Observing staunch moral attitudes, professor Traugott Nägler, his wife Marianne, and their swarm of children life a happy and idyllic life in a small town. But when their oldest daughter Atlanta inherits a house in Montevideo that belonged to the deceased sister of the professor, the family′s life is about to change dramatically.

Emil, a technical draftsman, is hardworking, always helpful, and somewhat shy. Because of these traits, he is often taken advantage of by those around him. Now Emil is set to inherit a supposedly large fortune. His landlady's brother wants to marry him off to one of his relatives. But soon panic and confusion set in. The inheritance consists of three full-grown lions.

In unconditional fatherly love, an old shoemaker clings to his son, a spoiled good-for-nothing. After the Filius has ruined the respected shoe shop, he gets further and further down the wrong path without opening his father's eyes.

Two young students, a man and a woman, rent the same appartment without knowing it. They have to arrange with their upcoming feelings, strange neighbours and poverty.