In 1949, German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.

In autumn 1943, in Gross-Partsch, 26-year-old Rosa, who had come from Berlin to stay with the parents of her husband Gregor, who was fighting on the Russian front, was taken by the SS to a mysterious place. Forced to taste a dish, she joins the group of tasters responsible for checking that the food destined for Hitler is not poisoned.

North Friesland today: After the death of his father-in-law, Hauke Haien takes on two important roles in coastal protection - dyke count and director of coastal protection. Professionally, Hauke is the best man for the job; he is a visionary who lives and thinks in harmony with nature. Only people are not his cup of tea. As a loner, Hauke hardly knows how to inspire an audience and win over fellow campaigners. His warnings about the effects of climate change are dismissed as hysteria in the village, even though the coastal inhabitants know that a drastic change of course in climate policy is unavoidable. Fortunately for Hauke, his wife Elke supports him. She manages to make him heard. But Hauke does not enjoy his success for long, because when it becomes known that his plans are much more radical, he is met with incomprehension and anger. Resistance and pressure wear on him. Disaster can no longer be averted.