Semmelweis – Retter der Mütter

A German soldier lies wounded on the front line in the First World War. To avoid capture or death, he assumes the identity of a fallen French officer. As the German soldier happens to speak fluent French, nobody realizes the deception. The soldier begins a new life in Paris, yet remains in constant fear of being exposed as the ‘enemy’.

The young opera singer Carla is in love with the talented young composer Michele, who wants to make it big with classical music and writes his first opera, "The Return of Odysseus," for Carla. But Carla is more successful than he is and gets a gig at La Scala in Milan. Through her connections, she manages to find a publisher for Michele's opera. But when Michele learns what the publisher really thinks of his work, he leaves and abandons Carla. A year later, Carla finds Michele again. He has since become a sought-after composer, but is embittered because he is only successful with pop songs. His new revue "Dream Music," a reworking of his opera, is about to premiere. Carla then arranges for Michele's original opera to premiere in Budapest with her in the lead role.

The young lieutenant Hans Rudloff is engaged to the daughter of a councilor of commerce. However, he is in love with the flower arranger Anna. In order to marry her, he is even prepared to resign from his post. But gossip and intrigue don't exactly make things easy for the two of them.

A middle-class, married woman, Mrs. Kessler, whose husband has been suicidal after losing his job, prostitutes herself once to get the family out of financial straits. The husband finds out about it and divorces her. When he threatens to take away her beloved son, she shoots him. He survives but she is prosecuted.

Mother of a young boy, Jackie, Véra Latour asks her husband, Pierre, a famous aviator, to stop performing stunts where he risks death for pleasure. Pierre reluctantly agrees, and it is his friend Bob Deschamps who wins a trophy during a meeting. However, Vera, who never wanted to experience her first flight with her husband, allows Bob to take her up in his plane. When Pierre finds out, he immediately sets off with his loyal mechanic Robert Nourry on a long flight across the Atlantic. After hours of anxiety, Vera learns that her husband has successfully reached New York. Upon his return, she welcomes him as a victor.

France at the time of the Restoration. The young country gentleman Rastignac comes to Paris to study. He takes up residence in a poor boarding house, where his father Goriot, who has been excluded by his daughters, also lives. The penniless Rastignac is anxious to gain a foothold in Parisian society. His cousin advises him to take the rich banker's wife Delphine, one of Goriot's daughters, as his mistress, which he does. At the same time, however, he falls in love with the laundress Yvette. He is unable to make up his mind when boarding house guest Vautrin suggests a third option: To marry Victorine, the disinherited daughter of a millionaire, and kill her brother in a duel in order to get his inheritance after all. Rastignac agrees. This is his downfall. Instead of high society, he ends up in the gutter.

A smugglers gang is active on the Austrian-Swiss border. Until now, no one has come to their attention. But one day a little girl gets seriously ill and needs medical attention; the young operator will forget that he has to be careful and calls for help through the secret channel.

The story revolves around Vera, a renowned singer constantly evading her possessive Russian husband, Count Ogolenski, who uses cunning tactics to eliminate her potential suitors and refuses to grant her freedom. Seeking refuge and romance, she becomes involved with the wealthy Dschahid Bey, leading to a tense confrontation amid elements of espionage, with settings including Egypt and the Nile. The narrative blends absurd intrigue, thriller aspects, and romantic tension, reflecting Perutz's style of fantastical and mysterious tales.

"The fate of a beautiful woman" tells a story of Erika Dankwarth that reflects herself in a multitude of men.

Gohelle, escaped from prison, seeks to flee occupied France for Argentina. The captain of a cargo ship is willing to smuggle him out out France for a price but Gohelle has no money. His mistress, Marie-Angel tries to charm the money out of wealthy Alain Ginestier who seems the ideal pigeon but Marie-Angel falls in love with Ginestier.

Martin Hollmann, a young gardener meets his significantly older wife's daughter from her first marriage. Liesbeth Kröger is from his generation and they both get along well straight away. Shortly after his wife's death, Martin brings Liesbeth into his house as a housekeeper, and they both fall in love. The couple live together and soon decide to get married when Liesbeth becomes pregnant by Martin. But now the tragedy begins, because when registering at the registry office, Martin and Liesbeth, in the form of a strict bailiff, are officially declared that they have committed incest in accordance with Section 173 of the Criminal Code.

Professor Sonnenbruck is a scientist who is not particularly interested in politics. Even the meeting in 1943 with his former assistant Peters does not change him. He does not betray Peters, who has escaped from a concentration camp, but that is already enough for him. But after the war Sonnenrbruck gets into a conflict of conscience. He thought that science was finally free of politics again only to find the opposite happening at his university in Göttingen. A medical congress in the GDR brings him together with Peters, who is working on a major research contract there. Sonnenbruck decides to visit Peters.