The story of a marriage over time, based on a play by Jan de Hartog. Maria Schell and O. W. Fischer play an aristocratic Austrian couple who meet during the imperial era and experience the first five decades of the 20th century together: temptations and transgressions, world wars, economic crisis, the death of their son in the war. They experience good times and bad times and always remain cheerful, just as the Ferris wheel in Vienna's Prater continues to turn.

Berenice, a wealthy, spoiled and temperamental girl, loves a winter sports buddy and wants to get married. Her friends play a nasty prank on her to get back at her. They're going to celebrate a fake union, and in the end, the husband runs away. Unable to return to her parents on her own, she forces a companion to take on the role!

The wife of the Swedish Ambassador of Greece becomes involved in a romantic triangle, but the man who comes between husband and wife has a preference for the husband.

1907 Central America: Maria II is the daughter of an Irish terrorist. After her father's death, she meets Maria I, a performer, and decides to stay with the circus, and on her debut as a singer, unintentionally invents the striptease and makes the circus famous. Their inadvertent encounter with a socialist revolutionary lands them leading a revolution against the dictator, the capitalists, and the Church.

After achieving fame as a movie star, a woman finds her private life invaded by relentless fans, leading her mother’s ex-lover to intervene and offer protection.

Betty and Nick fall out during their honeymoon. During a turbulent night in Munich, they go their separate ways. Nick makes friends with the bum Köhler, and Betty has to deal with her father, Schnetzler. Only weeks later, Betty and Nick find each other again on a plane to Brazil, but only for the time being, as will be shown.

In medieval times, a horse merchant is forced by a noble to leave part of his stock as payment for crossing his land. Upon returning, he finds his horses near death, and when the noble refuses to compensate him, the merchant fights unsuccessfully against the injustice.