In the last years of his life, Bavarian king Ludwig II (1845 – 1886) devotes himself to ambitious architectural projects, which strain the state coffers to the extreme. The monarch, who is afraid of people, also withdraws more and more into a dream world at his various castles. His brother is already in a psychiatric institute and Ludwig is also eventually put under the care of psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden. The king attempts to get out from under this guardianship at Starnberg lake…

Heinrich George plays Henner who lives with his wife and child on a tugboat, going on the river to Berlin. There he meets the attractive Gescha (Betty Amann), and a story of love, betrayal and sadness ensues.

The First World War. The young, English Lieutenant Raleigh is sent to the company of a disillusioned Captain Stanhope. Stanhope is secretly engaged to Raleigh's sister and is intent on protecting his image of an exemplary officer. An attack on the German lines, in which Raleigh also takes part, has turned into a bloody fiasco. Now Raleigh, too, knows the horrors of war, which have already taken their toll on Stanhope.

Chicago gangsters use cunning and a series of false identities in a violent battle for dominance, all while attempting to dodge the police.