Four hours by boat from the lightship Elbe 1 is the southern entrance and lock of the Kiel Canal. There, in Brunsbüttelkoog, is a seamen's home run by Klara Andresen. This is the main setting of the movie. In the sailors' wives' home, the wives of sailors wait for their return. Klara Andresen not only looks after the concerns of the waiting sailors' wives, but also her brother-in-law Gustav Andresen . Gustav has gone to sea as a ship's cook and now wants to get married. That's why he has placed a marriage announcement and is waiting for the reactions.

History of a Jewish family, the Oppermanns, in Berlin at the end of 1932, after Hitler has become the leader of Germany's strongest political party.

Strange things happen in the overnight express: according to a cryptic, obviously military announcement, the train's telephone link with the outside world has been cut off, access to the rear part of the train has been barred, the windows cannot be opened and the train does not stop at any station. While the train's secretary decides to get to the bottom of these ominous events, the other passengers react quietly and are annoyed by the young woman's anxiety. A young priest prevents her from pulling the emergency brake.

Wassa Schelesnowa, a manipulative matriarch who will stop at nothing to keep her business afloat and her family together. Infanticide, forgery, murder, blackmail, adultery, exile, and plain old-fashioned greed are the order of the day as Wassa's colorful clan tries to scheme its way out of the house and into financial independence.

A day in the lives of a Hamburger couple Jan and Renate. A few days ago they moved to Wilhelmsburg. There they have to build a child's room, but they lack the money.

The movie "L'instant de la paix" consists of three segments: 1. "Les rideaux blancs" (France) 2. "Berlin N 65" (West Germany) 3. "Matura" (Poland)