Little Felix Grosser is given a chest full of tin toys by old Mrs. Goldberg. The woman had once saved the toys for her future grandchildren, but her children were too busy working to start a family. Now Felix receives the old toy and Mrs. Goldberg warns him not to let it fall into other people's...
The paths of many people cross before Christmas Eve. Each of them has their own special story to tell on this day... On the morning of December 24, the doctor at the children's clinic leaves the hospital with a happy heart. The parents of little Matthias have reconciled with each other. As a...
Karl Erp is a middle-aged man with two children and a boring marriage. After starting an exciting affair with his intern, Miss Broder, he leaves his loveless marriage and moves in with his lover. Under pressure from Miss Broder’s mother, Karl once again promises marriage. He finds, however, that...
When David (36) learns that his friend Andreas (40) has taken his own life, the days of their once close friendship are long gone. They hardly knew each other. And yet David can't shake off his feelings of guilt over the suicide of his former best friend.
Factory wife Jenny Treibel plans to engage her youngest, softened and weak son Leopold to teacher's daughter Corinna Schmidt. She wants to cross the plans of her daughter-in-law Helene, who wants to marry her younger sister to the brother-in-law. At the engagement party, Corinna learns from maid...
At the beginning of the 50s, two extremely disparate men meet in a private sanatorium for consumptives: an officer in the People's Police, Josef Heiliger; and a young Protestant curate, Hubertus Koschenz. On account of their consumption, they have to share a room. Initially, this is the only thing...
The body of young Christa Gellert is fished out of the water in a small town on the Elbe in the spring of 1964. Everything points to an accident - Christa drowned while picking willow catkins during an official trip with town councillor Stegmeier and his colleague Anna Sell. That's what the people...
Susanne (17) and Robert (18) want to get married, but because Susanne is still under-aged, she needs parental permission. With twin babies and tight finances, the newlyweds soon feel overwhelmed, and dealing with everything makes them forget the love that originally brought them together.
The real blue is the color with which potter Benito Guerrero makes his fortune. When he no longer receives the color from Germany as a result of the Second World War, he and his family's existence are threatened. However, with the help of his inventive cousin Ruben, he manages to bring his real...
For the first time since her husband's death, Ute visits their former FKK-club. Curiously she enters this familiar place and immediately receives a warm welcome. However, she painfully has to realise that in the eyes of her old friends she primarily has become the widow. Unintentionally she finds...
Two men want to escape the hustle and bustle of Christmas in the city and travel to the countryside. However, it's not easy to find accommodation on the spur of the moment. And so they end up in a rather spartan hostel…
At some point, a dead fox lies in the star lawyer's empty swimming pool. Later, much later, the former Attorney General Jasper Dänert lies dead in an empty bed. In between, an entire life comes to an end. Or rather, what was left of it. A powerful drama that tragically paints the biblical story of...
A group of young people draws straws to see who'll steal some cigarettes. With this theft, Sebastian starts a bizarre, symbolic odyssey through a sclerotic world, in search of himself and of truth and justice. When he tries withdrawing from one social paradigm, he finds himself caught in another.
Pauline Oswald is 50 years old and has three daughters with her husband Robert. Now, after almost 30 years of marriage, they are about to divorce. This marks the start of a completely new life for Pauline. Until now, she has only worked as a mother and housewife, while her husband Robert, an...
Nils Philippi, advertising photographer, accuses himself of being an incorrigible hypocrite. He's been that way since he was a child, said what earned him recognition, what made him look good. He knows his problem, he just can't get rid of it. Nils illustrates his suffering to his analyst, putting...