The Struutz family return from holidays after the fall of the Berlin Wall to find their home being bulldozed to make way for a golf course. It gets worse when Udo inherits a nearly-bankrupt garden gnome factory and the corrupt mayor starts chasing Udo's wife. Salvation is sought through the dubious influence of the charismatic Charlie, whose half-baked philosophies ("Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose") are based on tired old Western rock songs and a minimal grasp of Zen.