Since the death of her husband, Gundula Glöckner has only lived for her work as a church geriatric nurse - and for her two children Michel and Lena. The supermother always wants the best for her offspring, which is why she can no longer see Lena getting into the wrong men over and over again. She decides to put in a good word for her daughter's happiness in love at the highest point and signs up for a pilgrimage to Padua. At the grave of St. Anthony, she wants to ask for a decent husband for her daughter. With this goal she is in good company, because the tour was designed by Pastor Schrotmann especially for Catholic singles. Invite participants to use the spiritual power of the sacred to find what they have lost: love. The grumpy bus driver Benno has mostly ridicule for his pilgrim passengers, but the small group of illustrious Lonely Hearts doesn't let that spoil their mood. The lively "Jumbo", for example, tries to flirt with Gundula before he starts his trip, which she deliberately ignores. 15-year-old Michel feels drawn to Violetta, who is as beautiful as she is biblical. And while the professional soldier Werner seems to find his Catholic dream women in his widow friends Rosi and Doro, the single parent Margitta wants to take a few days vacation from her pubescent children. As if fate wanted to play a trick on the happy pilgrims, the journey to Italy is interrupted again and again by mishaps and other complications. As if that weren't enough, Benno especially offended Gundula with his gruff manner. But as much as he gets on her nerves, she is strangely drawn to him. And finally Gundula also finds out why Benno hides his feelings behind a protective wall of anger and sarcasm. Sometimes fate leads one to happiness in a roundabout way. This is the experience of the heroine of the cryptic love comedy "Pilgrimage to Padua". The godly geriatric nurse goes to Italy to pray for her daughter - and unexpectedly meets a man herself who gives her life a new impetus. Gisela Schneeberger plays this woman with an inimitable mixture of spirited determination and kind hearted sensitivity. In Herbert Knaup as the grumpy bus driver she finds the perfect counterpart - and together the two form a wonderfully unequal dream couple. Also on pilgrimage: Bernhard Schütz, Petra Kleinert and Sybille J. Schedwill.
—ARD Das Erste
