After a chance encounter with a wanted man, a woman is harassed by the police and press until she takes violent action.

Four hours by boat from the lightship Elbe 1 is the southern entrance and lock of the Kiel Canal. There, in Brunsbüttelkoog, is a seamen's home run by Klara Andresen. This is the main setting of the movie. In the sailors' wives' home, the wives of sailors wait for their return. Klara Andresen not only looks after the concerns of the waiting sailors' wives, but also her brother-in-law Gustav Andresen . Gustav has gone to sea as a ship's cook and now wants to get married. That's why he has placed a marriage announcement and is waiting for the reactions.

Thirty years after the war, Anna, a journalist from Germany, leaves for her native village in Lower Silesia, which she had to leave with her family in 1945. Here she meets Ludwik, an old love and her daughter's father.

The action takes place in a central German town in the 1920s. A Jewish factory owner is accused of murdering his accountant. The German nationalist investigating judge, who is determined to have a Jewish perpetrator, still sees Blum as the perpetrator even when evidence of the actual murderer, a former Freikorp fighter, is found. The Social Democratic court president from Berlin sends a criminal investigator to tear apart the judge's chain of evidence.

Julia and Romeo are two disenchanted lovers who want to break up but are unwilling to suffer the pain. After a nasty fight, Romeo storms off and unsuccessfully vents his frustration with a black prostitute. While visiting the ramshackle brothel, he sees a strange man, who may be a government official, handing over a huge wad of money. Later, he and Julia reunite and go to an upscale golden anniversary party. There a handsome American flirts with Julia. After yet another row, Romeo and Julia retire to the balcony for a love scene. Unfortunately, their making up is interrupted by a sudden power outage. When the lights go back on, Romeo finds the knifed corpse of the party's hostess at his feet. Naturally, he's accused of the crime, but before the other partygoers can get him, he and Julia flee into the Berlin summer night. Their strange series ensuing adventures comprise the rest of the film.

Early retired principal Helmut Lürzer takes off to Italy with his mistress without a sound, leaving behind an unsuspecting and confused family. His wife Luise, their four grown-up children and even the grandchildren search for their grandfather. Helmut, who feels exploited and controlled by his domineering wife, remains true to his vow not to contact her for a year.