Berlin, 1923. Following the suicide of his brother, American circus acrobat Abel Rosenberg attempts to survive while facing unemployment, depression, alcoholism and the social decay of Germany during the Weimar Republic.
Mommsen Gymnasium director Taft secretly places his nephew as a spy with the difficult class of Pepe Nietnagel. During the celebration for the 100th anniversary, a simulated fire forces the school to shut down for a week. The director's attempt to get a tough teacher assigned by the department of education results in the exact opposite because of Nietnagel's intervention.
Principal Gottlieb Taft's twin brother Gotthold Taft partakes in the most recent prank by faking his death and promising a large inheritance to the Mommsen-Gymnasium and the principal. Of course, the inheritance is tied to many embarrassing conditions.
