The Case of Detlef Kammrath

Marie thinks to return to her job one year after the birth of her daughter Nora. Her husband Holger is already looking forward to two-month parental leave in which he wants to be totally there for her daughter. Her daughter? They rush into an emotional hell without warning. The youth welfare office informs them that their child has been swapped in the clinic. Sandra, the other mother with the exchanged and actually biological child of theirs, is a single-parent student. While Sandra outwardly comparatively seems to handle it with ease, Marie is completely overwhelmed. Sandra's life situation leads to a dispute with Holger, because Marie can not accept that "her" daughter should grow up with a poor single parent. When the press also gets wind of the matter, there is no turning back: The children must be exchanged.

It was supposed to be a cozy Christmas evening with the family. Labor Director Walter Lörke was particularly looking forward to it. But then his daughter Anne surprised him with her future son-in-law Thomas Ostermann. And that's not all: Lörke is to become a grandfather. This doesn't suit him at all, especially as the young man clearly shows his critical attitude towards the state whose ideals Lörke has fought for all his life. An argument ensues - on Christmas Eve. Lörke leaves the apartment in a rage. But he is driven by unrest: He wants to know what kind of person his future son-in-law is and why he has such a negative attitude towards the state. It turns out that Thomas has had bitter experiences with the opportunistic attitudes of many adults and that, although he was the best student in his class, he was not admitted to university because of his critical opinions.

When Angelika moves to Leipzig, she is forced to rent a room at Mrs. Häublein’s for a start, since her parents will not follow until a few months later. Fellow tenant Thomas, a philosophy student, is not at all enthused about his new, pretty housemate. Because of Angelika he has to move into a smaller room. Furthermore, he is annoyed at her many male acquaintances, without sensing that his aggression might be prompted by jealousy. When Angelika’s father comes for a visit, he asks Thomas to keep an eye on his daughter. Thomas takes this assignment very seriously and finally realizes that he has fallen in love with Angelika.

Tom, a 17-year-old window design apprentice, dreams about true love. One day, a new girl from East Berlin moves to town. Tom has a crush on her and will do anything to impress her. When he finds out that she plans to become an actress, he even discovers the aspiration to perform himself. For a while, Tom is on cloud 9.

The Oppen family has lived in Berlin, Griesener Straße, for generations. The first names of the family members are also repeated, so the grandson Jan has the same first name as his grandfather. The Oppens' husbands have maintained a tradition up to now: they were or are all carpenters. But the latter does not yet fall on fertile ground with 16-year-old Jan, whose passion is the moped, his "machine". Of course, he is a newcomer among the motorcycle fans around the black Jonny, but he loves to be in their company to experience adventures, and of course he wants to be able to "keep up" with them. Jan has already developed a strategy for how he can do this.

Nina Kern, a divorced woman in her late twenties, will soon be fully deprived of her custody rights for her three children, who already reside in a home for the displaced due to Nina’s many years of willful neglect. Although she has broken her promise to change her moral conduct many times, she is given one last chance on probation.

Eight-year-old Andrea, known as Mücke, her brother Thomas and their parents intend to celebrate this year's New Year in a completely different way. They have rented a hunting lodge in the mountains and want to hold their very special New Year's Eve party here. But then a snowstorm hits, the effects of which are so extreme that the cabin is cut off from the outside world. Now parents and children are left to their own devices, finally able to spend some quality time together. But the four of them have differing views on how to do this, and they even get into arguments. Of course, they also have to deal with how to "survive" an unforeseeable period without contact with the outside world.

Frank, a tenth grade student, falls in love with his classmate Regine. His father is a well-connected plant manager in the GDR; Regine's mother is a single parent with four children. Regine wants to become a kindergarten teacher, but her grades are poor and she is not allowed to apply for technical college. Frank champions her and seeks an open discussion about these rigid regulations. But his criticism is nipped in the bud.

Ede falls in love with Unku, a girl from a travelling circus. Love cannot run smoothly however because Unku is a Gypsy. Various adventures take place before love is finally allowed to run its natural course.

Maria is a record saleswoman by profession. She is lucky to have a job, because the year is 1930 and a major economic crisis has hit the world, accompanied by an army of unemployed people, especially in Germany. Maria is aware of her good fortune; in order to secure it, she has to do without many things. What business owner would employ an unmarried woman with a child in times like these? When Maria became pregnant, she, like many other women, had to become "active" and do something about this "misfortune". So she seeks "help" from a female doctor, trusting in her youth and hoping for better times when family happiness could come true for her.

