 Eleven-year-old Christian lives with his Italian mother Gioia in comparative poverty on the island of Ischia. His German father died during a rescue attempt before he was born. The friendly boy has a carefree upbringing until the day he is discovered by his grandfather Carl Schneibel, a rich industrialist whom he has never met. Since the lonely old man is looking for an heir, he decides to bring up Christian himself and provide him with a decent education, despite the fact that he and his son had hardly ever been on speaking terms. This is also the reason why he decides not to invite Gioia to his estate in the alps. Gioia agrees to send her son to his grandfather in Germany for the holidays, because she wants nothing to stand in the way, of her child s happiness. Thanks to his engaging, lovable manner, Christian finally manages to win over the embittered Carl. Gioia, however, remains hard and intractable towards Carl. It is only the intervention of Frau Klara, Carl s kind-hearted housekeeper, that the family is finally reconciled.