The film tells the story of the smelter brigade of a steel mill whose members are connected by a strong comradeship. Among the workers are, for instance, young Rolf, whom everybody just calls "Lachtaube" and who always comes through for his co-workers, or the likable Hubert, who works as a simple smelter again after being dismissed as the head of the steel mill. Then, there is also the stubborn Manfred, who should have become a brigadier long ago because of his experience and his competence, but this privilege is refused to him because Manfred is not a party member. Ironically, it is Manfred who hears by accident about the plans of the mill to close down the old Martin furnaces – and to lay off the smelters. When the other men learn about the plans they enter the barricades for their jobs and force the plant′s management to face the workers′ demands and criticism.

In 1596, the Dutchman Willem Barents sets sail on a long voyage with two ships to find a north-eastern sea route to China for the Amsterdam merchants. Ice masses and storms force the prudent navigator Barents to separate from Rijp, the captain of the second ship, so that he can organize a rescue operation in Holland. Trapped in the polar winter, Barents and his crew hope for help...

When twin brothers Georg and Steffen look a little too deeply into their glasses one day, they decide to swap roles for 14 days. Georg is the manager of a large department store and Steffen is a writer. The two experience bizarre situations: The department store director is adored by a saleswoman with a passion for literature and has to report on his literary work as the guest of honor at a brigade meeting. He is also short of ideas for the lively stories he is supposed to write. The writer, on the other hand, is not very familiar with the bureaucratic customs of running a department store. He allows all the sales assistants to take their housekeeping day at once, approves 3,000 marks for decoration purposes and approves of all departments of the department store being open until 8pm.

In a small town, everyone has tried to forget what happened shortly after WWII. That is, until a stranger finds a book that Jadup (Kurt Böwe) gave to the young refugee Boel (Katrin Knappe), who resettled in the town over 30 years ago. Painful memories about Boel and the post-war period begin to surface and shake up the whole town. Boel vanished back then and nobody knew why. Word spread about a rape and some tried to blame a Russian soldier. Jadup, the town's respected and popular mayor, remembers, though, how he mistrusted Boel and did not help her through this difficult time; HE didn't even notice THAT Boel loved him. Jadup's confrontation with the past gives him a new, critical view of his current situation and surroundings.

Germany at the end of World War II: Teacher Grübler lives in a small village in the Ore Mountains together with his 15-year old son Wolfgang. At school, the dutiful Grübler, a member of the NSDAP, teaches his pupils to volunteer for military service, but when his own son volunteers for the Waffen SS, he is nevertheless shocked and fears for his boy′s life. But Wolfgang starts to hate his father for his doubts: He thinks his father is a coward. In his desperation, Grübler chains and kidnaps his son to hide him in a dugout in the forest until the end of the war. In their shelter, father and son are fighting bitterly but when the Nazis who still believe in the "Endsieg" discover their hideout, Grübler sacrifices his life to save Wolfgang.

Eight-year-old Christian lives with his grandparents after the death of his mother. When his grandmother falls ill, grandfather Meschka wants to take the boy to live with his aunt at the Baltic Sea. But Christian is against it. On the trip, the two develop a new relationship that changes everything.

University ice-sailing trainees face a hostel fire when caretaker Krenzel rescues Captain Klaus’s swapped suitcase, barring him from travel due to a stolen Hogarth print inside. X-rays reveal a hidden engraving; detectives Hübner and Lindt expose forger Sander and Krenzel. After Krenzel’s sabotage fails and both are arrested, Klaus is exonerated and rejoins his team for the international regatta.

It seems as if Lena is a Sunday child: successful in her job and heiress to a hotel. What is strange, however, is that she doesn't know the man who left her a legacy in his will. She travels to the Thuringian town of Saalfeld to take a look at her inheritance and initially decides to sell the hotel. However, when the situation in the company changes for her, she changes her mind and accepts her inheritance in full. But running a hotel requires more than self-confidence and cleverness, as she soon realizes.

Ten days in the life of socialist politician Clara Zetkin. In August 1932, she is summoned from Archangelskoje near Moskow to open the new legislative session because at seventy-five, she is the oldest representative in the German Reichstag. Although she is ill and almost blind, she see this as her chance to make her voice heard amid the growing Nazi influence in Germany.

The invention of the chariot seems too daring for the Neanderthal experts. In collective consultation, they decide to reinvent the dugout canoe that has been known for ages. For this reason, the Neanderthals had to hump their way through life for quite a while.