Despite their social differences Luise, called Pünktchen, a girl from rich parentage befriends Anton, a boy who has to earn his own money in order to afford life for his sick mother and himself. Together they undergo different adventures, even preventing a theft in Pünktchens home

The young emperor Joseph II of Austria and Hungary is not interested in romance and marriage, and every time his mother makes arrangements for him to meet eligible young ladies, he escapes under some pretense. This time he is off on a 'tour of inspection' with his trusted friend von Kleber. Things become complicated when von Kleber, pretending to be the emperor so as to protect the real Joseph from discovery, falls in love with Christine, the landlady of their lodgings. And when Christine later writes to the emperor, her letter is read by the mother of the real emperor, as keen as ever to see him getting married, and so the lady is invited to the imperial court.

In 1882 a country girl disappears from a small Hungarian village. The inhabitants suggest that she was murdered by the Jews. Everything is done to accuse them before the trial. A study in stubbornness, racism and intolerance and how to fight against it.

Louise of Habsburg-Lorraine, young and beautiful wife of the Crown Prince of Saxony, manifests democratic sentiments that make her pleasing to the people, but not to the court. In 1902 old King George would like to have her committed to an asylum, but she escapes to Florence where she meets and loves the musician Enrico Toselli. Theirs will be a dramatic affair, with the man's death and her madness.

Dr. Wittich is a passionate speleologist who spends more time on his research than on his fiancée Cornelia. As a result, she turns to the rich industrialist Roy, whom she eventually marries. But her heart actually belongs to the explorer and so she is drawn back to him.