Sabine Wulff is almost 18 when she is released from the juvenile detention center. She doesn't want to return to her unsupportive parents or to her former boyfriend Jimmy, who got her into trouble by persuading her to steal cigarettes. She instead chooses to begin an honest life by getting a job and renting her own room.

Uncertainty, mistrust and sorrow torment the children and young people, war orphans, who find a temporary home in an abandoned castle in Thuringia in the fall of 1945. They are given a bowl of barley soup and a first inkling of safety, security and peace. The adults to whom they are entrusted must learn to cope with their new task as educators. Courage and self-confidence are necessary.

Seventeen-year-old apprentice Jonas, struggling with his ailing, proud father, pours himself into restoring a decaying ship on a Mecklenburg lake. Neglecting all else, he loses his girlfriend and support at work. After the boat burns, a reconciliatory vocational ceremony reunites him with his recovered father.