Young Walter Fendrich lives a middle-class life in a big city. The times of distress, when the possesion of a piece of bread was the measure of all things, belongs to the past. He has a steady job, a bank account, and is engaged to his boss's daughter. But Hedwig Mueller, a girl from hjs former home-town, enters his life and he becomes aware of the banality of his existence. He renounces order and security and, breaking his social ties, frees himself from his previous environment to share a future in freedom with Hedwig.