Kee en Janus naar Berlijn

Summary

Kees and Janus, married for 14 years, have lived all their lives in the heart of Amsterdam's working-class quarter, the Jordaan. Two children of 10 and 14 complete their happiness. A shared prize in the lottery gives Janus 668 guilders, to be spent on a holiday in Berlin, where, according to his boss, everything is cheap and beautiful. Friends and relations see them off at the railway station when they set off for Germany, wearing their oldest clothes. In Bentheim, on the border, Kee has a row with a customs officer who wants to see everything she has in her ancient suitcase. They are just in time to catch the train to Berlin. Upon arrival, they hail a cab and indicate that they want to buy clothing. They are driven to Wertheim's department store from which they emerge escorted by four shop assistants laden with their purchases. They would look smart in their new clothes if only they knew how to wear them. They proceed to the Palace Hotel where a room has been reserved for them. A sight-seeing tour through Berlin brings them to a first-class restaurant where their lack of good manners amuses everyone.

In the streets, Kee and Janus lose each other. Janus is approached by a young woman with whom he returns to the restaurant. When Kee returns there and sees her husband sitting with the Berlin beauty, she makes a scene, screaming "Keep your hands off my man!". Only through the intervention of the security police can she be calmed down.

Back in the hotel - it is now past midnight - Janus celebrates his reunion with Kee by singing and playing his newly bought accordion. The noise awakens everyone in the hotel and, when Janus refuses to stop, he and his wife are thrown out. They take their suitcases to the station depot and spend the rest of the night in a cabaret.

Next morning, they decide to return to Amsterdam. They had intended to take presents for all their friends, but at the border most of their purchases are confiscated by the customs officers. Kee is furious and says that, back in Amsterdam, she will "get" the first Boche she meets. She adds that, if ever Janus wins another prize, she will go to China or anywhere else, but never again to Germany.