Planned as a critical satire on the preparations for the shah's visit to Germany in 1967, the events captured in this seminal television documentary constitute a turning point in German history, culminating in the killing of the student Benno Ohnesorg.

Günter Walcher, 40-years-old, is a hardworking, apolitical West German businessman caught in a moral conflict. He is offered a promotion to become the head of a division—on the condition that he find a reason to fire Zacharias, a communist and the work council chairman.