Lavish adaptation of Wilhelm Hauff′s fairy tale: Young charburner Peter Munk dreams of joining the upper class. He makes a deal with the sinister Holländer-Michel, who offers to trade Peter′s human heart for one made of stone. Once he has the "cold heart" in his body, Peter eventually strikes a fortune and enjoys great wealth, but at the same time, he becomes a bitter and emotionless man – and, having lost all traces of humanity, even murders his wife Lisbeth. Only then does Peter Munk finally realize what has become of him, and he decides to regain his real heart from Holländer-Michel.

The film centres around the young woman Erika, desperately seeking for love and escape from the depression of the times, drifting, and in the end becoming involved with a circle of rich people who sell goods for sexual favours.

After returning from a concentration camp, Susanne finds an ex-soldier living in her apartment. Together the two try to move past their experiences during WWII.

The daydreaming tailor Wenzel is fired from his job, because the fancy frock he was supposed to cut for the mayor, he instead made for himself. He is allowed, however, to take the frock, which he appropriated for himself and he puts it on as he leaves the shop. A puppeteer picks him up in his coach and addresses Wenzel as "Count". So is he received in Goldach, where people think he is Count Stroganoff, the ambassador to the Czar of Russia.

The French ballet girl Janine, a gifted tap-dancer, dreams of a musical career in Paris. But first she wants to take revenge on Count René who stood up her best friend Charlotte. Janine wants him to fall in love with her and disappoint him afterwards. At a masked ball at which Janine pretends to be a Marquise they have their first meeting. Janine is very disappointed in the "good gentleman", but she does not suspect that this gentleman also makes a pretence. The man whom she holds to be count René is Pierre, a composer and pianist.

Film by Fred Sauer.