11-year-old Christian lives with his Italian mother Gioia in poverty on the island of Ischia. His German father died in a rescue mission before Christian was born. The kind boy had an unremarkable and calm life until, one day, his grandfather Carl Schneibel finds him. Schneibel is a wealthy businessman who had never seen Christian before. Since the old lonely man has no heir, he decides to take Christian in and offer him a good education. Schneibel has never been on good terms with his son and never liked his son’s choice of wife, so he decides that Gioia must not come along. Despite, Gioia does not wish to obstruct her son’s future and allows him to go. Thanks to his good nature and his kind ways, Christian wins the heart of his grandfather and changes his life for the better.

Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.