At the end of the 1950s, a former concentration camp inmate, the puppeteer Sebastian Fußberg, traveled across the country with his traveling theater. He takes in Achim, the grandson of his friend who was killed in Buchenwald. Achim could become his successor. The young Marianne, who, when she is not cleaning, lies in the beds of the builders in front of whom Fussberg and Achim are playing, also joins Fußberg. Even if the three of them get closer, the puppeteer with his traumatic past ultimately remains a stranger to the young people. In the end, Fußberg moves on alone again.