Born in 1889, Albert Linnecke has been a teacher in the rural village of Rindtorf for 34 years. After serving in WWI, he begins to chronicle the events of the village in his diary. From the turbulant years of the Weimar Republic – marked by inflation, the bad economy, and nationalism – through the years of the totalitarian Nazi regime, up to the emergence of socialism, Linnecke was a witness to all of German history.

As the years go by, Linnecke describes his teaching methods, school field trips, and personal journeys in Germany, which are illustrated here with the help of photos and interviews in this documentary about the numerous changes over the last century within a small village in East Germany.