In spite of his blustering manner and his refusal to listen to what the patients have to say, Dr. Doppelsieder is highly respected in the Upper Bavarian town of Bayrischzell, because he (almost) always has the right remedy and effective advice ready for the sick. The only person he can't help is Pfundtner, the rich Guldenhof farmer. He wants a remedy that, after seven daughters, will finally help him and his wife to the longed-for farm inheritance.
Professor Mauthner, after many years of exile (having emigrated in 1933 to the USA), returns to Germany in 1948. He can in fact return to his teaching post, but the rejection and petty intrigues of his reactionary colleagues and students make his work almost unbearable.