Vera (Gudrun Landgrebe) would love to celebrate her fiftieth birthday in grand style, and she applies all her energies to achieving this goal. Of course, it would all be a lot easier without her husband Werner (Walter Kreye), her mother Charlotte (Gisela Trowe) and her grown-up children, each of whom have their own very individual ideas of what makes a successful birthday. Werner plans to surprise his wife with a trip around the world - but since he is terrified of flying, he attempts to overcome this phobia by means of autogenic training... which turns out to be a difficult task in the middle of a hectic household. Charlotte neglects no opportunity to show her daughter that she is still a child, and this too is hardly the best way to ensure that preparations for a birthday party run smoothly. When Vera and Werner’s children turn up, along with Aunt Irmgard (Irm Hermann), the chaos and confusion quickly mounts. The birthday party itself is launched with a huge misunderstanding when the local mayor comes along in order to congratulate Vera on her 90th (!) birthday. All right, let him come to the party too... But then the man Vera was in love with as a young girl arrives unannounced - Charly (Michael Mendl) - and proceeds to give her a present which tests the relationship between Vera and Werner to its limits. The fact that everybody present finally does wish Vera “Happy Birthday” from the bottom of their hearts is due primarily to the conduct of the birthday girl herself...