In 1964, young Julia Welling is sent to Bavaria to create and manage a home for children. For the past of her father (a member of the Nazi party) Julia now defends the values of democracy and wants children to be treated like whole persons. Her first days in Bavaria are difficult because the people are very conservative: when she notices some parents beating their children, she steps in and they don't understand her intervention. She meets a young American officer who is organizing the end of US occupation forces in Germany; he helps her get a former military installator for her new children's home. She manages to install the home and begin her activities, but one night a violent farmer tries to burn down the building because she has protected his son.