On an estate in the Altmark region, the young farmmaster Friedrich Landsberg, the child of Lithuanian emigrants, founds a family. Their son Otto grows up sheltered. In Havelberg, Paul Siebert, who comes from a poor background, finds happiness with the teacher's daughter Margarethe, who gives him a daughter, Alwine. The cloth merchant couple Gottfried and Mathilde Ohme successfully build up a business and have two children, Antonia and Arthur.

The happiness of the three young families does not last long, however, as the First World War tears the families apart. With the end of the monarchy, everyone hopes for a better future, but the Weimar Republic is on shaky ground. When the Nazis come to power, the fate of the three families takes another dramatic turn.