Anna falls madly in love with an Italian violinist, who instead marries her sister Monika.

Emil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his stop with no money. It is up to him and a group of children to save the day.

Due to a lack of money, Hamburg pub owner Jonny Jensen brings two partners on board. As soon as the contract is finalized, the ex-sea bear is almost struck by a blow: the shady duo want to turn his quaint harbour bar "Herz von St. Pauli" into a demimonde pub with lingerie shows. Jonny can't let that happen!

Friedrich Schiller, a respected baker in Einbeck, enjoys a seemingly idyllic life with his wife and nine children. As he approaches his silver wedding anniversary, he nearly succumbs to a fleeting liaison with a spirited woman named Lollo. Though the episode ends harmlessly, it awakens a crisis of conscience in Friedrich, threatening the harmony of his devoted family.

April 1945. Because he stole two bars of chocolate, the soldier Rudi is sentenced to death by the court-martial judge Dr. Schramm. Rudi manages to escape from the firing squad at the last minute, and since the end of the war has been making a meager living as a street peddler. Years later, Dr. Schramm is now a respected public prosecutor. By chance, he runs into Rudi one day on the street. Afraid that Rudi will blow the whistle on him, Dr. Schramm wants to scare him out of town. He has Rudi arrested and bullied by the police.

Old Karl Knesebeck has long been head waiter and rules his waiters with an iron fist at the hotel. When the business passes into the hands of the heirs after the owner's death, he's in a difficult position. The unscrupulous Alwin makes advances toward Niddy, the owner's daughter, whose well-being Knesebeck watches over like a father. Alwin demotes the old man to toilet attendant – a tragedy that Knesebeck tries to salvage, especially since Niddy is about to marry Alwin and another man would actually be better for her...

The story of Brennende Grenze (= Burning Border) starts after the end of WWI. Polish franctireurs invade the German bordering regions which are to be given to Poland as agreed on in the post-war peace treaties. Luise von Willkühnen's manor is invaded by Ladislaus von Zeremski, his lover Nadja and their gang. They treaten the inhabitants until Luise's son kills Zeremski.

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.

Anna is a factory worker in East Germany, but her five-year-old son Jochen lives with his grandparents in the West. Anna wants him to live with her, so she abducts him. Along the way she meets Carl, who helps her cross the border, and they fall in love.