In a small Franconian town, Werner Wild enters Georg Baum's store and wants to become a baker. "I like to eat good bread" - that's all he knows how to say to the sales clerk Gisela. But under the wing of Master Baum, the newcomer quickly becomes familiar with the intricacies of bread and pastry making. Soon the loner Baum finds himself increasingly confronted with a changed economic environment.

After a fight with her father, 15-year-old Carla sets out to find her mother, who ran away years ago. Her odyssey through Schleswig-Holstein, accompanied by a young musician, goes hand in hand with her growing self-awareness.

Three people rob a bank to help a day care center that's in debt. Wolf is captured, Werner identified, police suspect Christa is the third. She and Werner ask Hans, a clergyman, to launder the money and give it to the kindergarten. He refuses. They try Ingrid, Christa's friend, who tries to help, but the school rejects the money. When tragedy strikes Werner, Hans helps Christa bolt to a collective in Portugal. Ingrid visits her; their relationship makes the collective nervous, so she returns to Germany and ceases living in hiding. The police are still looking for her and so is a witness to the robbery, Lena, a bank clerk. Lena's interest brings Christa's second awakening.