Sarajevo, late June 1914: A Serbian nationalist shoots the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne and his wife. A few weeks later, war raged in Europe with devastating consequences.

Stella, grows up in Berlin during the rule of the Nazi regime. She dreams of a career as a jazz singer, despite all the repressive measures she is forced to go into hiding with her parents in 1944, her life turns into a culpable tragedy.

Widowed Balthasar Pelkofer lives only for his nursery. He has no private life, and there is hardly any time for his grown-up daughter Maxi. When competition from a discount garden center forces him into bankruptcy, his life begins to totter. At least Balthasar now has more time for his daughter. However, Maxi is more surprised than pleased by her father's unexpected attention. Then he meets the self-confident Annette - a real stroke of luck. But with his stubborn nature, the self-centered man soon alienates the charming and open-minded Annette. In a painfully funny way, Balthasar has to learn what is really important in life.

Anja, a student, and Leonhard, a judge, meet at Marlene, his ex-wife, and Paul's house, marry shortly afterwards and have a son, Daniel. However, Anja's desire for love is not fulfilled in their relationship. When she is not careful, Daniel scalds himself and is admitted to hospital. Subsequently, Anja drinks more alcohol and begins an affair with Paul. When Marlene and Leonhard find out, Leonhard files for divorce. After an alcohol poisoning, Anja goes to rehab. During an outing with the therapy group, Anja throws herself out of a window and dies.

This is a family story that covers thirty years in the life of the Freytag family (narrated by the grandson, Robert). When his grandfather returns from Russia in 1949, he becomes part of the German "economic miracle" by producing garden gnomes. Klaus, Robert's father, wants to become a writer. He marries Gisela who almost immediately gets pregnant with Robert - but the marriage doesn't work. Both parents abandon the child, and Robert goes on living with both pairs of grand parents. While his father belongs to the 1968 generation that rebels against their fathers he falls in love with the neighbor's's daughter Laura.

Italian Francesco ( Mario Adorf ) runs a restaurant in Cologne , partnership is the brewer Zach ( Willy Millowitsch ) . Francesco has problems : a " Godfather" makes Zach an offer he can not refuse , the wedding between Francesco's daughter and Zach son bursts , and his wife threatened behind his affair to come up with kiosk owner Hilde , which lasts at least 18 or older to ...

Emmi would like to cancel her subscription to "Like" magazine via e-mail. But due to a typo, her messages land in Leo Leike’s inbox. When Emmi repeatedly sends mails to the wrong address, Leo decides to inform her of her mistake. This marks the beginning of an extraordinary e-mail exchange, which can only be held between two strangers. Treading the fine line between complete strangeness and noncommittal intimacy, the two are soon sharing their innermost secrets and longings – until they need to face the unavoidable question: Will their feelings, sent and received virtually, survive the test of a real-life encounter? And what will happen if they do?