‘The Empress’ Renewed for Season 3 at Netflix But Will Be The Last

The Empress (also known as Die Kaiserin), Netflix’s splashy period drama from Germany that’s won an International Emmy Award, has been renewed for a third and final season. 

Created by Katharina Eyssen, the series stars Devrim Lingnau, Philip Froissant, and Melika Foroutan star, with Katrin Gebbe and Florian Cossen as directors; the series first debuted back in September 2022 and was given a prompt renewal. That second season, comprising six new episodes, dropped in November 2024. 

Season 2 consists of Franz facing a powerful European adversary just as he and Elisabeth hope to enjoy their newfound marital bliss. Meanwhile, Elisabeth is under immense pressure to produce an heir and secure the empire’s future. As fate takes a harsh turn, their love is put to the ultimate test, forcing Elisabeth to fight for both her family and the integrity of her soul.

The news of a third season renewal came this morning through Netflix’s German social accounts, which says (translated into English), “Love, drama and intrigue. The story continues. Season 3 is coming.”

In addition, we’ve also got a short clip teasing the third and final season:

Showrunner Katharina Eyssen said on the renewal, “It sometimes leaves me speechless to see how many people we have been able to reach and touch all over the world with The Empress. To be able to continue and conclude this story together with our team and the unique ensemble cast is nothing less than a gift.”

Executive producer Robert Eyssen added: “Our aim has always been to create a series on an international level, and that, of course, continues to be our aim for the third season!“]

Devrim Lingnau, Philip Froissant, Melika Foroutan and Johannes Nussbaum are all confirmed to return for season 3. 

---

How well did The Empress perform on Netflix?

Thanks to the Netflix top 10s, we’ve got a pretty good idea of how well The Empress performed for its returning second season. Season 2 spent five weeks in the global weekly top 10s, picking up 98.30 million viewing hours, which equates to around 18 million views. If you stack up that performance against the first season, you can see the viewership has dropped off quite a bit, but it is still impressive enough to warrant coming back. The return of the show also boosted season 1 to return to the global charts for an additional three weeks.

In addition to spending those five weeks in the global top 10s, the show also featured in the individual country top 10s of 84 countries, suggesting that this show broke out beyond Germany and became a global hit for Netflix. The show is a hit in its home country of Germany, too, having spent 66 days in total in the Netflix top 10s there.

---

For more on Netflix’s upcoming slate of period dramas, which also includes the return of Italy’s The Law According to Lidia Poet for a third season, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix. Highlights for 2025 include The Leopard from Italy and House of Guinness from the United Kingdom. 

Are you glad The Empress is coming back for another season at Netflix? Let us know in the comments.