A death, a funeral service, a priest, a mourning society. The funeral service for Gernot Steinfels, patriarch of a medium-sized German company, who died peacefully at the age of 94, could have gone off without a hitch. Could...
The new managing director in spe, Horst Bohne, organizes the funeral service for the company and orders, among other things, a funeral wreath with a mourning ribbon on behalf of all the employees. Horst Bohne doesn't know what trouble this ribbon will get him into, as the text on it reads: "In deep mourning. Your employees".
When all the employees see the ribbon shortly before the ceremony begins, his female employees are extremely confused. Why not "... and female employees."? Or employees or coworkers? The grieving congregation - above all the future boss - quickly lurches from one linguistic misstep to the next, leading to a micro-aggressive cultural debate about gender issues, sexism and politically correct behavior. The pastor's attempts at conciliation come to nothing, while the company's management is caught up in a highly topical and pointed battle of opposites.