James Bauer

On the Dutch North Sea coast among fishing families. the wholesaler and ship owner Bos is only interested in profit and, out of pure greed, he risks the lives of his fishermen, who set out to sea to catch herring for him. One of his ships, a veritable coffin, is to set sail once again, and Bos has the rickety vessel patched up as best he can. To avoid losses in the event of a likely shipwreck, he takes out high insurance on the sloop. For old mother Kniertje Vermeer, this is no reason to prevent her sons Geert and Barend from signing on to the ship. An experienced old shipwright warns everyone not to board this "floating coffin," but no one heeds his well-intentioned warning.

Martin Hollmann, a young gardener meets his significantly older wife's daughter from her first marriage. Liesbeth Kröger is from his generation and they both get along well straight away. Shortly after his wife's death, Martin brings Liesbeth into his house as a housekeeper, and they both fall in love. The couple live together and soon decide to get married when Liesbeth becomes pregnant by Martin. But now the tragedy begins, because when registering at the registry office, Martin and Liesbeth, in the form of a strict bailiff, are officially declared that they have committed incest in accordance with Section 173 of the Criminal Code.

The film begins in a Berlin club with Trude Berliner singing as gangsters plan a burglary at a Hamburg hotel. At the hotel, Orbeliani leads the band while his wife Olga sings their son Jascha to sleep. During the heist, Jascha wakes, screams, and is knocked down. The gangsters flee to Berlin with stolen jewels and the unconscious Jascha. Homolka, one of the gangsters, refuses to abandon the boy, nurses him back to health, and pretends to be his uncle, claiming his parents are on an American tour. Homolka develops motherly feelings, facing ridicule from his friends and Trude Berliner.

Young Steffi goes to the city to take a job in a factory and falls for the son of the owner.