Moscow, 1902. The famous director Konstantin Stanislavsky, in search of inspiration for staging a new play, decides to get acquainted with the life of the city "bottom". He turns to Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a recognized expert on the Moscow slums, for help.
1698-1709 - ten years from the life of Peter the Great, during which he laid the foundations of the future Russian Empire. From the return of the Great Embassy from Europe to the Battle of Poltava. After the signing of a peace treaty with Sweden in 1721, Russia officially became an empire, and Peter became the first Russian emperor.
A young German, Werner Müller, turns out to be a volunteer in the neurological department of an ordinary St. Petersburg hospital. A foreigner, overwhelmed by the impulse to help all the sick and needy, has a long and eventful day ahead of him. Every now and then, finding himself in comical situations and making his way through misunderstandings, the volunteer discovers all the facets of the Russian national character.
