Bruno Hempf is a corrupt East German minister who is involved in a romantic relationship with Crista-Maria Sieland, a popular East German theater actress. Sieland is involved with Hempf only to boost her career, but she is also romantically involved with the playwright Georg Dreyman and actually has feelings for him. Hempf is aware of that, is jealous, and wants Dreyman out of the way. For that, he uses his powerful post to get Stasi to monitor Dreyman's apartment. He is certain that Dreyman, who is a part of the circle of high profile East German writers and thus knows many dissidents and other enemies , can be found guilty of something so that he can be jailed.