Drama series focusing on the Bavarian Grandauer family and the historic events between 1897 and 1954. At the end of the 19th century, police officer Ludwig Grandauer marries the mother of his illegitimate son, Agnes. After some years, they move to Munich with their three children Karl, Luise and Adolf, where Ludwig works at the police headquarters called "Löwengrube". During the next decade, the children have to learn to care about themselves because Agnes and Ludwig both die. When Karl returns from World War I, everything has changed. Luise is married to Max Kreitmeier who owns a bakery, while Adolf joins a new nationalist party called NSDAP. Karl himself is more moderate and works for the police like his father. In the 20s, he gets to know Traudl Soleder, daughter of a bourgeois family whose brother Kurt fights against the upcoming Nazi movement. After their wedding, Traudl`s bugging mother also moves in.