A building unit of recruits comes to Ingolstadt to construct a bridge. The military presence stirs up the idyllic town. The maid Berta (Hanna Schygulla) falls in love with the ordinary soldier Karl (Harry Baer). The latter does not really get too excited over her as – unlike all the others – she is not willing to sleep with him right away. Berta on the other hand does not really like her employer’s son Fabian (Rudolf Waldemar Brem) who feels entitled to erotic experiences with the personnel. The recruits suffer under the lash of the field officer (Klaus Löwitsch) who compensates his obsession with his masculinity by abusing his subordinates.