When Jacob Koerfer built a number of large structures in the Rhineland at the beginning of the 20th century, he laid the foundation for a long-lasting family business. The Koerfer house soon had numerous residents and many stories to tell. However, early on, it was no longer Jacob who directed the fortunes of the company, which is still located in the Cologne Hansahochhaus today, but his eldest son Jacques. Following in his footsteps, Henning Köhler traces the history of the German-Swiss family to the present day and takes us into the heart and complexities of a changing bourgeois world.