Wera Frydtberg

Follows the life of several different people in 1960s in Germany for a few days. The story begins, when a juvenile criminal steals an old woman's handbag in a post office and throws it into a parking car, when he feels observed. But there was a lot of money in that bag, and thereby a dozen fortunes become entwined.

Andreas, a young German student comes to Hungary on an exchange programme. In the Hungarian village he falls in love with the stationmaster's daughter Piroschka and spends much of his time with her. They have an enchanting summer until Andreas gets an invitation to join another young woman at a nearby resort. Piroschka is jealous and follows him there, causing trouble. It takes a long time for Andreas and Piroschka to even talk to each other again. When Andreas has to leave Hungary at the end of his holiday, he is determined to return some day.

A young Hungarian press illustrator and an even younger French publisher's daughter live together in Paris for four years, in a loving but crisis-ridden relationship without a marriage certificate. Only after bitter experiences does true love set in, leading the couple to the registry office after all.

The somewhat indolent father Traugott Wurster looks after his six sons while his wife works in a butcher's shop. One day, when Traugott falls into a mysterious prolonged sleep, mother Wurster is forced to give the children to relatives. Markus is sent to the stuffy Uncle Theodor, who turns into a childhood friend under his influence. Mother Wurster also "rents" the sleeping Traugott to a furniture store, which uses him to advertise mattresses in the shop window.

Secondary-school teacher Dr. Hermann Seidel is transferred from his sleepy, provincial grammar school to the big city. Here, he has to deal with a class of obstreperous students, where his outmoded teaching methods help him precious little. With the aid of good friends, however, he manages to turn things around, and he soon gets a handle on the students in his very own way…