The series (11 episodes) tells the story of the village Schabbach, on the Hunsrueck in Germany through the years 1919-1982. Central person is Maria, who we see growing from a 17 year old girl to an old woman, and her family. The family, like the rest of the German people live through the crises after WW-I, the rise and fall of Nazism and WW-II, and the rebuilding and the following prosperity of the village (as a symbol for the whole country) after WW II.