Ludwig von Krugen, a young Berlin University graduate, catches the eye of Prussian leader Bismarck, who decides he would make a good spy and encourages his involvement with a Danish princess to increase Prussia's influence in the surrounding countryside. After becoming a professor at the University of Berlin and assisting Bismarck's inventor, Dreyse, with the invention of the needle gun, Ludwig joins the Guard Corps and becomes involved with a Minor Lady in Waiting to the Empress Augusta, Natalie Amalie Rosalie Julow, who agrees to flee with him to Vilna Russia to start a new life away from conspiracy. After years of life in the countryside, the family of five loses their livelihood in Russia and decides to immigrate to America in the late 1800's. This is the tale of their life struggles and Ludwig's romantic involvements that always seem to create strife within his family.
