LOGLINE

A disparate group of allotment gardeners in the Ruhr Valley must overcome their differences and work together to save their beloved garden from the threat of a takeover by a construction company.

SYNOPSIS

The “Stollenhof” allotment garden site is located in the heart of the Ruhr area. A place where not only vegetables grow, but also conflict, community and change. This is where the bossy but lonely allotment chairman Günther “Günni” Müller, who clings desperately to the rules of the community after the death of his wife, meets the lively Marković family, who bring a breath of fresh air to the site with their warm, unconventional manner.
Günni and Bogdan Marković in particular regularly clash - one is a pedantic fanatic with a penchant for rules and regulations, while the other is a fun-loving free spirit who prefers to improvise rather than keep records. Their heated arguments about garden gnomes, keeping chickens or barbecue regulations are a constant source of unrest in the association.
Until the construction company “UrbanHaven” shows up and wants to turn the allotment site into a new building complex. Suddenly there's more at stake: the allotment gardeners have to come together. New alliances are formed with Katja, an ex-IT specialist on a self-sufficiency mission: Günni recognizes Bogdan's value, Bogdan respects Günni's knowledge and Katja brings digital know-how to the resistance against the construction giant.
But when it turns out that Katja is having a relationship with Jens, the building agent and nephew of the evicted former tenant Dietmar Borowski, the trust she has painstakingly built up begins to waver. Old wounds open up and new doubts germinate. Will the allotment gardeners be able to overcome their differences and join forces to save their garden site from the construction company?
»Kleingartenleben« is a warm-hearted and humorous ensemble series about neighborhoods, upheaval and solidarity.