Algeria, mid-50s: it is the time of uprisings against the French colonial power. The German-born foreign legionary Hans Röder witnesses inhuman criminal actions against members of the Algerian resistance movement. These go to the account of the French secret organisation "Red Hand", but it cannot...
Erich Kubak is an excavator operator at the lignite plant. A technical weakness in the excavator, which repeatedly leads to production downtime, is causing problems for everyone. Erich works on an improvement, but this is not accepted by the chief engineer. On his own initiative, Erich carries out...
During construction work in a small town in Thuringia, the burial of an unidentified man in an SS uniform with gunshot wounds is discovered. Taking into account that there were no military operations in this place and an ancient gold coin was found near the body, two police inspectors, Captain...
A car factory in the GDR. During a test ride there is a major accident. One driver is dead, another is seriously injured. The investigation reveals: sabotage.
Two farmers, Grimm and Melcher, were once on friendly terms, but a petty argument over a piece of land has since turned them into implacable enemies. Their two children- Veronika and Fabian- used to be childhood friends. When they meet again as young adults, they instantly fall in love, despite the...
Two boys from West Berlin, Klaus and Max, live in poverty. They dream of a career in boxing and save every penny in order to buy boxing gloves for training. Nevertheless, they cannot seem to save enough and so they let themselves be hired by the bartender Klott for a twisted scheme. However, Klaus...
Shortly after the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler at the beginning of 1933, preparations were underway to silence the members of the socialist and communist parties.
One morning, a tailor was sitting at the window sewing. A shopkeeper came by and loudly offered plum jam for sale. The little tailor spent his last penny to treat himself. But the sweet smell of plum jam attracted a lot of flies, and when the tailor struck, seven fell by the wayside. This deed...
London in 1856. Karl Marx is living in exile in the British capital. One day, "Mohr", as Marx is called by his friends, meets the 13-year old worker′s son Joe. The boy works every day for twelve hours in a spinning mill and even has to work night shifts although that violates current rules. Marx...
Manfred Falk is an experienced race car driver and member of a racing collective in Eisenach. While competing in West Germany, the beautiful Manuela convinces him to leave his girlfriend Inge and his friends at the collective behind in order to join the South American Alvarez racing company.
In 1955, Michael Vierkant, a Jew who had emigrated during the Nazi era, returns from abroad to the Federal Republic of Germany to obtain the conviction of Korn, the former informer responsible for the murder of his sister. Korn is back in office; Michael's efforts remain unsuccessful. There is a...
Three chemists unveil “Substance L,” a pesticide capable of eradicating all life without harming material assets. When Dr. Zichy, haunted by his work on Zyklon B, dies in a car crash and the lethal vial vanishes, colleague Dr. Cramm uncovers a child’s poisoning. To suppress the scandal, the...
In a remote Prussian village, the shepherd Krischan with his fantastic stories is the attraction point for the children. One day they experience together how the Müller Düker beats his horse to death and intervene. Düker sues her for body injury at the district court, and because the main...
Victory and demise of the first proletarian dictatorship in the history of mankind, about the struggling, bleeding workers of Paris who enthusiastically defend their historical initiative. The little Cabet family from Rue Pigalle and their friends let the spectator participate in the action.
University ice-sailing trainees face a hostel fire when caretaker Krenzel rescues Captain Klaus’s swapped suitcase, barring him from travel due to a stolen Hogarth print inside. X-rays reveal a hidden engraving; detectives Hübner and Lindt expose forger Sander and Krenzel. After Krenzel’s...
An American military plane takes six people, who have taken part in a NATO maneuver, from Tripoli to Oslo. Among them are the British Captain Loy and the United States Air Force Corporal Doris Graves. During the flight, the two become closer, and they regret that the trip will end that evening. But...
