Walter Fendrich, main protagonist of this love story set in the post-war Germany of the „Wirtschaftswunder“ (literally ‘economic miracle’), has lived a changeful life. After the war he began several apprenticeships, tried his hand at being a bank teller, a carpenter and a sales clerk, and then unenthusiastically finished an apprenticeship as an electrician. Finally he finds a lucrative job as a mechanic for washing machines, but still he is not happy.
This changes when his father asks him to go and pick up a colleague’s daughter at the train station. Meeting the 20-year-old Hedwig becomes the turning point for Walter. He is determined to win her love and shows a determination that reminds him of his childhood when – growing up in humble conditions – he was possessed by a greedy and almost obsessive craving for bread. The hard-heartedness of his surroundings made him a thief until in the end everything he cared about was money. It would become his only reason for living and only the power of his love for Hedwig, leads him back to long forgotten moral values.
