en Cuevana 3. In the wintry Baltics, a century is drawing to a close and with it the era of the old Junker aristocracy. Pastor Erwin Wenger falls in love with the beautiful Baroness von Werland. This love plunges him into serious conflicts of conscience, especially as he does not appear to be the young woman's only admirer. Her husband, the ailing Baron von Werland, seeks to be close to the pastor. And it is not only the baron's health and the old castle that increasingly deteriorate, but the man of God's moral stability also begins to waver ...