Jede Woche Hochzeitstag (1976)

Robert Zimmermann is a registrar by vocation, shaped by his daily dealings with happily married couples and a staunch believer in marriage. When he happens to learn that one of the couples he married has filed for divorce, he feels his honor has been affronted and refuses to accept this “defeat.” Together with his colleague, Mrs. Kühnert, he sets out to persuade the couple to withdraw their petition. This inevitably brings him into conflict with the young judge Helga Winkler, who is handling the divorce case. Zimmermann is willing to accept that, though. He can show Winkler that there is still a spark of hope for Gerhard and Karin Krause’s marriage. The judge reluctantly gives in and grants them a three-week period before her final ruling. Gerhard Krause is basically pleased, since he hasn’t entirely given up on his marriage either. Karin, however, has “someone else,” and it may be difficult to “talk her out of” him. Meanwhile, Registrar Zimmermann wants to apologize to Judge Winkler for barging into her hearing without being asked. Since she has already finished work for the day, he goes to her home, bringing a bouquet of flowers. Winkler feels flattered, and in their ensuing conversation Zimmermann realizes that the judge is not at all interested in divorcing couples quickly or possibly too hastily. She too thinks that taking some time to reflect is worthwhile. When she asks whether Zimmermann is married, he replies that he was, and that his marriage was extremely happy until an accident. They didn’t celebrate every day, but they did celebrate their wedding anniversary every week! One of his colleagues follows the same “recipe” and is still very happy in her marriage. From Winkler’s mother, who lives in the same house, Zimmermann learns that Helga lost her trust in men after her own divorce and that this is why she is so committed to being a divorce judge. To fight for the Krauses’ marriage, Zimmermann gets actively involved in their affairs. He soon discovers that Karin’s new boyfriend is a musician and that women flock to him. Accordingly, he has no interest in marrying Karin. When Zimmermann tells her this, she naturally doesn’t believe him. She packs her things anyway and moves out of Gerhard’s home. But before long she is back, and in the end the Krauses withdraw their divorce petition. Judge Winkler thanks Zimmermann and admits that she would have liked to save the marriage herself. This gives him pause, and he notices how downcast Winkler seems. He comes up with a plan to restore her confidence and looks for a new case for her. He soon finds one: Elke and Peter Haubold. Zimmermann gets to work straight away. