Max Halbe

Germany, 1890: Having just gotten his high-school diploma, Hans leaves for Heidelberg to begin his university studies. But first, he wants to visit his uncle, Pastor Hoppe, in the small village of Rosenau. It's here that he again meets his cousin and childhood friend Annie. Annie is the illegitimate child of Pastor Hoppe's sister, who's left the upbringing of her offspring to the man-of-the-cloth. Conservative chaplain Schigorski continually tries to convince Annie to join the nearby cloister and thus "atone" for the sins of her mother. And it's getting more difficult for the fun-loving girl to escape the chaplain's harrassment. When Hans arrives, old feelings of lust come back to the surface.

For a long time, Paul Warkentin had heard nothing from his father. The rift had occurred when Paul, despite passing his exams at agricultural school, decided not to take over his father's farm in West Prussia, but instead to go to Berlin to work for a publishing house. Now Paul has received news of his father's death, and he must return to his hometown to take possession of the farm as his heir.

The river level rises, the dam can no longer hold back the floodwaters – it breaks. Panic erupts, everyone tries to save at least some of their belongings from the rising waters. Those who manage it flee to the farm of old dike captain Doorn. His sons, Peter and Heinrich, help wherever they can. In doing so, they save the local schoolteacher and his beautiful daughter, Renate, from certain death. Both men love Renate, but this rivalry is not the only reason the brothers become enemies. While Heinrich, a trained engineer, advocates for river regulation to prevent further dam breaches, Peter vehemently argues for reinforcing the dam. When old Doorn dies and Peter proves to be the sole heir, Heinrich leaves home.

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