Two 17-year-olds, Werner Holt and Gilbert Wolzow, are pulled out of school and into Hitler's army. Gilbert becomes a fanatical soldier; but at the front, Werner begins to understand the senselessness of war.

End of August 1939. The Polish-German border is crossed by a German defector from the Wehrmacht, Ernst Hoffman, with the information that on August 26 at 4:45 Germany will attack Poland.

The paths of many people cross before Christmas Eve. Each of them has their own special story to tell on this day... On the morning of December 24, the doctor at the children's clinic leaves the hospital with a happy heart. The parents of little Matthias have reconciled with each other. As a farewell gift, the porter gives her a chocolate Santa Claus, which is to be passed on many times that day: at one or two fleeting encounters, as a nice gesture for other people. Fate plays a bit of a servant Ruprecht and distributes his gifts. Two lonely hearts are in a hurry to escape the hustle and bustle of the festive season. An accident brings them together. In exchange for a bottle of champagne to mark the shock, the sweet chocolate man switches to Ilse's divorced husband, who is drawn back into the bosom of the family at the same time every year.

1929: Marie Lehning, a farm worker from Warmsdorf on the Baltic Sea, falls in love with the fisherman's son Mingo. Both complete an apprenticeship in Lübeck. Marie wants to become a seamstress, Mingo a carpenter. After their first night of love, they swear eternal fidelity. But Marie has to return to the village, her mother is ill and her siblings are unprovided for. She starts working as a maid on a farm. Unexpectedly, she meets the young Kurt Meier from Berlin, whom she knows from before.

A WW2 story of a young Austrian soldier running from the Russian army and a woman whom he forces to come along in order to save his wounded mate.

Mikolás and his brother Adam end up with a young German hostage of noble blood during a robbery. While their clan prepares for the wrath of the German king, Mikolás is sent to pressure his neighbor Lazar into a defense pact. Persuasion fails and he abducts Lazar's daughter Marketa on the eve of her initiation as a nun in an act of vengeance.

Brigitte is caught between two men: on the one hand there is the ambitious Klaus, the father of her young daughter, and on the other the sensitive Wolfgang, her flatmate, to whom she feels attracted. With the active help of the housemates, especially her mother Klucke, she finds out who her heart really beats for.

Interior designer Kim Joosten is like many modern women: self-confident, successful and always concerned about her appearance. When she saves a child's life at a barbecue, she suffers severe burns and is disfigured by a large facial scar. However, representation and good looks are a must in her job, in which she is now increasingly marginalized. When she also discovers that her husband Max is having an affair, Kim no longer knows what to do.

Her brothers and fiancé are at war. In 1944, Marta struggles alone with her gardening business. One day, a deserter turns up at her house. What to do? Marta decides to keep Steiner with her. A life-threatening decision: military police scour the village...

Experiences and problems of an air squadron: Commander Milan has reached the age limit for pilots and must come to terms with the fact that he will have to give up flying from now on. Lieutenant Lenz loses control of the plane during a flight and is seriously injured during the parachute rescue, in the worst case scenario he remains paralyzed. He doesn't want to tie his girlfriend Anka to him, but she sticks by him. Young Kullas comes into the squadron to replace Lenz. His predecessor's accident makes him afraid and he tries to find out what courage means to him. Lieutenant Herzog loves the teacher Sigrid. She returns his love, but it is difficult for her to choose a "hero" once again. Two years earlier, her husband was killed defusing a bomb. But Herzog does not want to give up his job. The fifth, Captain Wendland, is a party secretary. He takes flying just as seriously as his concern for his comrades.