Fahrschule (1986)

Horst Steinköhler, a mechanic who lives in Dresden, is a pedestrian by passion. When his friend Lothar Reschke decides to divorce his wife, he has to sell his lovingly maintained Wartburg 353. Having lost his driver’s license for two years after driving under the influence of alcohol, Reschke persuades Horst to buy the car from him. As soon as he gets his license back, Reschke intends to buy the car back. Horst agrees reluctantly, since the car would just sit in his garage anyway. He plans to surprise his wife, Gisela, with the news that he has bought a car. Gisela has the same news for him: after years of waiting, she has finally learned that her new Wartburg is ready to be picked up. She bought it right away. Now the Steinköhler family has two cars, but no driver’s license. Thanks to Gisela’s efforts, Horst can start driving school right away, even though he doesn’t really want to. Gisela also starts taking lessons at the same time, without her husband knowing. They have the same instructor, and while driving instructor Benno Hempel criticizes Horst so harshly that he eventually wants to give up in frustration, Gisela receives more praise. She secretly practices in Lothar Reschke’s Wartburg, with Reschke supervising. Before long, Horst becomes suspicious, especially since Gisela passes off her night-driving lessons as trips to the cinema. One day, when he is about to start a driving lesson of his own, a young female student tells him that Instructor Hempel is out with Mrs. Steinköhler. After the student hints that they may be having an affair, the two set off in pursuit of the car, since she believes Steinköhler is himself a driving instructor. Nevertheless, they soon lose sight of it. The student has already had more than 100 driving lessons and has only not taken her test because she doesn’t own a car, so Horst sells her Reschke’s car. Meanwhile, Hempel escorts Gisela to his apartment, and she flees when, shortly afterward, he appears before her in a bathrobe. Acting on impulse, she promptly sells her new car through a classified ad. In the end, the Steinköhlers are left without a car and have to hitchhike to the car-free island of Hiddensee for their vacation. But even on the island, a car comes toward them, and Mr. Steinköhler in particular is left defeated.