Christine is a young farm worker in a small village in post-war Germany. Her attempts to improve her situation through further education are hampered by frequent pregnancies arising from ill-fated relationships.

On a pasture in a small village stand the cows and calves of the herder Bürle. Since many years, there is also a wooden calve standing among them. One day, all calves are stolen, even the wooden one. Although they are innocent, all poor villagers are brought to trial. Thereupon, the farmers join forces and discover who really is responsible for the theft.

17-year-old Traudel flees the orphanage she has to live in, in order to venture to Berlin.

Two boys from West Berlin, Klaus and Max, live in poverty. They dream of a career in boxing and save every penny in order to buy boxing gloves for training. Nevertheless, they cannot seem to save enough and so they let themselves be hired by the bartender Klott for a twisted scheme. However, Klaus overhears one of Klott's conversations and learns that Klott intends for the boys to steal horses from the East Berlin Barlay Circus, where Klaus recently made some good friends. Indignant, he sets out to stop the robbery—and an adventurous action story results.

In the Dutch town of Saardam, Tsar Peter the Great has disguised himself in order to learn the art of ship-building. Another Russian named Peter also works at the wharf, causing a comical case of mistaken identities. Emissaries sent from France and England have difficulty locating the man they are looking for, and the lovely Marie is courted by both Peters. An adaptation of Albert Lortzing's eponymous comic opera (1837).

Co-pilot Horst Schubert is a braggart and a true Don Juan. Thus, he tells young Ilse that he is in fact an "aircraft commander". This assertion brings about an embarrassing situation, for he suddenly meets her onboard his new work place, an IL-14 charter plane where Ilse acts as a stewardess. It gets worse, however: During a stop in Varna the police appear because Horst’s former lover Madelon has vanished. At home, meanwhile, his landlady has her hands full with her lodger’s current and former playmates. Ilse decides to put an end to this mixup and since the dull captain of the plane, Richard, makes no move to confront his co-pilot about his unstable private life, the smart stewardess appeals to the rest of the crew to help her teach Horst a few lessons in love.

Ev and Peter fall in love at first sight. Peter studies dentistry in Leipzig and is eager to work in the country. There is an unfilled dentist vacancy in his home village. Ev, on the other hand, is drawn to the city. Being a commercial artist, she sees no chance to find a job in the country. This conflict becomes the first real test for their relationship.

The soldier Martin has been relocated to a small border village in Thuringia. During a storm, he comes to the rescue of Renate, a farmer′s daughter. The two young people fall in love, thereby upsetting Renate′s father who has already promised his daughter to the son of the big farmer Grabow. Henceforth, he does his utmost to tear Martin and Renate apart. Meanwhile, Grabow prepares to flee the GDR with the help of the lance-corporal Zimmer who is indebted to him.

The World War II. 1944. Nazis staged a cache which stores archival documents of its agents, rescued from the east during the retreat, near a small German town Ostburga.

Carola has been running the family-owned circus alone since her husband’s death, but she suddenly finds herself at odds with her three adult sons who are also performance artists and want to have a say in how the business is run. The family discord leads Carola to turn her back on the circus, leaving the three inexperienced sons in charge. This turn of events forces the family to learn to work together or face bankruptcy.