When Czech nurse Jan Kraus is charged with the care of 99-year-old Wenzel Winterberg, a Sudetenland German expelled from his Bohemian homelandafter the Second World War, Kraus believes that their time together is limited but a casual remark brings life to the old man who becomes obsessed with uncovering the fate of his lost love. When Czech nurse Jan Kraus is charged with the care of 99-year-old Wenzel Winterberg, a Sudetenland German expelled from his Bohemian homelandafter the Second World War, Kraus believes that their time together is limited. But a casual remark from Kraus one night sparks a new life in the old man who becomes obsessed with uncovering the fate of his lost love, Lenka Morgenstern. Kraus is the dragged along by Winterberg on a meandering train journey from Berlin to Sarajevo, all the while dealing with Winterberg's regular 'historical fits'. There only guide is Winterberg's Baedeker for Austro-Hungary from 1913 - the last edition ever issued.