A novelty in German post-war history: a young woman (Eva Rimski) becomes mayor in a village. She is efficient and enjoys respect, but soon enough two villagers disagree with her work. In her predecessor, a prominent farmer (Arno Paulsen), she has a bitter enemy. But even her boyhood friend (Reinhard Kolldehoff), who wants to marry her as he returns home from captivity, can not accept that his future wife holds such an office. The farmer uses the unauthorized building of a school to rally against the mayor. When that backfires he sets fire to the school - and gets his punishment in the process. The boyhood friend changes his mind by the decisiveness and qualities of the mayor, his girlfriend. He begins to accept the equal rights of the woman.