Fred Köster

A wealthy uncle from America has named the widowed shoemaker Emil Rogge as his sole heir and bequeathed him a chest containing his entire fortune. However, the will includes a clause stipulating that the chest may only be opened after a three-month period, and Rogge will only inherit the fortune if he fulfills two conditions within that time: he must abstain from alcohol at work, and he must find and marry a wife. A con man then tries to seduce Rogge and arrange for his accomplice, the sophisticated Olga, to marry him. But in the end, Rogge not only finds the right woman but also experiences a major surprise.

Country Dr. Robert Koch is desperate: a tuberculosis epidemic is decimating the children in his district and no one is able to do anything about it. Every fourth child is already sick and the parents must helplessly watch as their young ones die. Now Koch is undertaking to find the cause of the tuberculosis --- something he has already been working on for years --- which has been causing this plague of illness. His work is made more difficult by envy; for example, that of his teacher, who was wounded defending his honor. But his greatest obstacle is the famous Berliner scientist and Reichstag deputy, Privy Councilor Rudolf Virchow: He is extraordinarily skeptical of Koch's theory, that the cause for tuberculosis is a bacteria.

Lisa's marriage is all in all quite happy; unfortunately, her husband never listens to her when it comes to buying new things. To change this situation, she fakes a loss of memory and pretends not to know who her husband is. When he calls the young psychiatrist Dr. Spinelski for help, Lisa acts, as if she believes he is her husband; and as part of the therapy, Spinelski makes sure that Lisa gets everything she wants. Finally, Lisa comes to the conclusion that she'd rather have her real husband and so pretends to fall for him, whereupon they start a new life together. I'll remember to try that the next time I'm not allowed to buy some beer.

1900: Much to the chagrin of Baron Uhlendorff in Schoneberg, the city of Berlin is expanding. But what is much worse is that his son George is in love with Traute, the daughter of the master carpenter Schradecke. So the son must leave for South America as a diplomat and Father Schradecke has to intercept his letters to his daughter. Traute is inconsolable; 1913: The early days of the small artisans have now given way to them becoming big businessmen. Traute continues to wait for George in spite of the stubborn proposing by the carpenter Paul Buttner.

At a ball at the Metropol, the married Margit gives a harmless kiss to a one-time friend from her childhood and cousin, Eberhard. The two notice, however, that Margit's ill and jealous husband observed them from a distance, because he recognized the coat she recently purchased. Quickly, Margit asks the salesgirl Trude to put on her coat and meet Eberhard in the lobby. Things take a decidedly different turn, however, when Trude and Eberhard fall madly in love with each other.