Martin Hollmann, a young gardener meets his significantly older wife Hedwig's daughter from her first marriage, Liesbeth Kröger, on the deathbed. She is his generation and they both get along well straight away. Martin brings Liesbeth into his house as a housekeeper, and they both fall in love. The couple lives together and soon decides 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.