Ulf Schweikhardt

The Riehl family has recently owned a small house in a new development in the countryside. Mr. Riehl drives into town every morning, where he works in a furniture store. The two children still go to school. Ms. Riehl takes care of the household and has to cycle long distances to do some shopping. When an aunt gives her a considerable amount of money one day, she definitely wants to use it to get her driver's license.

Toward the end of World War II, Kurt Marenke, a farm boy, is separated from his family while fleeing East Prussia. It is not until two years later that he is reunited with his mother and his sister Ella in the small village of Kudenow in Schleswig-Holstein. Their father is dead, and their brother Bruno is missing in Russia. The Marenkes live in the chicken coop of the large-scale farmer Fiete Kock. Other refugees live crammed together in the barn.