The book describes the fate of a young man, Wilhelm Thurnagel, a Russian German, whose parents, who had already submitted documents for resettlement, died a few days before leaving Russia. After moving to Germany, Wilhelm ended up in the city of Gelsenkirchen, located in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Germans treated Wilhelm, who still spoke German poorly, as a foreigner, but he got a job, learned the language and wanted to become an engineer. Before leaving Russia, he was a candidate for the youth national football team. When this became known, and he showed his skills in games for the team of the company for which he worked, serious German clubs became interested in him. In Gelsenkirchen, the young man met and fell in love with Marianne, but the girl’s father, an innkeeper and a fan of the famous football club Schalke 04 in Germany ", objected to continuing the acquaintance, since he considered the young man an unsuitable match for his daughter...