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 academic, brought home the salary. Pauline later meets the cheerful and resolute Wally, who works as a brigade leader in a large laundry. A friendship develops between the two women, and Wally helps Pauline to continue on her path to a self-determined life.

The story of a 14-year-old boy's problems. Unable to overcome his parents' divorce, Steffen mutates into a "failure" and has to repeat year 7 at school. His mother and teachers are helpless and disappointed in the boy. He remains withdrawn from them and builds his own world by escaping to an old tower where he secretly writes poetry. Franziska, one of Steffen's classmates, is very fond of him and stands up for him; she fights for Steffen's fair treatment. Then the friendship between the two young people is put to the test by the boy's mistrust.

The story of a philanderer behind the wheel of a cab, who gets into a series of hilarious but also adventurous situations, was based on the actual experiences of Berlin cab drivers. It is an entertaining portrayal of how the main protagonist, Eddy, is to be cleverly dissuaded from his dashing bachelor life. Gaby and her grandpa come up with a few ideas. This is necessary, because Eddy may be a proper cab driver, but in his private life he knows no rules when it comes to winning over pretty girls.

Tired of never having enough money to spend, Rita and Susanne throw all bourgeois moral concerns straight out of the window and simply become contract killers. With their little heads and guns, they bring a few unpleasant contemporaries around the corner and collect a tidy sum for their own use. The whole thing is so covert that even her husbands Herbert and Ralph don't suspect a thing. But then the cunning private detective Mazulla gets onto their trail and seems to see through their murderous scam...

Marcel Schlurfke is not exactly the heartthrob that friends Elke and Gitte are looking for. So they think about how to get rid of this annoying admirer. The best way is to put him in a position where he makes a fool of himself. This is what happens to the aforementioned Marcel, who suffers a total shipwreck with his "cooking skills". And after this failure, Marcel can only place himself in the care of his father Wollermann.Elke's father is a very desirable man in certain respects: in his spare time, he likes to wallpaper and transform worn-out rooms into pretty rooms. For Elke herself, however, this is a problem, because her father repeatedly takes possession of her (desired) admirers and promotes her to "honorary helper" in wallpapering matters. Only Marcel Schlurfke proves his touchingly helpless clumsiness in these assignments too.

Engineer Franz Bach seems to have gone astray once again. Working overtime, nagging at his wife and his parents sleeping apart lead the children to come to this conclusion. It can't go on like this. His youngest son Täve does his best to keep his father away from the very young intern Irene. Täve's 19-year-old brother, on the other hand, tries to steal his father's mistress. His wife Margarete also wants to bring a breath of fresh air into the marriage.

Changing jobs and changing boyfriends - until now, the beautiful Sonia has cheated her way through life. She found the support she needed with her sister Karin. But then Karin doesn't return from a supposed business trip. Sonia sets off with her dog Bigfoot in search of her sister. The first clue leads to an internet chat room where Karin regularly logged in under her alias Demi Moore and indulged in provocative sex talk.

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…

Weeks after the victory in Vietnam, first pictures of a new humanity are captured: old and sick people preparing for their future, children on their way to school.

Erich Kasulke and Rudolf Portmann are comedian stars of the former GDR. When the Wall falls, so does their success. Portmann becomes a successful businessman, while Kasulke tries to continue working on the comedy circuit - without success. When his wife also cheats on him, he decides to start a new life in Berlin. There he quickly meets his old friend Portmann, who has built up a huge company. He offers him a job. But Erich puts the entire company in danger...

The main character Otto, the "best man", is a copy of the illustrious Mister Bean. He takes on an apprenticeship as a building-worker, which makes him a member of a building brigade. At the same time Otto tries to start a love affair, which he handles even clumsier. Never the less Otto makes progress with the lady in question, a single mother, who apparently doesn't mind. Actually he wanted her sister, but a retired Leninist party member changes his mind. This gives him the courage to persevere in his work, albeit with the helping hand of the obligatory retired party member. And behold, in the end Otto invents a new method of building, which saves the brigade many hours of work.

Willi Zubrodt is delegated by his department to a parachuting course at the GST. As he is not very disciplined, has no respect for the instructors and does not fit into the collective, the instructors try to show him up and force his expulsion from the course. However, the attempts to prove that he had gaps in his theory and physical condition were a complete failure. Zubrodt manages to turn the tables each time.