Schultze has spent his whole life in a small town in Saxony-Anhalt near the river Saale. The town’s only distinctive feature is a huge mountain of potash slag from the neighbouring mine. Schultze’s life, divided between work (below ground) – to which he owes his chronic cough – and the pub, the allotment , folk music and fishing, is rudely interrupted when he and his mates Manfred and Jürgen are made redundant.

As entropy sets in and maintaining the daily routine deteriorates into a farce, Schultze discovers a life on the other side of the hill. From his polka-powered accordion, the amateur musician coaxes the fiery zydeco music of the Southern States which threatens to disrupt the respectable anniversary celebration of his local music club. Faced with the choice of sliding back into the old ways or ending up as the local freak, Schultze makes a decision which will take him into the swamps and bayous of Louisiana … and back again …