The Nikolaikirche is the oldest building in Berlin. The reconstruction of this building in 1981 marked the beginning of the reconstruction of the historic heart of Berlin. The film shows the work on the Nikolaikirche, the Ephraim-Palais and the equestrian statue of St. George and describes how the restoration was carried out in painstaking detail, using almost forgotten craftsmanship. In 1987, the reconstructed quarter with its mixture of old and new was handed over to the people of Berlin.

1523. The Protestant theologian Thomas Müntzer is entrusted with the pastorate by the 'Allstedt Council'. On the one hand, he is to open people's minds and hearts to more freedom, and on the other, he is to serve as an ally against the count.

Horst Adamski takes a job as a department store detective and promptly falls in love with busy shoplifter Lili. His special approaches, however, rather intimidate Lili and call her unscrupulous boyfriend Wolf into action. To make the chaos perfect, the co-worker Erika also falls in love with Adamski...

In the forests of the Ore Mountains, on the border with Bohemia, a gang of smugglers is up to mischief. Anyone who dares to oppose them is murdered in cold blood. The locals are paralyzed by fear of the ominous bush ghost that is said to be behind it all. Then a stranger turns up at the remote forester's lodge and begins investigating a murder that took place twenty years ago. Having become wealthy in the Alaskan gold fields, Arndt is now looking for the woman he once loved and whose perjury landed him in prison. The forester and the weaver Eduard Hauser help him with his investigations. But Hauser himself soon becomes the victim of a sinister intrigue. Fritz Seidelmann, an unscrupulous profiteer who is after Hauser's fiancée Angelika, lures him into a trap. Hauser is arrested as an alleged bush ghost. For the time being, Arndt can do nothing for him ...

Berlin in the 60s. The construction of the Berlin Wall not only divides the city, but also separates the Rechlin family. While mother Ingelore lives with husband Hannes and the youngest son in the eastern part of the city, the young, married daughter Beate lives in West Berlin. Even when she gives birth to the first grandson, the newly baked grandma Ingelore cannot visit her. Travel permits are only issued one year later. But the formerly so tight family bond is burdened by the long separation. Son Bernd also avoids the rest of the family, as his new girlfriend has just been released from prison because of attempted "republic escape". And so Mother Ingelore almost has to watch her family shatter.

Between 1817 and 1821, Berlin's court theater director Count Brühl has been fighting desperately for years for a German theater, for German opera. He knows that the man who could do it lives in Dresden: Carl Maria von Weber. Brühl could win him over as Kapellmeister for Berlin, but the king prefers Gasparo...

The story of Hanna, a woman who will not take life’s setbacks and knock-downs sitting down. Instead, she takes them in her stride, picks herself up and marches onward. This is a woman who continually draws new courage from her inexhaustible will to live. Whatever losses and uncertainties come her way, she remains true to herself.

A young woman named Karin Schröder studied biophysics in Moscow and has now returned to the GDR with her diploma. She is thirsty for action, eager to work and now wants to put her specialized knowledge into practice. But at Professor Angerer's institute, where she ends up, there are no opportunities to apply her knowledge. Although Angerer shows her a safe route up the career ladder, Karin sees this more as a means of keeping her quiet - so she turns down the offer. On her own initiative, she goes in search of allies in order to find her way after all. Angerer then instructs her to abandon her self-initiated work - which leads to both professional and personal disaster for the young woman.

A wounded Soviet soldier is kept hidden by his wife in their home for 26 months. He hopes to survive the war in this way. Too late, they both realize the error of their ways.