In a small town, everyone has tried to forget what happened shortly after WWII. That is, until a stranger finds a book that Jadup gave to the young refugee, Boel, over 30 years ago. Painful memories of the period after the war and of Boel and her sudden disappearance begin to surface.
After the police tell thirteen-year-old Jan that his communist father is wanted for murdering an SA man, the only person willing to befriend him is Max, who is involved with a resistance group.
Fall 1989: Jan is almost 16. Caught while trying to escape to West Germany, he is transferred from prison to a juvenile detention center. Here, he meets Jana … and what starts as a bet, becomes true love. When Jana gets pregnant, the situation spirals out of control.
High-school senior Peter considers the adults around him to be hypocritical, self-congratulatory and immersed in the past. He gets suspended for writing an essay that his teachers see as a challenge to the state.
Susanne (17) and Robert (18) want to get married, but because Susanne is still under-aged, she needs parental permission. With twin babies and tight finances, the newlyweds soon feel overwhelmed, and dealing with everything makes them forget the love that originally brought them together.
Cow herder Krischan Klammbüdel is the best friend of the children of Kummerow. Yet the adults do him a great injustice - they drive him out of their town and the innocence of their children's blissful childhood disappears with him.
Based on the "Kummerow" books by Ehm Welk.
Director Roland Steiner visited various juvenile detention centers for three years before he was finally able to film—although without an official permit—at the Hummelsheim Center in February 1982.