It was made for German television and originally aired in 1973 as a two-part miniseries.
The plot revolves around railway station master Xaver Ferdinand Maria Bolwieser, who is unwittingly cuckolded by the town butcher and a hairdresser.
Critic Vincent Canby, in his 1982 New York Times review, said the story, which is set in the fictional Bavarian town of Werburg in the 1920s, was reminiscent of Madame Bovary.
The theatrical cut had been finalized and approved in 1977, but the release was postponed due to legal and commercial reasons.
[2] In the credits, Fassbinder, who edited the film with Juliane Lorenz and Ila von Hasperg, was billed as a cutter under the stage name "Franz Walsch".