If a territorial reform hadn't forced Oberzwickelbach and Unterzwickelbach to have a joint mayor and thus triggered a veritable war between the villages, landlady Anni Schwirbler wouldn't be so annoyed that her customers aren't coming. Her "Zwickel" - as Anni's pub is called - is located right on the border between two village breweries that have been at loggerheads for years.

70-year old Brandner Kaspar lives with his granddaughter Nannerl in the mountains at the Schliersee. As he is visited by the Death and wants to take him, Brandner Kaspar tricks him and gets another 20 years of life.

With provocative dresses and a lot of make-up, the 19-year-old Melanie defies her bleak hospital stay in Masserberg in Thuringia. For years, she suffers from a very serious eye disease that will lead to blindness without expensive therapy and expensive drugs. Mel dreams of freedom in the West and is convinced that they could be treated there as well. So you only the new doctor Carlo Sanchez remains as a worldly glimmer of hope. As their escape plans fly up and Carlo is to spy on behalf of the Stasi, begins for the unequal pair a race for life and death, love and freedom.

Pastor Jens Steffensen is actually a dyed-in-the-wool northerner. However, at the request of his old university friend Clemens Stölzer, he pulls up stakes in St. Pauli and takes on a small parish deep in the south. On his arrival in picturesque Fischbach, Jens initially experiences a culture shock. He also almost runs over Sophie Strohmayr's cat, thereby incurring her wrath. To make up for his mistake, he offers Sophie, who has just lost her job at the local dairy, the vacant position of housekeeper in the vicarage. Although Sophie has left the church, she accepts the offer after a moment's hesitation.