冷杉溪是位於巴伐利亞和圖林根州交界處一個名叫莫德拉羅伊特的村莊。它在二戰末期被美國人占領，但隨後又被劃為了蘇聯占領區。蘇聯人在冷杉溪進行了大刀闊斧的土地改革。沒過多久，冷杉溪的主權被重新考慮。波茨坦會議後，分界最終被劃在了村中的一條小溪上，後來變為東德和西德的分界線。故事的重點放在了三個家庭，出場角色有土地被沒收的先代貴族史崔梭德和女兒安娜、投機取巧的納粹分子紹貝爾、在屠殺中倖免的猶太人洛特爾等等。三個家庭被國界分隔，最終親情也產生了無法消除的隔閡。

Revolving around the life of un-produced screenwriter Barnum Nilsen, The Half Brother is a dramatic family saga that offers an historical parable of 20th century Europe. On V Day, May 1945, as a continent emerges from war, Barnum’s mother Vera is raped in her attic in Oslo by an unknown man, leading to the birth of Barnum’s half brother, Fred. When Barnum is born five years later, to the man that Vera has since met and married, the Nilsen family, like Europe, is already splitting in two. Growing up together during the Cold War – Barnum with his father, Fred searching for his – the half brothers become estranged and Fred eventually disappears. At the film festival in Berlin in 1990, as the Wall is still coming down, Barnum learns that Fred has returned. Finally, as the true identity of Fred’s father comes to light, the two half brothers may once again be reunited.