For the "Festival of good ideas" that is to take place in their residential quarter the musically enthusiastic young Bum wants to rehearse a music show along with his friends. With pans, cans, hooters and other junk they make music. Some adults get angry about that. Others like the second-hand dealer Dohlenei and Mr. Kling from the symphony orchestra help the children to make their fantastic idea come true.

On a barren and stormy island, fishing families eke out a meager existence on what they can catch during summer, and what washes ashore during winter. But little has been washing ashore of late, and their situation worsens. Elders recall how twenty years ago, when the lighthouse keeper’s beacon went dark, a cargo ship broke apart on the cliffs. It proved a bountiful accident for the fishermen. Today people on the island view the conscientious lighthouse keepers with evil hungry eyes...

Having been happily married for ten years, Gerda Wagner, devoted mother and housewife, suddenly gets it into her head that she would like a career as a pop star. She had singing lessons in the past and her voice is still beautiful. A chance meeting with the idolized Italian singer Fabiani, revives her stage fever - much to the annoyance of her husband Gustl Wagner, head of the records section at a department store.

A car factory in the GDR. During a test ride there is a major accident. One driver is dead, another is seriously injured. The investigation reveals: sabotage.

Kurt Kars, the young, enthusiastic but rather inexperienced captain of a fishing vessel, lets his ambition drive him into a risky venture. According to a newspaper report, there are excellent fishing grounds in the Arctic Ocean. Against the orders of the combine, he heads for them. A collision with drift ice puts the crew and ship in extreme danger. Kurt proves his worth in this emergency situation, but is called to account on his return. Initially, he wants to resign out of defiance, but then comes to his senses, realizing his guilt. The older captains, who have always kept their fishing grounds a secret and hardly ever passed on their experiences to the collective, realize that they too were not entirely innocent in the "Kars case".

The magnificent cow Senta has escaped from an LPG. Matuschek, a single farmer, joins the search. However, the valuable animal is not found and is believed to have strayed across the border into Poland. Meanwhile, Senta is in Matuschek's barn. His maid Mathilde and neighbor Dattelmann have captured her and brought her there. Matuschek conceals a letter to Poland because of the supposedly border-crossing cow and is embarrassed when the cattle farmer Franze Flohr discovers the cow in his barn. Nevertheless, Matuschek and Franze become a couple who also become closer to the LPG.

Hatifa is tired of her difficult fate and escapes from the place of her enslavement, a quarry in the desert. There she wanders around in freedom, but ultimately helpless, without water or food. Shortly before dying of thirst, she is saved by the sage Simsal, who is traveling with a caravan of the merchant Ganem. Hatifa quickly makes many friends, including the young servant Hodja. Only to him she confides her secret. The girl had to keep the fact that she was a slave to herself. After all, anyone who helps escaped slaves is mercilessly threatened with the death penalty. Out of consideration for the caravan, they both flee, but are soon picked up by Ganem. When he realizes that he can make a lot of money with Hatifa, he sells her again to a quarry.

Spain 1936: Despite the victory of the Popular Front, nothing has changed for the peasants; the grandees continue to oppress them. The poor peasant son Pablo fights back and encourages the others to demand their rights. The grandees flee. Students from Madrid arrive and help the rural population to democratize. Pablo falls in love with Magdalena and learns to read and write from her. When Franco begins his bloody attack on the young republic, they defend the village together. When Magdalena dies in a bombing raid by German planes, Pablo begins to hate the Germans. However, fighting together with the International Brigades, he realizes that there are other Germans too, and that they share a common enemy.

Schwalk, the new shaft foreman of a road construction brigade, is a go-getter and used to success - both at work and with women. But this time things don't go so smoothly. Although he initially has an easy time with the brigadier Erika, who falls in love with him, things come to a head at work. His ambition to win a competition causes him to slip up during road construction. Erika is outraged by his selfish behavior and suspects that he is just looking for an erotic adventure with her. She turns her back on him. However, Schalk recognizes his mistakes and does everything he can to make up for the damage - to the building site and to Erika. The road is handed over on schedule.

After the second World War, Dresden has a lot of reconstructing to do. To get the cigarette factory he once worked for running again, Kalle has to travel to Wittenberg - the only place where carbide can be found. Once there, Kalle find himself in the unfortunate situation of having to hitchhike his way back to Dresden, transporting seven heavy barrels of carbide. However, his inventiveness and optimistic attitude help transform the grueling task into an adventurous, entertaining, and funny journey.