Michael 'Mini' Cooper is a child who cannot stop setting fire to things. The young arsonist has been deemed not safe to be out in society, and the hunt is on for a suitable institution.
The children Sonja and Helmut Schmitt have lost their parents in a car accident. At first, their grandmother takes over the supervision and care of the two.
A married couple, after a life time of work and bringing up a family, retire and awaken to the fast changing world around them, the habitual nature of their relationship, and what they have left.
Richard is a private detective. He makes a good money from marital infidelity: the deceived husband and wife generously paid him for proof of their infidelity "halves".
Karl Maiwald, a Dortmund auto mechanic, struggles amid neighbor disputes and family tension. Discovering his company’s clandestine bugging, he exposes management, expecting union backing.