Dr. Franz Duhr, a fashionable doctor in the feudal Austro-Hungarian spa town of Bad Ischl, is said to have "helped" a pregnant girl after a suicide attempt. When he then also wants to establish a home for unmarried mothers, the scandal is complete.

Christa Andres runs a home for troubled girls. With great dedication, she tries to help girls who have gone astray return to a normal life. She takes special care of Erika, who works as a prostitute and one day runs away from the home. Christa sets out to search for the girl in the red-light district. In doing so, she is haunted by the shadows of her own past. The educator herself used to work as a prostitute. When she meets her former pimp, he tries to exploit his knowledge in a perfidious way and blackmail Christa...