On a Berlin construction site, the former editor-in-chief Karin and her journalist Rommy happens to witness a fatal accident. From Taras, the accident victim's brother, they learn that this is not an isolated coincidence: The Eastern European workers who toil on the construction site for cheap wages have to do their day's work under the most precarious conditions and beyond give a large part of their wages to shady "intermediaries".

June 17th 1953, Frida’s 8th birthday, was to be a celebration, but instead tanks are rolling through the streets of East-Berlin. Frida and her mother are waiting for the birthday guests, but they won't come today. Nor does her father return from the demonstration, and Frida’s mother slowly begins to lose control. Outside, protests turn into a political revolt and the revolt is brutally crushed.

Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss, crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.