The Austrian Alps around 1900. No-one knows exactly how old the orphan child Andreas is when he arrives at the Kranzstocker farmstead. The God-fearing, but violent farmer takes him in as he’s cheap labour. But no sooner has Egger grown up than he joins a team of men building one of the first cable cars lines, which will bring electricity and tourists to the valley. With the money he’s saved, Egger rents a wooden hut in the mountains and creates a home for himself and his love Marie. But their happiness doesn’t last, the Second World War breaks out and Egger is sent to the front.