Paul and Paula have had bad experiences with love: Paul is financially well off but has lost all affection for his wife, and Paula leads a troublesome life raising two children on her own. They meet and discover a strong passion for each other. Life seems like a dream when they're together - but their short flights from the burdens of reality are once and again interrupted by Paul's ties to family and career.

A farmer receives land from the king and discovers a buried golden mortar. He decides to give it to the king out of gratitude, but his clever daughter warns him that the king will surely want him to bring a corresponding pestle as well. When the king throws the farmer into jail for fraud, he bemoans the fact that he did not listen to his daughter.

The opera singer Ludwig Löwenhaupt wants a proper festive roast for Christmas, so he buys a goose in advance to feed the whole family. What he doesn't realize, however, is that the children, Elli, Gerda and Peterle, will grow fond of the animal, which is christened Gustje, and will no longer want to eat it. After the "liberation", the "five kilos of meat", which were initially locked up in the cellar, become a pet that the children take to bed with them and communicate with. But shortly before Christmas, father Löwenhaupt still wants to slaughter them. However, as his family protests and his conscience gets in the way, he can't slaughter the goose after all. So Gustje only has to leave a few feathers as proof that she has been plucked, and the opera singer is given another goose that has already been cut up.

The wrenching story of a woman sentenced in 1934 to ten years in prison for antifascist activities. The love between her and her fiancée enables her to survive the tribulations of her time in prison, where she is one of few political prisoners.

For her husband, who has become famous as an actor, Angelika is the go-to girl. For years, she stands in his shadow. The only things they do together are premiere parties and receptions. Angelika, who is becoming increasingly frustrated, finally wants a satisfying occupation with which she can gain recognition. But this is where the problems really begin for the couple.

Laboratory technician Jutta and factory worker Peter have been a couple since the summer and are enjoying their time together. One day, Jutta realizes that she might be pregnant. The doctor doesn't want to make a preliminary diagnosis until Monday - and today is Friday. The weekend is a tough test for Jutta. How should she decide - for or against the child, should she get married, should she have an abortion? The encounters with Peter, her parents, her friend with the twins and her colleagues don't make it any easier. In the end, Jutta and Peter have to decide on their own.

Berlin, 1948: Paralyzed and robbed of her memory, Fleur regains consciousness after a serious fall. The doctor treating her recognizes that her problem is of a psychological nature and encourages her to face up to her past. The daughter of a brothel owner is reluctant to look back: on a hapless childhood, her relationships with bon vivant Dr. Goldner and the politically committed locksmith Philipp (Hilmar Thate) as well as the difficult period of fascism... This exciting journey into the German past is based on Dinah Nelken's novel "Das angstvolle Heldenleben einer gewissen Fleur Lafontaine".

Karl Erp is a middle-aged man with two children and a boring marriage. After starting an exciting affair with his intern, Miss Broder, he leaves his loveless marriage and moves in with his lover. Under pressure from Miss Broder’s mother, Karl once again promises marriage. He finds, however, that the excitement that drew him to her in the first place doesn’t carry over into their daily lives.

19-year old Peter is working to gain practical experience for his planned medical studies. But his life turns into confusion as he unexpectedly comes a father.

World War II is over and Heinrich, a young German boy, influenced by the Russians, starts to act according to Communist principles in a small German village.