Brigitte Reimann

The fun-loving, 26-year-old architect Franziska Linkerhand (Simone Frost) works for a famous professor. Yet, she feels restrained by her dependence on him and longs to take risks. When her marriage falls apart, she moves to a small town for a fresh start. Franziska approaches her new life with vigor and idealism. Many of her colleagues have given in to the dictates of economic restrictions and prefabricated apartment blocks; but Franziska hangs onto her ideals and, as in her private life, is not willing to compromise…

In a German village in 1942, farmer Heinrich Marten is conscripted, leaving behind his wife Kathrin and sister Frieda. As the two young women cannot manage the farm alone, they are given help by the state: a prisoner of war. The Russian Alexei is emaciated and has to be nursed back to health by the women. Working together in the fields and on the farm, Kathrin and Frieda inevitably get closer to the Russian. The resolute Frieda is courted by the local farmer Otto Lange and is at the same time dependent on him. A love affair develops between Kathrin and Alexei. They make love in a shed. But the couple is discovered by a soldier and Alexej flees. He is caught by young Nazis and taken away.