Every day they clean the dirty windows of their cars from the filthy film that has formed overnight. Measuring stations call a low smog warning. But one day a soccer player collapses on the pitch with breathlessness.

After his training as a policeman, the young, shy Köppe is transferred to a northern German town. Unfortunately, in an area where fox and rabbit say goodnight, there is little for a lawman to do. So Köppe kills time with the search for mysterious cow murderers, flirting with two attractive women and befriending a likeable petty crook.

A 60-year-old journalist falls in love with a young woman, abandons his wife and children and ends up falling into loneliness.