Josef Erdman arrives in Maribor, Slovenia, on the eve of World War II. Though claiming to be a salesman, it soon becomes apparent that Josef has no purpose in the town, and that a newcomer can expect nothing but distrust from the townspeople. Maribor is full of tensions that are played out in pub brawls and in the rivalry between the Slovenes and Germans at the top of the social hierarchy. Trying to fit in, Josef soon falls in with a group of engineers and begins an affair with Margarita, the wife of a friend; as Josef lingers without any obvious business, however, he draws the attention of the local police chief, who believes him to be a communist. The longer Josef stays, the more incomprehensible the town becomes, the further he falls, and the less certain he is of his sanity. Against this backdrop of ethnic hatred and personal descent, Josef witnesses the fiery shimmer of the aurora borealis and imagines the town has been set aflame -- an omen of the coming of war.