Martina and Jürgen are lovers in the GDR. She is studying economics in Leipzig, he is preparing for his master's examination as a violin maker in Altneukirchen in Vogtland. While Martina deals with problems of modern science and technology in her thesis, Jürgen is committed to the traditions of instrument making. This leads to friction and strains the relationship. And when Martina meets her former childhood friend Peter Struck in Altneukirchen, the center of musical instrument making in the GDR, who works here as a physicist at the research institute, jealousy also comes into play.

Film adaptation of Berthold Brecht's play of the same name, in which he depicts everyday life in Nazi Germany in loosely connected scenes.