Eleven years ago, an 8-year-old girl disappeared from a small German town on the German-Czech border. Although her body was never found, nor were there any traces of blood or DNA evidence, a mentally-disabled man was coerced to confess to the crime. Even though he withdrew his admission of guilt two days later, the forced confession was enough to convince the ruling judge. The responsible investigator Altendorf was discharged so that the investigation could be sped along by another colleague.

A love triangle forms between post-Enlightenment writer Friedrich Schiller and two sisters -- one who became his wife, and the other, his biographer.

After WWII, Helene is ready to do anything to start a new life. As a young woman, she came to the exciting Berlin of the roaring 20s, wanting to become a doctor, and soon fell in love with a man named Karl. But the course of her life took a drastic, irreversible turn when the Nazis came into power.

Gwen has just discovered, that she's the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. Now she has to juggle with constant trips to the past, her relationships with Gideon and figuring out dark secrets surrounding the Circle.

Martin Behrens is a Middle East expert for the German intelligence agency BND. He obtains information leading to a U.S. drone strike on a wanted terrorist in Zahiristan. A few days later, there's a terrorist attack on a restaurant – the video claiming responsibility calls it payback for the drone strike. Freelance journalist Aurice, with whom Martin was having an affair, is among the victims – she was investigating corruption at the heart of the BND. Martin soon has to realize that in a world where big corporations profit from arms deals as well as from homeland security contracts, good and evil are sometimes hard to tell apart.

Sam and Anna are part of the hip, vegan, green, eco-friendly, upper-class subculture of Berlin. Anna is a successful doctor, and Nick works in advertising. However, life in Germany's capital is fast-paced and stressful, so the two of them decide to take the next step towards the ideal "eco lifestyle" and move out to the country. As they arrive, they find that life in the country is much less relaxing than they expected, as the rather eccentric locals keep them on their toes.