In a hospital, the Protestant pastor Heger and the Catholic chaplain von Imhoff are responsible for pastoral care. Cornelie, a senior doctor, has lost her faith in God after the death of her daughter in the war. One day, Cornelie's former lover and father of her deceased daughter, the actor Gorgas, turns up to visit his friend von Imhoff. During these days, Gorgas invites Heger's ten-year-old daughter to visit him at the fairground, where she has a fatal accident on the swing boat. Hegers seems to be broken by this stroke of fate, but finds support in von Imhoff, who even gives him the strength to stop Gorgas from committing suicide. Cornelie regains her faith and stays with Heger.

Lord Claverton, an eminent former cabinet minister and banker, is helped to confront his past by the love of his daughter, his Antigone.