In a small farming valley in Austria in the beginning of the 20th century a tyrannical farmer is found dead, and all the farmhands are relieved to be free of their tyrant. But the farmer was childless, so suddenly they all inherit the farm together. Now conflicts begin, as nobody is the boss and nobody has to obey.

Art critic Keller, a German ex-pat living in London, is confronted by his radical 1960s past when he's asked to assassinate a Chilean murderer who is on a visit to London.

The Second World War is over and now begins in post-war Germany, the reconstruction. Jakob Formann sees his chance here and begins a rapid rise as an entrepreneur.

When a plague breaks out in Hamburg, several people break out of quarantine and make their way out of the city... only to find that the plague is more widespread.

This somewhat superficial historical drama is about the 1525 Peasants' War in Germany when the lower classes rebelled against oppressive conditions imposed by the clergy and nobility and then committed many acts (including atrocities) that did not morally set them far apart from the people they were fighting. It was a time of upheaval: Martin Luther (1483-1556) had broken away from the Catholic Church, calling for reform, and Anabaptists in Germany, like Thomas Munzer fought on the side of the peasants (opposed by Luther). This complex age and its political and religious turmoil are summed up in a story about an attack on a small monastery whose monks used a forged document to confiscate some land from the peasants. When their wrong-doing is revealed by the monk who forged the document in the first place, the peasants attack.

Two young men who can't cope with life try to pull off a big coup, but fall into a trap.

Ernest, Ted and August fulfill their friend Carl's dying wish and take him to Heidelberg, where they all first met 45 years ago, to see his old girlfriend one last time. However, the locals won't talk about her, due to a WW2 secret.

Aged hairdresser Hans Anton Schatz still lives at home with his mother and works in the small-town salon around the corner. He adores the florist Melanie, but she is engaged to a wild Ruhr proletarian. Shortly before the wedding, she is overcome with panic and persuades Hans Anton to take a bus trip to Berlin. Hans Anton blossoms in the big city and falls in love with an extroverted TV presenter, whom he pursues all the way to her show.

Before Ernst Winckelmann, a sales representative for hair products, calls on hairdressing salons and chemist's shops, he rehearses what he intends to say, shakes the dandruff from his hair and slips into an innocuous pair of shoes. None of this helps. Winkelmann is no sales talent and his product is a failure. Meanwhile, in a small corner pub in the Barmbek district of Hamburg, Winkelmann's young girlfriend Aline uses some firm but gentle persuasion to make the last customer leave. Not much doing tonight. During the day, Rüdiger the barman, pulls most of the beers for the landlord, Aline's father, who survives on memories of good times at Miami Beach...