Dr. Dieter Bartels, the star surgical resident, spares 2,000 DM on a Jugendstil vase for his chief’s 60th. Unbeknownst to him, the chief has already acquired a pricier version and dashed Bartels’s purchase. Humiliated, the chief withdraws his support, sabotaging Bartels’s career. Left with no prospects, Bartels resigns.