The traveling carpenter Johannes Keinath is returning to his beloved Lake Constance for the first time in 20 years. He had once left an argument after he had struck down his brother Justus in a violent argument. As soon as he got home - his brother has still not forgiven him - the homecomer gets into a fight again: When two crooks attacked him after visiting the bar, the strong carpenter defends himself with all his might. Against his will, Johannes injures one of the crooks so badly that he believes he has killed him and fled out of fear. Disguised as a monk, he goes into hiding in a small lake village where "Brother Johannes" soon wins the trust of Pastor Arne Clausen. The Protestant clergyman is fighting to keep his dilapidated church, which is to be replaced by a modern motorway church. The support of the energetic monk is welcome to Clausen - Johannes can lend a hand, and his argument: "The church should be left in the village" is heard in the community.