Even the military academy can't stop kind-hearted officer Gottfried Engelhardt from seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything in the young GDR is blooming: Engelhardt's career, the socialist state, the black market, and maybe even a chance at love.
In a small town, everyone has tried to forget what happened shortly after WWII. That is, until a stranger finds a book that Jadup (Kurt Böwe) gave to the young refugee Boel (Katrin Knappe), who resettled in the town over 30 years ago. Painful memories about Boel and the post-war period begin to surface and shake up the whole town. Boel vanished back then and nobody knew why. Word spread about a rape and some tried to blame a Russian soldier. Jadup, the town's respected and popular mayor, remembers, though, how he mistrusted Boel and did not help her through this difficult time; HE didn't even notice THAT Boel loved him. Jadup's confrontation with the past gives him a new, critical view of his current situation and surroundings.
The nurses and friends Anna and Annette grow desperate over men and love. At the hospital, Anna has fallen in love with Markus, whom she lovingly calls "moose", but they only meet twice a year, when Markus has time for her. In the meantime, she keeps afloat with flights of fancy. Meanwhile, Annette clings to the painter Ludwig who cannot stand such a close relationship. Through Annette and Ludwig, Anna meets an attractive married man but her high spirits do not last long.
It's no big secret that twelve-year-old Hannes is in love with his classmate Carolin, who he compares to a beautiful white cloud in the sky. But when Carolin spends most of her time exploring the village's history with Benno, Hannes becomes increasingly jealous of his rival. The only person who is happy about this situation is Kerstin, who is in fact interested in Hannes. In order to impress Carolin, Hannes takes her and several others out for a boat ride in the nearby Bay of Greifswald, but his plan takes a deadly turn as a storm approaches.
Two best teenage friends spend the summer holidays together in a village. Then a good looking teenage boy appears.
Elizabeth is an open-minded young person - curious and unbiased. She is sixteen, goes to secondary school and things are really going well, not least because her father, a Party member, occupies a privileged position. But then the father suddenly dies. Elizabeth feels lonely and abandoned, all the more so because her brother has long since severed all ties with his father.
The merchant's daughter Constanze, begs her father to ask a lion for a favor. Her father approaches the lion who agrees to his request with one condition: that he send the first person he meets upon his return home to the lion's den. It is Constanze. Against her father's will she goes to the lion and discovers that he is an enchanged prince and that only a woman's love can release him from the spell.
10-year-old Kathy Montag moves to a big city in Brandenburg. Before that, she lived in the Harz Mountains together with her father Peter. Her mother has died a few years ago. The girl finds her new home very exciting, and since Kathy takes an interest in everything she encounters, she keeps finding herself in peculiar situations such as a brigade party or the shooting of a historical epic movie. Her classmates consider her an oddball and even her father is unhappy about his daughter′s development.
Heinz is a well-stocked veterinarian in Klückow and his Jana in quite firm, although not always present hands. And now - as Aunt Alma is slowly getting rid of the concern for her beloved nephew - Dr. Kröpelin finally got his chance: he makes a marriage proposal to Alma. She would not be averse if it had not been his "bloodthirsty" hobby, the hunt. A get-together on the high seat is still not a desirable prospect for Alma. But the more she refuses, the tighter Kröpelin bites into his intention to marry her anyway, whatever the cost.
Dr. Barbara Heim, a heart surgeon, and Gunter Heim, a well-known actor, have been married for seven years. They have a six-year-old daughter. Both partners are totally taken up by their work which is physically and mentally demanding. So there is little time left for family life and the strained relations worsen and finally plunge Barbara into a crisis - shortly before their seventh wedding anniversary. At this very point a child dies in hospital, prompting Barbara to ask herself in desperation if - and for how long she can put up with the double burden of career and family. On top of this, she notices that Gunter is starting to compare her to other women.
Railway employee Fritz Marr is not regarded well by his superiors. It is the year 1920, and trains regularly pass the railway hub of Erfurt to the East to secretly transport weapons for the fight against the young Soviet Union. Marr knows about this and wants to mobilise other workers to stop these illegal deliveries. To muzzle him, Marr is relocated to a remote rail work construction site.