Brasch—a legendary name that represents one of the most sensational German families. Director Annekatrin Hendel presents a portrait of three generations of the Brasch family as a microcosm of the social tensions that were raging on a large scale in European history: between East and West, art and politics, communism and religion, love and betrayal, and utopia and self-destruction.
 
In the late 1940s, the Brasch family is proud to live the dream of German socialism in the Soviet Occupation Zone. Horst Brasch—a Catholic convert of Jewish descent and passionate anti-fascist—is helping to build the East German state, even though his wife, Gerda, won’t consider it home. Their son Thomas is a budding literary star. Like his father, he dreams of a more just world; but like his younger brothers Peter and Klaus, he becomes critical of the way in which socialism is being implemented. In 1968, the generations clash in East Germany, as elsewhere. Horst turns Thomas over to the authorities, unwittingly triggering the end of his own career in the process. 
 
The film includes appearances by well-known East German contemporaries, including author Marion Brasch, actress Katharina Thalbach, author Christoph Hein, singer/songwriter Bettina Wegner, film producer Joachim von Vietinghof and writer and painter Florian Havemann.