The play is set in the time of our Prince Regent Luitpold, who years ago went hunting with the dignitaries of the community of Gombach. When a stately stag ran across their path, His Serene Highness put on his gun but missed the stag. The animal has been allowed to live ever since. To commemorate this hunting trip, the people of Gombach celebrate an annual festival at which the Prince Regent's target is shot. The Prince Regent never misses the chance to shoot in the competition and of course he wins every time. But the truth is that he is a lousy shot and the people of Gombach find it harder and harder not to beat him every year.

After a long sea voyage, Christian Pointner has returned to his Bavarian homeland to take over the fishing business following the death of his father. In the village of St. Peter, no one believes that Christian will be happy on his father's estate, which is why interested buyers are quickly found. The sudden appearance of Martha Petersen, a “dubious character” from St. Pauli, throws the whole village into turmoil. This “lady” was hiding behind a marriage advertisement to which Christian had responded while still in Hamburg. Christian Pointner is so taken aback by her arrival that he pretends to be someone else, namely his fisherman's assistant Bonifaz. What Bonifaz now has to endure at the hands of the woman from Hamburg is beyond belief. Meanwhile, Christian has his eye on the pretty innkeeper's daughter Eva...