Peter Kolle, a low-level clerk, and his wife Sabine have a happy marriage, but Peter lacks the necessary funds. Therefore, he secretly works on his invention at a friend's house at night. When his wife finds out, she angrily leaves their apartment and travels to Berlin to see her brother Alphons, to whom Peter had promised at their wedding that he would give up on the invention and to whom he had therefore given all the paperwork. Soon, they both long for each other again: Sabine travels home, Peter to Berlin. And eventually, they meet.