A group of students spends the holiday on the island of Texel. Sip feels attracted to young artist Hans, while Annie is in love with Peter. The arrival of Maja, who has run away from her husband's family with her young son, plays havoc with Peter's feelings.

This government commissioned film -- made on the occasion of the forty year anniversary of queen Wilhelmina's reign -- chronicles the lives of two Dutch families from 1898 to 1938 against the backdrop of the social and political events of the times. It shows the emergence of trade unions, the troubled years of the First World War, the development of aviation and Schiphol airport, the Dutch East Indies and the lives of the Dutch royal family.