A woman dies in the morning in a mysterious accident on an empty highway. Her son survives seriously injured. Since the mother had taken out a large life insurance policy shortly beforehand, suicide is suspected. Insurance employee Marlies Heidorn investigates the matter. She soon comes dangerously close to another vehicle owner...

On a freezing cold winter day, several guests visit their relatives in an old people's home in the Frankfurt area. When the weather changes shortly afterwards and black ice falls over the area, the guests unexpectedly get stuck.

Christmas Eve. Airport Santa Thorsten has his hands full: An accident and bad weather lock everyone in as they are trying to make it home last minute! Small dramas play out under the eyes of Thorsten’s tyrannical boss, the airport manager: Secret lovers Martin and Eva are in a tight spot, when Martin’s family shows up. A retired couple can’t spend Christmas with their loved ones. Waitress Anja’s boyfriend suddenly falls for her old school mate. Helicopter mom Jette keeps fighting with her husband, when her son runs away. In the middle of it all is Thorsten, and it’s his job to keep them all happy. But that’s what Santa's are made for!

The engineer Rosalie leads a life without standing still. She doesn't feel old for a long time, only mature. When Rosalie returns to Germany after a fainting spell at a solar project in Africa, it's just supposed to be a breather. When she shows up at her bourgeois sister Margret's with a huge container, she is not very enthusiastic about the surprise visit. The retired teacher sees right through that Rosalie isn't staying with her voluntarily. The well-travelled woman is broke! It seems like a miracle that there are a huge chunk of banknotes in a hole in the wall of the room. On the other side of the wall there is the room of the highly talented high school graduate Karla, who rents a part of Margret's house with her father Harald. After a failed first meeting, Rosalie befriends with the wheelchair-bound teenager and sets her mind on getting Karla out of her sheltered isolation, even against her will.

Michael, an open-pit miner, refuses to accept the fact that coal is being phased out. He doesn’t want things to change. Working in an open-pit mine is more than just a job to him. He tries to convince his co-workers to join in his protest of the changes afoot, but by not being able to let go, he gets less and less support — even from his family.

Nike, 19 years old, is a civil servant trainee at the immigration department in Hanover, but still lives with her father on his farm, where he tries to cultivate strawberries for the first time to overcome financial problems. However, while bringing in the crops, he suffers a heart attack. Suddenly, Nike has to take over business, but soon realizes that most of her father's employees are illegal immigrants.

Choir director Johanna Bischoff and her girls choir go to a concert in their hometown Hameln. Shortly before the scheduled performance disappear four of the girls and the organist David.Sie were on a hike in a cave of the Ith - the fabled mountain, in which 700 years ago the Pied Piper is said to have led the children. Seeking help, Johanna turns to her ex-boyfriend Jan Faber, head of the police station in Hameln.

When Kathrin Bahro once again plays babysitter for the neighbors, a thief breaks into the house. Kathrin confronts the intruder, who escapes after a brief struggle. What remains is the dead child. Thanks to Kathrin's drawing skills, the perpetrator is quickly caught. Nine years later, the convict takes part in a Ministry of Justice project - ankle cuffs with acoustic signals are supposed to put the criminal in his place - and has only one thought: revenge...

A German scientist drowns while on vacation in Bulgaria. The GDR state security authorities become involved in the investigation, suspecting a political murder.