Otto Hüsch

Prussia, at the time of Frederick the Great. In his service is Major General Dietrich Edler von Roedern, a renowned fortress builder who pursues his work with fanatical zeal and seriousness. He is not in the mood for women or festivities. Although he is married to Elisabeth, a woman who has gradually become estranged from him due to his nature, this marriage only exists on paper. When Frederick II invites him to a soiree, Roedern meets the singer Maria Raven. The two feel connected from the very beginning, a fateful, invisible bond that seems to chain the two very different people together. For the first time, Dietrich von Roedern experiences something like passionate love.

Berlin, 1890: Werner Ludtke is only nine years old, but this son of a shoemaker is already in love with his playmate, Felicitas von Graefe. At first, her father just laughs about this infatuation; but as the children start to grow up, the class-conscious gentlemen doesn’t find this crush all too swell. Werner’s mother has a solution: her son must join the Army and go far away from Felicitas.