Two families in East Berlin, the capital of East Germany in the days before the Berlin Wall came down, when the country was still divided. And these two families could hardly be more different: the Kupfer family plays an important part in the machinations of the East German state system, with father Hans and the eldest son Falk both occupying senior positions in the Ministry for State Security. The youngest son Martin is a police officer. In contrast, the other family - the Hausmanns – are from a dissident background. The mother Dunja is a songwriter, which means she is under state surveillance on a constant basis, while daughter Julia is officially considered superficial and politically unreliable. However, the fates of the Kupfer and Hausmann became inextricably bound up with one another, which leads to fundamental conflicts. When Martin falls in love with Julia this relationship shakes the foundations on which both families have constructed their lives. As a consequence, Martin and Julia find themselves trapped in the tense interface between their love, their families and their convictions. They have to fight for a life together against the pressure of external circumstances, which threaten to make their love for one another impossible. The stories of Romeo and Juliet and of Cain and Able provide the underlying motifs for this dramatic family saga.