Fritz Jüterbog and Ottilie von Henkeshofen love each other, but the difference in class is too great for Ottilie's parents to give their consent to a marriage. And so Fritz sets out for America and returns from there 20 years later as a made man to ask again for Ottilie's hand. But in the meantime - in the belief that Fritz had long since forgotten her - she was married appropriately, but very unhappily.