Normal everyday life in an apartment building on Plantagenstraße in East Berlin is disrupted when a truck pulls up with the new tenants' furniture. And they include two small children - now, of all times, when old Matuschke's wife has just died and consideration should actually be shown for the widower. Even worse for Mrs. Tillack, however, is the fact that the entire male world seems to be after her 16-year-old daughter Katrin.

Gunnar, a bigmouth, hitchhikes from Berlin to Rostock with his brother's duffel bag. Right at the start of his trip, he meets well-mannered Teresa, with whom he continues the journey in an old motorcycle. On the adventurous tour that follows, which is fraught with many obstacles, they meet a wide variety of people. For example, a pastor on his way to visit a dying man, an actor whose car breaks down or the shady Mercedes-Hurtig.