Bruno Fritz

East Berlin, shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall. Kurt Schröder and his family dig a tunnel to escape to West Berlin as they struggle to overcome the obstacles blocking their underground path to freedom.

This film is a fascinating showcase for Emil Janning's theatrical play. He's a gentle school teacher who believes in his boys and is easily fooled about all things, while the other town officials want him dismissed. Curiously it's very hard to see what the film is exactly aiming for. Disaster strikes and the lax prof proves to be too far removed of the real problems of the world, on the other hand his enemies are shown in the most unsympathetic, satirical way denouncing the militaristic, bourgeois ideology of the Kaiserreich.

Berlin's theatre crowd is excited about the new operetta "Frau Luna". But for the head of the city's vice police, who was invited to the dress rehearsal, the costumes for the ladies onstage are a bit too revealing. He demands the show be cancelled as offensive. The president of the Thusneldenbund has taken it upon himself to alert everyone about the growth of immorality in the capital. The theatre director Knopp has come up with an idea to convince these "fine" gentlemen to let the operetta go onstage again: He intends to win over the friendship of the moral police and then nothing will stand in the way of "Frau Luna" once more being performed.

The time from 1895 to 1945, the Berlin of Zille and Otto Reutter, Claire Waldoff, the imperial parades and marches under the Brandenburg Gate; the two world wars, the lavish premieres in the Apollo Theatre and small, intimate rounds in the country.

Gustav Hartmann is in trouble. Because of the new taxis he doesn't get many passengers in his horse-drawn carriage. To prove what he and his horse are capable of, he starts a trip from Berlin to Paris.

Combining documentary elements with a playful narrative, the film explores the evolution of bathing culture and social morals in Germany. Set in a summer resort where traditional values clash with more liberal attitudes, it humorously reflects on changing views of decency, freedom, and modern life.

Kurt Hoffmann's film adaptation of Tucholsky's eponymous novella is situated in 1910s Berlin: The aspiring editor Wolf runs into Claire by chance. Both are attracted to one another, yet they are not entirely certain about their feelings. They embark on a trip to Rheinsberg to assure themselves about their sentiments. And indeed, the time spent in the romantic provincial town brings clarity to their situation.