The well-known Lübeck merchant family has numerous adventures in Lübeck, while the plague takes many people and the Danes invade the country.

Northern Germany in the 15th century. The Melchiors are a well-off, successful merchant family in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. The head of the family is Knut (Hans Putz), who leads the family as well as the business and calls the shots. Together with Svea (Evelyn Balser) he has eight children. His two sons Eric (Wolfgang Schneider) and Richard (Thomas Stroux) regularly go on - sometimes dangerous - trading trips. From one of these trips, Eric brings the pretty Frenchwoman Lucienne (Françoise Dorner) with him, causing the house to become unhappy. But Agathe (Ulrike Blome), the merchant's daughter, also has a love affair that doesn't suit the rest of the family because it is immoral. Besides exciting journeys, the focus is also on trouble with the competition or confrontations with thieves and even pirates. The struggle for supremacy in the Hanseatic League is another challenge.

In the 15th century Lübeck, as a member of the Hanseatic League, was a powerful trading city. The Melchiors, a well-off and highly respected merchant family, reside here. As a councilor, the head of the family, Knut Melchior, was in contact with legations from all over the world. Thanks to his merits and diplomatic skills - for example, in difficult negotiations with envoys from the Danish ruling house - he rises to the position of mayor. As such, he not only negotiates for the return of captured merchant ships, but also has to solve other serious problems. Problems such as those posed by the outbreak of the plague.