galapagos. He took a patient with him, Dore Strauch, who he was in love with. Strauch suffered from multiple sclerosis, but gamely went to build a new life on the island. The couple sent letters back to Germany by passing ships, and some were published. Those letters made island living seem like paradise, and Ritter and Strauch were joined by Heinz and Margret Wittmer and their teenage son. The Wittmers set up their own household and gave birth to another son while living on Floreana. In 1932, a third household arrived- Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bosquet, who claimed to be a Baroness, and her two younger lovers.
The Baroness lived closer to the sea, and talked of a plan to open a hotel on Floreana. That never happened, but she greeted passing ships and collected everyone's mail. They suspected she intercepted supplies, too. The three households on Floreana were never close, but they were the only people living on the island. The cordial equilibrium they had built began to break down, particularly when the inhabitants began to disappear. Read the incredible, mysterious, and true story of the settlers of Floreana at Danny Dutch.