September 1974. At the Bösebrücke border crossing between East and West Germany Heike and Ulrich Molitor, along with their two little children Klaus and Miriam, are caught trying to escape to the West. As a punishment the parents are presented with a terrible decision: they will be permitted to leave for West Germany with their seven-year-old son, but their two-year-old daughter Miriam must remain in East Germany and will be given up for adoption. If the Molitors refuse these conditions, they will both be imprisoned for a year - and then their son Klaus will also be taken from them. This situation forms the basis for an emotional story in which various destinies in East and West intertwine, reaching a dramatic climax with the fall of the Berlin Wall.