The married couple Joseph and Käthe Zeller live with their children Felix, Paul, Walter and Franziska on an Austrian estate. It's just after WW II. During a family outing, the father steps on a tell mine and is fatally injured. When arranging his legacy, Käthe realizes that her husband did not manage to do well. With the rest of her money she moves to Vienna with the children and buys a small laundry there.