The Lübeck merchant Friedemann owes his crippled figure to a wet nurse "devoted to drink". He lives a secluded life with his three simple-minded sisters and his bedridden mother, loving only the theater and music. Only Gerda, the unhappy wife of the district commander of Rinnlingen, makes him blossom...

Based on a switched identity, in circumstances that are found in real life as well as fiction, this drama tells the story of two soldiers fighting together in World War I. Karl (Joachim Latsch) and Richard (Hans-Use Bauer) become close friends while serving time in a German POW camp. One day Karl manages a successful escape and goes to Richard's home where he seeks refuge posing as Richard. But Richard's wife Anna (Kathrin Waligura) has never given up hope that her husband is still alive -- a possibility that would shatter Karl's proposed new life. In fact, Richard did not die in the POW camp. This film shared the Grand Prix award at the 1985 Berlin Film Festival.

Berlin in the golden 20s. Like no other, the singer and cabaret artist Claire Waldoff found the right words for what the so-called “little people“ thought and felt. Her heartfelt songs with heart and snout triggered storms of enthusiasm and made Claire Waldoff famous. Kurt Tucholsky gave her the nickname "Sparrow of Berlin". With the beginning of the 1930s and the Nazi regime in Germany, the popularity of the Berlin original declined.

A story spanning three generations, from 1871 to 1945. When Gustav Wengler, a farmer’s son, returns from the Franco-German war in 1871, he goes to work for a precision mechanics and optical company, where he soon becomes a master craftsman. Wengler loyally promises the owner on his deathbed that his sons and grandsons will also stand by the company.

Twelve years after graduating from high school, Helmut Hausknecht's former class is planning a class reunion. Hausknecht, still a teacher, has heart problems. His former pupil, Wolfgang Lichtenfeld, now a senior physician and an excellent surgeon, operates on him. On his birthday, not only Wolfgang congratulates his former teacher and patient, but also Uwe Tolls. The two were rivals back then. Their brief encounter shows that nothing has changed.