A day before the beginning of the Second World War, a young resident of Bydgoszcz falls in love with a German teenager.

Andreas Jungmann has decided to become a professional soldier. He proves himself during his service with the NVA and feels in his element. He and his squad pass the endurance test ordered immediately after an exercise without any problems. His decision is made. But his wife Doris is expecting a child and no longer wants to do without him. She even threatens to terminate the pregnancy if Andreas does not cancel his notification. What will he decide?

Willi Zubrodt is delegated by his department to a parachuting course at the GST. As he is not very disciplined, has no respect for the instructors and does not fit into the collective, the instructors try to show him up and force his expulsion from the course. However, the attempts to prove that he had gaps in his theory and physical condition were a complete failure. Zubrodt manages to turn the tables each time.

35-year old ballet soloist Peter ends his career as a performance dancer and, on the occasion of his last stage performance, looks back on his career and his life. Peter′s retrospection is centred on the relationship with his professional and romantic partner Lotte, who he had once met at a joint performance. Peter remembers the landmarks of their love: their marriage, their child, and Lotte′s severe illness that threatened to end her career. In flashbacks, the film shows how the couple survived this crisis by working sacrificially to return to the stage and celebrate international success.

Josef Neumann has always been an outsider to society, and at the age of 30, he has already lived an adventurous life when he comes to the GDR. He was raised as a foundling by nuns, made an apprenticeship as a construction worker, went to the Foreign Legion, and was a seaman and a tramp. Now, he is working at the Warnow shipyard. Brigadier Bruno has a lot of sympathy and patience with the unconventional Josef, but Josef cannot fall in line with strict orders and again and again acts against the rules.