Germany, 1945. In a small provincial town on the Thuringian-Bavarian border, people are waiting for the war to end. Young aristocrat Anna must take charge of the family estate.

1946. Tannbach is chucked between the hands of the Americans and Russians, and the lives of those who live there are all thrown into doubt.

1948. After the Americans advance too far, the Russians take back control and with them comes a new regime. The divided town is thrown into disarray when they begin work on the policy of dispossession - reassigning the land owned by the few to the many. Is the approach too hard-lined, or will it win over the people of Tannbach? Residents try to organize their lives under the new conditions.

The Tannbach - a narrow trickle that has separated Bavaria from Thuringia for centuries. Who lived on which side of the stream was of little importance to the farmers there - until 1945.