Set against the backdrop of post-war Germany, the screen adaptation of Siegfried Lenz’s short story released in 1949 shows a snapshot in time of Mr. Schwamm, an indulgent husband and caring father, who wants so save his depressed son. During the pivotal night of this mission, he has an odd encounter: Paired up by destiny, he confides his troubles to a bitter and insensitive stranger, who in the very last minute manages to turn the story into a touching parable for kindness and humanity.

A stubborn stage actor navigates single fatherhood, a strenuous theatre project, an adulterous love affair, and the confounding dreams awakened by a puzzling street encounter with a mysterious stranger.

Johannes, a doctor of physics, travels with his doctoral supervisor to a scientific congress in the Alps. A series of mysterious incidents occur on site. He meets Karin, a mysterious jazz pianist who seems to know more about him than she can know. Suddenly, mysterious deaths begin to pile up and Johannes tries to uncover the secret under the mountain.

When Mara, a social worker at a drug consumption room, meets the heroin addict Ole, the boundaries between work and friendship between to blur. Now she is faced with the question of whether she can handle the job or if her friendship with Ole will get in the way.

A scary serial killer is around: he cuts off young women's tongues. Commissioner Michelle Eisner notes striking similarities between the three victims so far: They were customers of the "loverboys". Behind this is a callboy ring, which also includes the attractive and inscrutable Lanou. Michelle reluctantly accepts the help of the experienced police psychologist Busch to clarify the case. He is a master at thinking his way into the psyche of the perpetrator. The main suspect for him is call boy Lanou. This suspicion is supported by the tabloid reporter Eva Hellmann, who is also researching the series of murders. While Michelle's environment became more and more vehement on LanousIf arrest is urgent, she is less and less able to evade his erotic charisma.

The name of car manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward is still synonymous with the West German Wirtschaftswunder. For hundreds of thousands the "Isabella" from Borgward is the first car after the war while Borgward secures thousands of jobs in Bremen. But in 1961, the company of the passionate constructor goes surprisingly broke.