Monika Gabriel
A Saxon village in 1792: While the Prussians go against France, the haymaking takes place in the village and the resolute Marthe catches her daughter Ev with the village blacksmith Ruprecht in the hay.
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.
A depiction of class conflicts in Germany between 1918 and 1945. The Spartacist Erwin is shot by officers in 1918, and his pregant working-class bride Marie begins a new relationship with social democrat Geschke. Erwin's son Hans grows up to be a communist like his father, leading to bitter hatred between him and his Nazi step-brother, while Geschke becomes increasingly resigned to the political situation in Germany. The three aristocratic officers who shot Erwin many years ago meet again during the Kapp Putsch, but their support for the Third Reich eventually leads each to their deaths.
Monika and Johannes are married. With increasing frequency, their son Manni becomes the focus of their arguments. Since the two cannot agree to a compromise, they decide to break up. The ten-year-old Manni is supposed to spend four weeks with Monika followed by four weeks with Johannes on an alternating basis. They want to prove to each other who has the better parenting skills. The plan fails, however, because Manni is very good at playing his parents off against each other. When Monika and Johannes finally see through their son’s game, they realize that their way of life does not lead to better parenting and they conclude that good parenting can only be achieved if they work together.
Ewald Honig can't break his bad habit. Hardly has he crossed over into the GDR when the strapping, well-built man in his late fifties once again starts courting ladies with fraudulent intentions. His daughter Ina, burdened with the same genes, specializes in married men in their prime. Two criminologists are on the Honigs' trail, but they soon have enough to handle just dealing with each other. Meanwhile, Honig and his daughter have left their wayward path of their own accord.
Berlin in the 1960s. Olaf and Horst are two young metalworkers, who provoke their older colleagues with critiques of the antiquated equipment and lack of materials... not to mention their love of leather jackets and motorbikes. Olaf and Horst begin to be targeted in the house newsletter, and the generational conflict escalates.
