Based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm: Jakob is a poor farmer′s boy. Because of his timidity that even makes him run away from mice, he is often ridiculed by other people. Even the king is ill-disposed towards him. One day he sends Jakob to the devil to rob him of three golden hairs. This is supposed to be Jakob′s certain death. But naïve Jakob gets going and on his way even promises the oppressed subjects of the king to ask the devil for a way out of their misery.

Sabine Wulff is almost 18 when she is released from the juvenile detention center. She doesn't want to return to her unsupportive parents or to her former boyfriend Jimmy, who got her into trouble by persuading her to steal cigarettes. She instead chooses to begin an honest life by getting a job and renting her own room.

Karlemann is very often found in his own 'Robinson world', a secluded place on earth. There he travels the river in his special all-weather boat, and he has his domicile on the river, all built himself. One day he meets two soldiers of the National People's Army who got lost in Karlemann's empire. He shows the them the right way. What Karlemann does not yet suspect: a bridge is to be built over the river at the exact spot where his hut stands...

Aschenbrödel (Cinderella), the fairy tale, is a fantastic mixture of the miraculous and the everyday, based on the well-known folk tale by the Brothers Grimm. The film is based on the book of the same name by Evgeny Schwartz, who adapted the fairy tale. The miracles created by Grimm are transformed by Schwartz, who makes it clear that the greatest miracle is love.