Married couple Willy and Therese go separate ways. Willy leaves town and returns years later as a famous singer. But Therese is about to marry her best friend Peter. Little does Willy know that he and Therese now have a teenage daughter.

Miss Giehse, an elderly teacher in a boarding school, tries with a lot of good will for her student Robert. The boy seems strangely withdrawn and depressed to her. Robert, whose behavior can be traced back to his parental home, which lacks orderly family relationships, disrupts the lessons with his defiant and rebellious behavior. All her attempts to investigate the causes of this behavior, however, only lead to increasingly serious misunderstandings. In almost hysterical exaggeration, provoked by Robert's tormenting behavior, she finally believes that he is trying to poison her and knocks the boy down during a break. The principal of the boarding school inadvertently witnesses this incident and dismisses Miss Giehse after a heated controversy. The teacher does not overcome the shame of the dismissal and the pain of her own actions and dies on the day she has to leave the boarding school on a trip with the school bus.

Three 1950s city stories: In Hamburg, Sergeant Siegel tackles St. Pauli’s crime, from prostitution to deadly domestic fights. In Munich, teenager Helga Barufka teeters on the edge of nightlife’s dangers. In Düsseldorf, escort “Fräulein Doktor” outsmarts her boss by poaching his VIP clients.

Ten years ago, at the end of WW2, 7-year-old Beate was separated from her parents while fleeing. A wealthy couple from Hamburg took her in. But now her less affluent parents have found their lost daughter and are bringing her back to Berlin. Beate doesn't feel at home there, but she doesn't want to go back to Hamburg either. She escapes into a relationship with a musician. Only when that fails does she realize that she belongs with her real parents.