Grandpa Lörke is preparing for a contemplative, quiet Christmas Eve. But nothing comes of it, because his daughter Anne informs him that his 17-year-old granddaughter has disappeared.

In 1988, the East Berlin homicide squad again and again encounters crimes that - according to the opinion of party leadership and state security - do not exist in socialism.

Young Elisabeth goes on a country trip with her mother, her friends Reinhard and Erich, their parents and the pastor. While the adults prepare a picnic lunch, the three youngest members of the group are asked to look for berries for dessert. The dutiful Erich eagerly collects them, while Elisabeth and Reinhard set off together in search of fruit. They find a hiding place they had built years ago. Although they still love each other, Elisabeth is sad. Reinhard will leave the next day to study in another city and will only visit her rarely. She doesn't know how she will go on living without him. She picks him a water lily as a memento and he gives her a goldfinch in a cage.

The 18-year-old construction worker Schultzendorf, known as Schulle, sets off for Berlin from his home town of Ankershagen. He is taken with the Marzahn construction site. He dreams of making archaeological finds there. He searches every excavator load for treasures, which not only earns him ridicule, but also the anger of his colleagues because he delays the work. They try to change his mind and get him a wife. This fails, but Schulle finds one himself - the slightly older Helga, who needs his help to get away from her divorced husband. Once she has succeeded in doing so, she breaks away from Schulle, whose youthful impetuosity unsettles her.

After the Nazis take over political power in Germany, the father of Rosi and Hansi, a member of the communist party, must hide from the police. One thing he left behind is a watch which might contain a message.

After a painful divorce, fashion designer Christina Tolliver quits her job and moves to Dorset. Her new neighbor, the charming forest manager Stephen McDowell, helps Christina move in. Juliet jealously watches as the two grow closer. Stephen was briefly involved with Juliet, the wife of his critically ill employer, Jonathan Pierce. When he finds out about their affair, a momentous argument ensues.