Hans-Werner Meyer

Claire and David have been happily married for years, but there seems to be a curse on their marriage. They have been trying to have a child for a long time, but unfortunately without success. When David dies unexpectedly, Claire's life is thrown into complete chaos. But as she tries to come to terms with the loss, she suddenly discovers dark secrets that cast her husband in a completely new light: the respected aid worker was apparently involved in dirty business in Africa. And then for years he has also kept it from Claire that he has been having regular sex with the call girl Sabina. Suddenly more and more strange things are happening and Claire suddenly feels persecuted. Could David have been murdered? If so, who has something to cover up? And what did David's assistant Michael know? For Claire's psychiatrist and David's confidant Hagedorn, these are just delusions. But who can the widow trust now?

German judge Elke Seeberg's orderly world turns upside-down when a terrorist bomb explodes in a Berlin bus and the federal police come bursting through her door: Allegedly her teenage daughter played a part in the attack and is now on the run. What follows is a Kafkaesque nightmare of illegal round-the-clock surveillance by the Secret Service, public denunciation, and the collapse of her career. But when Federal Agent Buch helps her put together some pieces of the puzzle on her own, the fear of terrorists quickly gives way to the paranoia against an all-powerful state encroaching on all her rights.

Bank manager Frank and writer Patrizia meet by coincidence again and again at the airport. They commute between Dusseldorf and Paris, but behind their travels are two fateful stories. Frank wants to complete the business of his life, Patrizia visits her lover, who is in a coma since a car accident. For both life comes out of joint and they each suffer heavy losses. What connects them is the search for hold, a listener, the need to be needed and the hope that there is a beginning in each end.

Mid-forties Franziska is pregnant. Instead of looking forward to it, her husband Andreas opens up that he separates from her because he can no longer endure her neurotic control rage. As much as Franziska always wanted a child, as a single parent she sees no perspective. But then she meets the pregnant, 19-year-old Lilli. The funky woman whirls Franziska strictly regulated everyday life together and shows her how wonderful life can be, if you allow it

13-year-old Radost lives alone with her father Bruno. But he is not like other fathers; he suffers from oligophrenia: he has roughly the mental capacity of a ten-year-old. However, this intellectual disability has not prevented Bruno from being a great father to his daughter all these years. With Radost's awakening puberty, however, the first serious problems are now becoming apparent. Radost is becoming increasingly aware of how much she is mentally superior to her father. Her responsibility, which until now has been a part of their relationship, is becoming a great burden for the young girl, who actually wants to lead the normal life of a 13-year-old.

Michael Schäffer is among the Westerners whose families are killed in the great tsunami while on holiday at Thailand's Phuket beach. So is Billi Cramer, who is less introvert and hence accepts a Greek international relief force therapist's advice to seek contact with a compatriot in the same position. They got on so well there may be a real relationship in the making, but the grief still weighs heavily.

Nina is married to the conservative mayor Robert von der Heyden. The lawyer finally wants to step out of Robert's shadow. Now she learns from the television that her husband is once again running as a top candidate against all agreements. Nina's disappointment is compounded when she catches her husband with his French PR consultant Jacqueline. Her old party friend Philipp awakens the ambition of the once active local politician. She challenges her husband.

Victoria Stellmann, head of a traditional cruise shipping company, leads a happy but routine family life. But then she meets the charming Jacques and gets involved in an affair. The angry awakening does not leave long to wait, her lover proves to be an unscrupulous blackmailer. He threatens to publish a video of her night of love. Victoria starts to flee to the front.

Beate Uhse was a German pilot and entrepreneur. The only female stunt pilot in Germany in the 1930s, after World War II she started the first sex shop in the world. The company she started, Beate Uhse AG, is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and is the world leader in sales of sexual aids. The company also started a television channel on the Premiere network of television channels.

No job, no plan. So lawyer Svea returns to her old job as a shepherdess on a temporary basis. Back home, she meets her childhood sweetheart Hannes again, who is now married to Svea's school friend Ute...