Bruno Stroszek is a West Berlin street performer who, freshly released from prison and warned to curb his drinking, heads to a familiar bar where he meets Eva, a prostitute down on her luck, and invites her to stay with him in the apartment his landlord kept for him. They are harried and beaten by Eva's former pimps, who insult Bruno, pull his accordion apart, and humiliate him by making him kneel on his grand piano with bells balanced on his back. Facing the prospect of further harassment, Bruno and Eva decide to leave Germany and accompany Bruno's eccentric elderly neighbour Scheitz, who was planning to move to Wisconsin to live with his American nephew Clayton Szalpinski.
After sightseeing in New York City, they buy a used car and arrive in a winter-bound, barren prairie near the town of Railroad Flats. There Bruno works as a mechanic with Clayton Szalpinski and his assistant, while Eva works as a waitress at a truck stop and Scheitz pursues his interest in animal magnetism. Eva and Bruno buy a mobile home sited on Clayton's land; with bills mounting, the bank threatens to repossess it. Eva returns to prostitution to supplement her wages, but it is not enough to meet the payments. She tires of Bruno's worrying and leaves him, accepting a ride with truck drivers bound for Vancouver.
A collection agent visits Bruno, who is now drinking heavily, and has him release the home for auction. Scheitz believes there is a conspiracy against them and sets off with Stroszek to confront it. They try to rob the bank in town, find it closed, and hold up the barber shop beneath it instead. With the $32 stolen they go grocery shopping across the street. The police arrive and arrest Scheitz without noticing Bruno. Holding a large frozen turkey and a shotgun, Bruno returns to the garage where he works, loads the tow truck with beer, and drives along a highway into the mountains.
The truck breaks down in a small mountain town and Bruno pulls over to a restaurant, where he tells his story to a German-speaking businessman. He then starts the truck and leaves it circling in the parking lot with a fire taking hold in the engine compartment. He enters a roadside attraction across the street and activates the coin-operated animal exhibits, then switches on a chairlift and rides it with his frozen turkey. After completing a trip up and down the mountainside, he passes out of view and a shot is heard. The police arrive at the scene to find the truck fully ablaze, Bruno's body still on the chairlift, and animals performing nonstop. The film ends with footage of a dancing chicken and other animals.
