Berlin in the 1930s - Adolf Hitler comes to power, communists and social democrats are persecuted, books are burned and Jewish citizens are ostracized. The outwardly shiny façade of Berlin, the capital of the Reich, reveals nothing of the unequal struggle of young people against the increasing oppression...

A boy who was once a perpetual outcast finds friends in a new boarding school. United with his new peers, he gets involved in a heated rivalry with a group of students from a neighboring school.

For his mockery a witch transforms the pert boy Jacob into an ugly dwarf, but teaches him at the same time how to cook. Jacob quickly becomes a master of his trade and is named the prince's first cook. Only the mysterious herb "sneeze-with-passion" is unknown to him. Based on a fairy tale by Wilhelm Hauff.

Mr. Meier, tired of his monotonous work, longs to be a hippopotamus. He feels like one and this causes him to clash with his environment. So he decides to return to normal human life. Secretly, however, he does not give up his wish. One day, when he comes close to a river, the transformation takes place.