Police chief Horst Krause and his sister Elsa have been looking after the inn in Schönhorst in Brandenburg since his well-deserved retirement. It would be all good if Elsa wasn't suddenly so forgetful.

A German communist wrongly accused and sent to a labour camp has to keep her past life hidden for the sake of her and her family’s freedom.

The young actress Käthe is not 18 when she conquered Berlin's theater stages. Privately she finds her luck alongside the famous artist Max Kruse, but the wild marriage is considered scandalous and has a negative effect on the sale of his art. Thus, Käthe moves without him into an artists' colony on Monte Verità on Lake Maggiore. Out of necessity, she creates a doll that has never been seen before: with a natural expression and vivid facial expressions. What follows is a blitz career. But the phenomenal success of their handmade dolls causes unpleasant imitations - their company is about to go out.