Shortly after murdering his professor, a young man encounters a sailor who offers him a position on his ship in exchange for 3 Danish crowns and his attention as he recounts his life story.

"Hermann mein Vater" is a companion piece by director Helma Sanders-Brahms to her 1980 film "Germany Pale Mother". The latter work was focused on the impact of war on a German family. This made-for-tv documentary follows Sanders-Brahms and her father Hermann on a trip to Normandy, where he was stationed as a soldier in 1940-41.