The village of Brovik on the coast of Småland in southern Sweden is transformed from a small agricultural settlement into a booming port due to the development of a granite quarrying by a German industrialist Klaus Willenhart in the late nineteenth century.

By the First World War his son Frans has taken over the business and identifies strongly with the local community in neutral Sweden.

By contrast his father, wife Vera and brother Gert are strongly committed to the German Empire and the cause of victory.

Frans bonds with Minka, the niece of a local stonemason who bitterly resents the wealthy German family, and they ultimately become lovers.

When a naval mine drifts towards the village, Frans detonates it with a rifle and is fatally wounded by shrapnel.