Observing staunch moral attitudes, professor Traugott Nägler, his wife Marianne, and their swarm of children life a happy and idyllic life in a small town. But when their oldest daughter Atlanta inherits a house in Montevideo that belonged to the deceased sister of the professor, the family′s life is about to change dramatically. The local pastor manages to convince the Näglers to accept the inheritance of the professor’s fallen sister and to travel to Montevideo for the reading of the will. But the Näglers soon find out that the house in Montevideo and their residents in particular are far from consistent with the professor′s staunch moral attitudes. But on the other hand, the inheritance includes the house plus the amount of 250.000 dollars. But accepting the inheritance, the Näglers would have to make the same kind of "lapse" the professor had once condemned his sister for.
Based on the play by Curt Goetz. Remake: 1963, directed by Helmut Käutner.