Sailor Felix Striebel visits the fresh grave of "Mother Magdalena" during his vacation. This brings back memories of his childhood: the tree of Magdalene was an oak named after the district nurse Magda and stood as a symbol of stability and security.
Christiane arrives at a Moscow hospital to see her little daughter. While she waits for the child to recuperate, she reflects on her life. Remembering her childhood in East Germany, she thinks about her grandfather and his obsession with building a perpetual motion machine.
Karl and Richard, two German soldiers captured by the Russians in World War I, become very close friends—so close that Richard shares intimate stories about his wife, Anna. Through these stories, Karl falls in love with her in his thoughts.
One day in the lives of young people Berlin during the economic crisis at the end of the 1920s.