Ernst Hasselbach

Three 1950s city stories: In Hamburg, Sergeant Siegel tackles St. Pauli’s crime, from prostitution to deadly domestic fights. In Munich, teenager Helga Barufka teeters on the edge of nightlife’s dangers. In Düsseldorf, escort “Fräulein Doktor” outsmarts her boss by poaching his VIP clients.

Woman concert singer seeks to connect with her adult daughter, by her former marriage to a staid industrialist who has kept the two apart since the daughter was a small child, and gets inadvertent help from the industrialist's fired employee who has fallen in love with the girl.

Students raised under Nazi ideology witness the disintegration of the Third Reich and the realization of those who indoctrinated them that they were wrong.

Old John Carstens sells his marine‐equipment firm to Lafrenz, unaware it’s now a fuel‐smuggling front. Living above the showroom with daughter Hanna and son Jochen, he resists Lafrenz’s pressure. When Hanna falls for bargeman Oschi Rasmus, Lafrenz demands John either give up Hanna or settle his debts. John defies him and dies. Oschi clears John’s debts, but Lafrenz soon plots against the young couple.

During the Seven Years' War, Prussian Major von Tellheim sacrifices his own fortune to save a Saxon estate from being plundered. After the war ends he is discharged and left penniless when the government suspects his noble deed was actually due to a bribe. Believing his lost honour makes him unworthy Tellheim breaks his engagement to Minna von Barnhelm, but she tracks him down to a Berlin tavern to win him back. To test his love Minna pretends she has also lost her wealth, prompting Tellheim’s protective instincts to finally override his stubborn pride. The film concludes with a royal decree from Frederick the Great, restoring Tellheim's rank and fortune and allowing the couple to marry.

Three 1950s city stories: In Hamburg, Sergeant Siegel tackles St. Pauli’s crime, from prostitution to deadly domestic fights. In Munich, teenager Helga Barufka teeters on the edge of nightlife’s dangers. In Düsseldorf, escort “Fräulein Doktor” outsmarts her boss by poaching his VIP clients.

Woman concert singer seeks to connect with her adult daughter, by her former marriage to a staid industrialist who has kept the two apart since the daughter was a small child, and gets inadvertent help from the industrialist's fired employee who has fallen in love with the girl.

Students raised under Nazi ideology witness the disintegration of the Third Reich and the realization of those who indoctrinated them that they were wrong.

Old John Carstens sells his marine‐equipment firm to Lafrenz, unaware it’s now a fuel‐smuggling front. Living above the showroom with daughter Hanna and son Jochen, he resists Lafrenz’s pressure. When Hanna falls for bargeman Oschi Rasmus, Lafrenz demands John either give up Hanna or settle his debts. John defies him and dies. Oschi clears John’s debts, but Lafrenz soon plots against the young couple.

During the Seven Years' War, Prussian Major von Tellheim sacrifices his own fortune to save a Saxon estate from being plundered. After the war ends he is discharged and left penniless when the government suspects his noble deed was actually due to a bribe. Believing his lost honour makes him unworthy Tellheim breaks his engagement to Minna von Barnhelm, but she tracks him down to a Berlin tavern to win him back. To test his love Minna pretends she has also lost her wealth, prompting Tellheim’s protective instincts to finally override his stubborn pride. The film concludes with a royal decree from Frederick the Great, restoring Tellheim's rank and fortune and allowing the couple to marry.