Adelheid Kleineidam

Der Sandmann investigates the intersection of history and memory as witnessed against the backdrop of post–Cold War Germany.

Garbage manager Rüdiger Dorn wants to move into his parents' house after the death of his mother - but that has to be brought into shape first. It goes without saying that Werner pitches in.

"Captain" Werner Träsch is quite astonished: the fresh wind of social change is also blowing among the tradition-conscious Berlin garbage workers. His boss, Dorn, has got it into his head that women should finally be employed as refuse collectors.

The alleged murderer of a policewoman, Frank Keller, applies for release from preventive detention after 15 years in prison. However, it is rejected. Out of desperation, Keller takes his lawyer hostage and flees the courtroom. His first destination is the house of the edgy and highly respected police instructor Bruno Theweleit. Keller is said to have shot his colleague 15 years ago. After the incident, young policewoman Lena Frey sets off on her own search for clues and comes across more and more contradictions in the version of events that is supposed to have happened 15 years ago. This draws the displeasure of Theweleit and the shady inspector Günther Lehmann, who was also involved in the incident. After a meeting with Keller, Frey begins to doubt the man's guilt.

It's the 24th of December: The emergency department of a district hospital is preparing for a turbulent night: head physician Professor Singer, who has lost his wife and is even more involved in the work, and the surgeon Hannah Cornelsen, who talks about the work can forget that she and her husband have dwelt apart. On Christmas Eve, the hospital will become a microcosm in which a wide variety of people and destinies will meet - and for everyone, life will be in a completely different light next morning.