Prince Sternenhoch is asleep, his head resting on a table. In his dreams, he hears the ghost of Helga singing to him. Waking up abruptly, he finds himself at a ball surrounded by guests dancing waltzes and satanic mazurkas to the wild accompaniment of bassoons and zithers. Helga’s ghost as turned into an ugly waitress. Sternenhoch woos her with a terrible joke, using the punchline to ask for her hand in marriage.
At their wedding feast, Sternenhoch and Helga enter the banquet hall with their guests. As they gluttonously indulge their appetite, Sternenhoch forces himself upon his wife right there on the table. Helga’s pregnancy instantly reaches full term and she gives birth amidst the leftover dishes.
In the silence of Sternenhoch’s castle, Helga murders her newborn baby. The next day, as if nothing has happened, she joyfully and lustfully goes on a date with her lover. The poet, however, locks Helga up in the tower, leaving her for dead.
Sternenhoch visits Kuhmist, a witch, who robs the half-mad prince and sends him into delirium. He experiences a kaleidoscope of images taken from a day in his diary, including four murders and three resurrections. Drinking from a bottle of hallucinogenic brew, Sternenhoch’s mind completely melts. He returns to the tower in his castle, where his dream from the ball comes true. Making love to the now-dead Helga, he finally finds peace in their union of bodies and souls.