Katrin und Dieter wünschen sich unbedingt ein neues Auto. Leider fehlt ihnen dazu das nötige Kleingeld. Sie beschließen daher, den 60. Geburtstag von Tante Mathilde auszurichten, und laden dazu alle Verwandten ein, auch diejenigen, mit denen sie seit Jahren keinen Kontakt mehr hatten. Denn manchen von ihnen wird nachgesagt, dass sie im Geld schwimmen. So hoffen Katrin und Dieter auf die ein oder andere Unterstützung, doch so manches entlarvt sich nur als schöner Schein

The young architect Hannelore becomes part of the all-male brigade Fröhlich whose members are supposed to build houses at the Strausberger Platz in Berlin. The brigade men drink a lot of beer and are less than thrilled about the new girl. Hanne is the only one who is absolutely delighted with Hannelore. When he starts a drunken fight on May Day, he is arrested and accused of armed robbery. Hannelore immediately convinces the other men in the brigade to help Hanne.

Was it an act of sabotage or willful negligence? The non-party engineer Heinz Solter is suddenly arrested and accused of approving a defective pipeline that caused a half million loss to his company. At first, the case seems clear-cut for the state prosecutor, but when he probes deeper, he discovers that Solter had acted against his better judgment due to the pressure from his career-driven and authoritarian boss.