Archduke Johann falls in love with Anna Plochl, the postmaster's daughter. Johann and his royal arranged bride both decline a dynastic alliance advised by minister Metternich in favor of their loves.
Barbara Köster is suddenly alone: her baby daughter Leonie moved out when she was eighteen, as did her husband Walter years ago, who left the family for a younger woman. At 58, Barbara is left alone - alone in a house that is too big for her, alone in a job that doesn't fulfill her and alone with the stale feeling that she has missed out on something in life.
The Weimar Republic (1918-1933) is regarded as a departure into the modern age, which failed because too many opponents wanted to put the clock back in the past. The need in Germany was not yet sufficiently developed to face democracy and take political fate into its own hands.
