Benno Gütermann and his best friend/neighbor Axel Watzke are simple, happy bus drivers in the otherwise isolated Harz small town Wernigerode, until they are fired when car dealer Dieter Brausewetter's company abolishes the unprofitable line. The livelihoods of Benno (and his wife Tanja and preteen son Tommy) and Axel and his equally-happy family, are suddenly crushed and the locals are cut off from the outer world. Shortly afterward, Benno surprisingly inherits a million Euros from a frugal aunt, so he plans to buy and reopen the bus line to run it with Axel, and Brausewetter promises the old bus for free, so the community celebrates them as heroes, albeit everyone hopes for some of generous Benno's new fortune. Brausewetter, who is in financial trouble but hides it, promises his creditors Benno's million by becoming his new best friend, introducing him to the good life and high society, although Tanja had him promise 'nothing would change', but even Axel ends up bitterly estranged. Benno is tempted to invest his fortune in a joint venture with Brausewetter, who promises the chance of a lifetime in a bankrupt count's classic-car collection, which is simply too good to be true.
—KGF Vissers