Germany in May 1945: the war is over, men are returning home and a new life begins in the villages. After 12 years in a concentration camp, the "Red Shoemaker" also returns to his home village.
During the 1800s, Peru's government sends 2 envoys to negotiate peace with the rebellious Incas but a treasure-hunter bandit shoots the Inca ruler and his son, leaving the 2 envoys to take the blame for it.
In the years before World War II, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children and brings a new love of life and music into the home.