Jon Ewermann has reason to be pleased with his life: the German and Latin teacher is extremely popular among his students at a high school in Hamburg and he is respected and admired by his colleagues. The staleness of his marriage to Charlotte after more than twenty years is made up for by his numerous affairs. But then – on his birthday, of all days – Julie, a new colleague, arrives at the school. Julie is young, beautiful and mysterious. For the first time in his life, Jon understands the true meaning of love. When he realizes that his passion for Julie is reciprocated, he becomes determined to leave his old life behind him, and will stop at nothing in his struggle for a future with her.