The frame story shows Andreas, a middle aged man, sitting in a train and reminiscing about "Piroschka".

The main story starts with him as a young university student travelling on a riverboat along the Danube, on his way to spend several weeks with a host family in the small Hungarian village of Hódmezővásárhely-Kutasipuszta.

On board he meets and befriends fellow German Greta, who is on her way to a vacation on Lake Balaton.

The next day, after a long train ride, Andreas arrives at Hódmezővásárhely-Kutasipuszta and is cordially welcomed by his hosts, doctor Johann von Csíky and his wife Ilonka, and by many others including István, the station master.

The next day, when exploring the village and taking pictures, Andreas, who does not speak Hungarian, meets a feisty girl who does not answer his questions in German.

When he learns that the girl, who is István's daughter Piroschka, is in fact the best student of German in the village and understood him perfectly, he is embarrassed.

The frame story then ends with Andreas explaining that he never was able to return but that this way he will always remember Piroschka as "young and sweet."