An affable but naïve German count's determination to build a castle by the sea sets off a chain of events that end in disaster for his family, in an elegantly ironic realist masterpiece from the author of Effi Briest

As war between Prussia and Denmark brews over the territory of Schleswig-Holstein, a German nobleman is called to serve as a gentleman-in-waiting at the Danish court. Count Holk's life so far has been happy and simple: he married for love, and his pious wife and canny brother have managed his estate so well that he's even been able to carry out his dream, inspired by a romantic ballad, of building a castle by the sea.

But the expense of his architectural folly, the mounting political tensions in the air, and his rustic innocence all conspire to create a tragedy. Seduced by the worldly ways of the Danish courtiers, he begins an affair, and drifts ever farther away from his wife Christine. She, meanwhile, grows more and more serious as she watches the course of wider events. When they meet again in the country, will they be able to find a way back to the love they once shared?