The Wood Baroness is set in the early 1950s and tells the story of businesswoman Elisabeth "Elly" Seitz, who has been chosen as managing director of a major timber processing company in the Black Forest. It is a dream come true for Elly, to be running her family‘s old-established firm. But even before the directors‘ meeting is over, CID Inspector Fröbe turns up and arrests her: an anonymous call to the police has accused Elly of having murdered her husband, Alfred Brauer, back in 1944. And her own son Hans makes a statement confirming her guilt.
Fröbe questions Elly for many hours, attempting to force a confession out of her and shed light on the mysterious events of the past. It becomes apparent that he is driven by some personal motivation in all this. During the exhausting interrogation Elly looks back over her life, which has been marked by a great passionate love, terrible losses and her struggle to keep the firm going and earn the admiration of her family.