In 1921, we follow two women - Marie and Grete - from the same poor Viennese neighborhood, as they try to better the lives of themselves and their families during the period of Austrian postwar hyperinflation.
On New Year's Eve, the convicted murderer, Strong Henry, escapes from prison and collects his son from the orphanage. When he breaks into a local manor to get some milk for his child, he is surprised by a young woman, Eva. Out of pity, she decides to help the stranger, but unfortunately some of the manor's other occupants wake up and call the police. Fourteen years later, Henry is released from prison. Convinced that Eva betrayed him, he sets out to take revenge and find his son.
Not long before marine officer van Hauen goes off to war and heavy-heartedly leaves his family, he coincidentally discovers that his wife has a secret liaison with the dubious Count Spinelli. What the van Hauens do not yet know, is that the sleazy Spinelli has a hidden agenda. (stumfilm.dk)
French revolutionaries had swept into Prussia to wreak havoc, and now Napoleon marches in to inflict sad defeats on the Queen's troops, in the conflict between 1806 and 1807.