The children Sonja and Helmut Schmitt have lost their parents in a car accident. At first, their grandmother takes over the supervision and care of the two. When she no longer can take care of that due to her health, mayor and brewery operator Gassner provides them a new home. By doing this, he secures respect and approval in the village. What really happened isn’t suspected by anyone: The egocentric Gassner let his underage daughter drive his deregistered, medium-green old Mercedes. During that ride without a license, she caused the accident and forced her father to do an outwardly “good deed”. Because, if the truth came to light, Gassner would have to fear a defeat in the upcoming mayoral elections and damage to his reputation.

The film follows Kaspar Hauser, who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.

A group of young people become involved with the kidnap of a local politician with the aim of halting construction work on a nearby nuclear power plant.