Nicolas von Bingen and Alex von Hemmerle, titled members of the German aristocracy, have been best friends since childhood. Both widowers, they are raising their children - Nick's two lively boys and Alex's adored teenage daughter - in peace and luxury on the vast Bavarian estates that have belonged to their families for generations. While Nick indulges in more glamorous pursuits, Alex devotes himself to breeding the renowned white Lipizzaner horses...

During the last perilous months of World War II, Vienna's famed Spanish Riding School is threatened by devastating bombing raids and indifferent Nazi commanders. Despite the dangers involved in evaculating the Lipizzan stallions, the school's director and a handful of heroic citizens attempt a daring plan to move the stallions away from the ravages of war and keep the historic breed alive.