The owner's story begins in 1932 during the final years of the hotel's glory days, when he worked as a lobby boy. Zubrowka is on the verge of war but this of little concern to Gustave, the Grand Budapest's devoted concierge. When he is not attending to the needs of the hotel's wealthy clientele or managing its staff, Gustave courts a series of aging, blonde women who flock to the hotel to enjoy his "exceptional service." One of the ladies is Madame D, and Gustave spends the night with her prior to her departure.
A few days later, he is informed that Madame D has died under mysterious circumstances. He races to her wake and the reading of the will, where he learns that she bequeathed him Boy With Apple, a valuable painting, in her will. This enrages her family, all of whom hoped to inherit it. Her son, Dmitri Desgoffe-und-Taxis, lashes out at Gustave. With the help of Zero, Gustave takes the painting and returns to the Grand Budapest, securing the painting in the hotel's safe. During the journey, Gustave makes a pact with Zero - in return for the latter's help, he makes Zero his heir. Gustave is shortly after arrested and imprisoned for the murder of Madame D.
Zero aids Gustave in escaping from Zubrowka's maximum security prison by sending a series stoneworking tools concealed inside cakes. Along with a group of hardened cons, Gustave digs his way out of his cell. They part ways and Gustave teams up with Zero to prove his innocence. Their adventure takes them to a mountaintop monastery where they meet with Serge X, the only person who can provide Gustav with an alibi for the night of Madame D's murder. They are pursued by J.G. Jopling, a cold-blooded assassin who manages to kill Serge. Zero and Gustave steal a sled and chase Jopling as he flees the monastery on skis. During a face-off at the edge of a cliff, Zero pushes the assassin to his death and rescues his mentor.
Back at the Grand Budapest, the military have commandeered the hotel and are in the process of converting it into a barracks. The outbreak of war is now imminent. A heartbroken Gustave vows to never again pass the threshold. They are joined by Agatha, Zero's love interest. She agrees to go inside to retrieve the painting but is discovered by Dmitri. A chase and a gunfight ensue before Gustave's innocence is finally proven via a confessional letter, penned by Serge, that was hidden in the painting's frame. It contains the latest version of Madame D's will which reveals that she was the mysterious owner of the Grand Budapest. She leaves much of her fortune, the hotel and the painting to Gustave, making him fabulously wealthy in the process. He becomes one of the hotel's regular guests.
During a train journey across the border, enemy soldiers inspect Gustave and Zero's papers. Narrating the story, Zero describes Gustave being taken out and shot. As his heir, Zero inherits the fortune Gustave leaves behind. Zero vows to continue his legacy at the Grand Budapest but the ongoing conflict and the ravages of time slowly begin to take their toll. Agatha succumbs to a disease and dies a few years later.
An aging and devastated Zero confesses to the Author that he cannot bring himself to close the hotel because it is his last link to his dearly departed wife and the best years of his life. The Author later departs for South America and never returns to the hotel, leaving both it and Zero's ultimate fate unknown. Back in the present, the girl finishes reading the chapter about the Grand Budapest and leaves the courtyard.
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