Set in the interwar period in Germany, "Three Comrades" is the story of Robert Lohkamp, whose somewhat disillusioned outlook on life is due to his horrifying experiences in the trenches of the First World War. He shares these experiences with Otto Köster and Gottfried Lenz, his two comrades with whom he runs an auto-repair shop. When Robert meets a beautiful and mysterious young woman, Patrice Hollmann, his nihilistic outlook slowly begins to change.