The bricklayer Ulli has received a letter from his girlfriend Sabine asking him to come to her from Berlin as soon as possible. Sabine works as a sales clerk in a small village in the Zittau Mountains near the border with Czechoslovakia. However, when Ulli arrives at the station, Sabine is not waiting for him. He goes alone to the Fuchsbau inn. Sabine's friend Traudel only knows that Sabine has made her way to the station. When she notices that Sabine's room has been cleared out, she calls the police. All the police find in Sabine's room is a map showing a trip to Hamburg. They now consider Sabine to be a fugitive from the republic.