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.

Florian König is in his early 20s and lives with his mother. He assists her whenever he can. In the weekly newspaper "Alt Ausseer Bote" he reports on a foundling that has been handed in at the baby hatch of Bad Aussee hospital, and is subsequently dismissed by editor-in-chief Anton Grimmeisen. But when the editor Caroline Moosbichler hears about it, she demands Florian's immediate reinstatement. He is to stay on the story. In the process, he finds out that the mother acted out of pure desperation, and he gets on the trail of the love between Jutta Lechner and Thomas Gschnitzer. This love is the origin of the child.

In 1942, Friedrich Weimer's boxing skills get him an appointment to a National Political Academy (NaPolA) – high schools that produce Nazi elite. Over his father's objections, Friedrich enrolls. During his year in seventh column, Friedrich encounters hazing, cruelty, death, and the Nazi code. His friendship with Albrecht, the ascetic son of the area's governor, is central to this education.

August 1914. In the village of Öd, the maid Rumplhanni has a love affair with Simon, son of the farmer Hauser. Before he goes to war, she dizzy to him, she expects a child from him. Simon can persuade his parents to say goodbye to Hanni as a daughter-in-law. Thus she has achieved what she wanted: to come out of the state of an illegitimate maid and to become peasant woman with house and farm. Since the old farmer wants to give her but nothing written, Hanni sets out another plan ...