Crooks Hans Georg Pauler and Ulrich Raffcyk raid a savings bank branch in a Hamburg suburb at eight in the morning and take bank employees Anna Klages and Kirstin Bauer hostage. The police initially play for time; more and more people, including reporters, turn up. Pauler and Raffcyk very quickly realize that they can exert pressure on the police via the media and the public. Their demands, half a million marks and a fast getaway car, are met after Pauler is identified and his criminal record shows him to be an unscrupulous character. After fourteen hours, the bank robbers leave the bank unmolested with the extorted money and begin their getaway. Supplied with beer and stimulants, they head for Münster, where Raffcyk's brother lives - a journey with an uncertain outcome for the two hostages.