A lost box is a strange one that nobody knows. It appears in the middle of an apartment exchange involving the Ilse and Rudi Karschek family and another couple. Since no one can be assigned to this box, it is opened; the contents: the portrait of an attractive girl who dedicated it to "her" Rudi. Rudi, however, is quite sure that this must be a misunderstanding. But then his wife Ilse receives a phone call in their new apartment that is not at all misleading, which brings the situation in the Karschek family to a head. In this respect, the whole affair becomes a total "mess".

Hannes Peters is delighted that he can escape his unloved job as a chef and join the navy. He is overjoyed to be assigned as a hydroacoustician. But then the cook falls ill and Hannes is transferred to the galley. He resists, serves inedible dumplings and oversalted coffee, but it doesn't help! For a while, he has to do his duty as a smutje and finally realizes that everyone in the navy is in the same boat.

Silvia and her boyfriend Lutz, both aged twenty, work as jockeys at a big racing stable and have their whole life in front of them. But while Lutz would like to get married and start a family, Silvia only thinks of her career. When she meets the charming veterinarian Clemens, her relationship with Lutz seems to come to an end. Driven by her burning ambition, Silvia causes an accident one day in which her favorite horse dies. Only now, the young woman seems to come to her senses. Silvia realizes that she must face criticism and scrutinize her selfish actions.

The young forester Rudolf is released from a mental hospital after suffering from a mental illness. His widowed mother accompanies the taciturn son to a vicarage where he is supposed to recover. There he meets the pastor's daughter Anna, with whom he immediately falls in love, and the two decide to get married. His mother is critical of the marriage and demands that her son conceal his stay in the "lunatic asylum" from his wife. This secret overshadows the young couple's relationship from the very beginning, and the burden of silence finally makes Rudolf want to take his own life. Only at the last minute is Anna able to save him from this stupidity.

The once clairvoyant party secretary Mattes is now mayor and has recently even been surrounded by a halo. The seductive and principled Angelika has recently turned around and is now in the state government. Pastor Himmelsknecht is still keeping his flock together, Monsignor Aventuro, who was once confused by the crazy smell of fresh hay, is back on the road on behalf of the Vatican and crooked Paul is still trying to make his cut. All would be well with the world if there wasn't a castle in the village and another count. So the events surrounding the strange saint take their mysterious course.