Observing staunch moral attitudes, professor Traugott Nägler, his wife Marianne, and their swarm of children life a happy and idyllic life in a small town. But when their oldest daughter Atlanta inherits a house in Montevideo that belonged to the deceased sister of the professor, the family′s life is about to change dramatically.

In the face of two world wars, Professor Prätorius, a philanthropist and a surgeon, wants to exterminate the one danger to mankind, the microbe of stupidity, as he states in a spontaneous lecture to his male and female students. When he tries to help a pregnant girl he gets involved more and more in her life and is forced to marry her.

Thomas offers Dorette a trip to Moselle that she rejects saying it's short notice, but when Thomas shows at her apartment the next day he finds she's not slept on her bed. He leaves for Dorette alone, and there he meets Angela.

Ernestine Stengel works as a housekeeper in a small northern German hotel that guests like to visit, especially at weekends. She is still single and, given her age, no longer quite "fresh", or as they say, a "late girl". At least that is what her regular guest, Dr. Hans Ahlgrimm, calls her. One day, Ernestine finds her little bit of happiness, and it is a monetary one: she wins the lottery.