Using the example of three generations of a Hamburg working class family, the rise of the working class from the founding of the Wilhelmin Empire to the First World War, over the time of the Weimar Republic and National Socialism to the destruction of the Third Reich.

Jakob, the son of a market woman, helps an old woman carry the groceries home one day. But the old woman turns out to be a herb witch. She enchants Jakob into a dwarf with a huge nose. He enters her service and is trained to become an excellent cook. Only years later does he return to his parents as an enchanted dwarf nose. Not even they recognize him. Disappointed, he offers his services to the duke's kitchen as a master of his trade. As a successful cook, he is nevertheless put to the test. For he does not know the herb "sneeze-with-lust". Fortunately for him, his new friend, the equally enchanted goose Mimi, whose life he has saved, does.

A working-class son who became orphaned in the war is brought up by his foster father to become an upright citizen. Now, after graduating from a teacher training college, he is faced with the task of preparing young people for life.

15-year old Klaus Kambor, called Kurbel, is living in a village in Lusatia and already thinks of himself as an adult. He can hold a lot of rhubarb wine and has already kissed a girl. But with his new method of lawn mowing, which he thinks is brilliant, Klaus makes a big mistake: He causes a wild fire in the forest. Then he does not react adult-like at all, but shirks the responsibility, which leads to the break-up with his girlfriend Daniela. Furthermore, Klaus does not realize that several of the places he likes the most in his environment are now going to be sacrificed to mining. When Klaus becomes friends with the teacher Konzak and with the construction worker Jule, he feels understood for the first time and starts to take more responsibility.

Erich Kasulke and Rudolf Portmann are comedian stars of the former GDR. When the Wall falls, so does their success. Portmann becomes a successful businessman, while Kasulke tries to continue working on the comedy circuit - without success. When his wife also cheats on him, he decides to start a new life in Berlin. There he quickly meets his old friend Portmann, who has built up a huge company. He offers him a job. But Erich puts the entire company in danger...

Young seminary student Franziskus has been ceremonially ordained. He wants to escape the harshness and injustice of the world and devote himself to the service of God in the quiet seclusion of a monastery. He is also hoping to forget the beautiful lady Aurelie, whose life he saved in a flooded brook and with whom he spent an amorous night. He knows that her father would never allow her to marry him. But the devil dressed in a monk's habit and under the name Viktorin intervenes in Franziskus's destiny and attempts to lead him astray. To do so he first uses the diabolical elixirs kept at the monastery as a rare relic. When the young monk gets expelled from the monastery, Viktorin prepares another trap with the help of Aurelie's stepmother Euphemie.

A young woman does everything she can to catch the eye of her chosen one. In the end, she even goes into the water - wearing a diving suit. A cheerful underwater love story for GDR television, which also casually promotes the diving section of the pre-military Society for Sport and Technology in the GDR.

An idealistic teacher is shocked to discover her pupils are already cynical and opportunistic. Her colleague soon grows resentful when she uses new and challenging techniques to help her students overcome obstacles.

A depiction of class conflicts in Germany between 1918 and 1945. The Spartacist Erwin is shot by officers in 1918, and his pregant working-class bride Marie begins a new relationship with social democrat Geschke. Erwin's son Hans grows up to be a communist like his father, leading to bitter hatred between him and his Nazi step-brother, while Geschke becomes increasingly resigned to the political situation in Germany. The three aristocratic officers who shot Erwin many years ago meet again during the Kapp Putsch, but their support for the Third Reich eventually leads each to their deaths.

Successful husband, clever children, great job – the lawyer Eva lacks nothing. Except the erotic tingle that she and Richard, a writer have lost in their family life.