Otto Scheidel (Manfred Krug) has been captain of the Elbe steamer Jenissei for over twenty years, but his ship, the last of its kind, is going to be converted into a floating restaurant. Otto, whose his strong attachment to the ship has already cost him his relationship with his girlfriend Caramba (Renate Krößner), refuses to take another job and instead joins a railway construction brigade.
Martina and Jürgen are lovers in the GDR. She is studying economics in Leipzig, he is preparing for his master's examination as a violin maker in Altneukirchen in Vogtland. While Martina deals with problems of modern science and technology in her thesis, Jürgen is committed to the traditions of instrument making. This leads to friction and strains the relationship. And when Martina meets her former childhood friend Peter Struck in Altneukirchen, the center of musical instrument making in the GDR, who works here as a physicist at the research institute, jealousy also comes into play.
On 20th of April 1945 the Soviet army launches its attack on Berlin. The end has come for Nazi Germany and Hitler decides to commit suicide. In Prague K.H. Frank (Nazi Secretary of State and Chief of police in the Protectorate of Bohemia a Moravia) discusses with his commanders how to transform the city into an impregnable fortress, but the Praguers do not intend to wait any longer. From the early hours of 4th of May people start assembling in the streets and tearing down German signs. On the next day, the 5th of May, the uprising begins.
