A Prussian novel set in two time periods. Adrian von Bornberg-Hoheneck, a descendant of the last branch of an old Prussian noble family, encounters a man with the same surname while studying in Cambridge, but he knows nothing of an existing side branch. Where does this second family with the same name suddenly come from? Adrian's family lives in the Taunus, while the other man's family resides in Brazil. Both know little about their families' pasts. They eventually embark on a quest to trace their grandfathers' homeland, the former Ermland-Masuria, and make incredible discoveries in their research of the family chronicles.