Russian soldier Grisha escapes from a German prisoner-of-war camp in the spring of 1917. He is caught and is to be shot as a spy. This decision is controversial. The dispute continues. Grisha is executed on the orders of the army high command.

On a lonely island, where Odysseus has to serve the nymph Calypso, he remembers his great adventures: the glorious victory over Troy; the curse of the sea god Poseidon, whose son he overpowered; the wrestling with Circe, the Lotophagi, the Sirens with their enticing death song and the battle with the bloodthirsty Scylla. Penelope, his wife, meanwhile fights against intrusive suitors who want to kill Odysseus. Athena sends him his son as a savior, who defeats Proteus, Poseidon's vassal. Odysseus is able to free himself from Calypso. Disguised as a beggar, he returns home, punishes the suitors who are after his money and is reunited with Penelope.

Radical West German terrorist Rita Vogt abandons the revolution and settles in East Germany with a new identity provided by the secret service. She lives in constant fear of having her cover blown.

„White mouse“ Fritz controls the traffic on Dresden’s Körner Square. Helene, who crosses the junction on her motor scooter every day, has taken a shine to Fritz a long while ago. Although Fritz yields right-of-way to her remarkably often, the two have not spoken to each other. In order to finally get to know him better, Helene deliberately performs a traffic violation. Her plan is working: She is ordered to take road safety education lessons from Fritz and they get closer. New problems arise in the shape of Mrs. Messmer who must pay a monetary fine. She feels discriminated against by Fritz and complains about him to his supervisor.

After years of drifting around, Willi Palko arrives in the lignite mining area. He was not only looking for a new job, but also wanted to finally settle down here. The party leadership sends him to the Schepp brigade, which has made itself "suspicious" (on paper) due to its extremely high production figures. The stranger is accused of being a spy for the factory management. Willi finds it difficult to assert himself, but he is taken with the big excavator, the prospect of one day being allowed to drive it, and the brash flapper Hanna. He stays, and with his help a mine foreman is exposed as a Western agent and coal production is brought up to a really high level.

Elated by the Italian attitude to life, family Struutz returns to Bitterfeld and experiences a shock: In the turmoil of the reunification her house must give way to a golf course. Hope Udo teacher, his wife Rita and daughter Jacqueline through the surprising inheritance of a factory near Dresden. But of market economy, the staid Saxons unfortunately have no idea. Help comes in the guise of adventurer and condoms dealer Charlie, who works as a "business consultant" and gives Udo a Rock & Roll crash course in capitalism - with unsurpassed success.