Claudia and Georg Rattey, a married couple, have everything what people in their mid-thirties might wish for: a car, a farmhouse for vacations on the weekends, and their son Oliver. But their contentedness does not turn into happiness but into an inner void: Claudia and Georg have nothing left to say to each other and just live alongside each other. One day, they discover a ten-year old burglar in their half-finished vacation home.
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 they have in common.
Ten-year-old Ole is full of mischief. He attempts to fly and is hospitalized with a broken leg. When he sees a Sherlock Holmes movie on TV, however, he forgets about the pains and comes up with a new plan. Disguised as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, he and his friend Andreas start searching for criminals. Soon, the two boys detect their first case. On the street they meet a man wearing a stuck-on beard. The hobby detectives find this very suspicious and decide to follow him.
The film describes the activity of an ABV of the People's Police in its section in East Berlin. A mixture of “positive” characters from the beginning, the extensively staged “owl”, who is introduced as a criminal and over the course of time, especially due to the influence of the ABV, develops into a good citizen, and incorrigible characters, with whom the ABV fails with its extensive attempts at rehabilitation and who are arrested after having committed again offenses.
Susanne and Christian get to know each other during a wonderful week in summer - and fall in love. This, however, leads to conflicts: up to now, Susanne has been living with Wolfgang, a biologist. This shared life was harmonious and based on mutual trust. Wolfgang is not only resolute and in full command of social situations; he has also always been the stabilizing force in the relationship. This is precisely why Susanne now feels drawn to the unsettled, unsteady and frivolous Christian, the complete opposite of the calm, well-balanced Wolfgang. And Christian, working as a shift boss on a natural gas derrick, has become more aware of his personal and social responsibilities as a result of loving Susanne.
In August of 1914, amidst the public ecstasy surrounding the impending war, Hans Gastl, the young son of a Munich bürger, makes a decision: he will not take part in this war. This resolution signifies a turning point in his life; a farewell to his class and his family.
On August 13th, 1961 - the night that the Berlin Wall goes up - three people must make a decision that will change their lives forever.
In 1523, young Thomas Müntzer arrives with his wife Ottilie in the Thuringian village Allstedt to assume the rectorate. As a follower of Luther′s teachings, he finds in the Bible not only reasons for clerical, but also for secular reforms. But when Luther turns away from the rural population after a discord with Müntzer, it is Müntzer who becomes the peoples′ spokesman. He is forced to go to Southern Germany, where he convenes with revolting farmers. But his way leads him back to Thuringia. In 1525, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer form the centre of the Thuringian peasant uprising in Mühlhausen, but their success is diminished by the fact that peasants and craftsmen don′t seem to be able to work together. In Frankenhausen, Müntzer becomes the leader of a peasants′ army that is set to fighting the ruler′s army – and sustains a devastating loss. Müntzer is arrested and sentenced to death by decapitation for his insurgency.
The two main people in the story are Anna, a young girl, who is thought of having the ability to heal people mysteriously. Elisabeth is a young - middle aged aristocratic woman, that is disabled and puts all her hopes in meeting Anna and having her disability heal by her. A strange ambivalent relationship develops between the two women.
A sensitive girl is sent to an all-girls boarding school and develops a romantic attachment to one of her teachers.