Illustrates both the powerlessness of the ordinary worker as well as an intimate portrait of the joys and sorrows of a small group of people in the harbor section of Hamburg.

Musician Robert Sand is released from prison in April 1933, after serving five years for manslaughter. Disappointed not to find his wife Marie waiting for him outside the prison gates, he heads into the city. At the same time, Marie makes her way in the other direction. For one portentous day, they look for each other in the noisy city...

In Vienna of 1913 a young woman coming from vaudeville theatre circles stands before the wedding with a construction draftsman; this must move to the military and sends his bride on the country, so that she cannot be enticed to the stage. However, she does it and gets by an officer's love affair so in confusion that she commits suicide...

Heinrich George plays Henner who lives with his wife and child on a tugboat, going on the river to Berlin. There he meets the attractive Gescha (Betty Amann), and a story of love, betrayal and sadness ensues.

Venice Film Festival 1935