Austrian mountaineer, Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Llaso, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

The Count of Hohenlodern and the forester Susanne, his ex-lover, are after a psychopathic poacher. Leni has completely different problems. She is caught between two men, her husband Werner and his brother Karl. When Werner's ex-lover Irmgard suddenly turns up in the village and Leni's children get on the poacher's trail, the situation escalates and a dramatic finale ensues ...