Aged hairdresser Hans Anton Schatz still lives at home with his mother and works in the small-town salon around the corner. He adores the florist Melanie, but she is engaged to a wild Ruhr proletarian. Shortly before the wedding, she is overcome with panic and persuades Hans Anton to take a bus trip to Berlin. Hans Anton blossoms in the big city and falls in love with an extroverted TV presenter, whom he pursues all the way to her show.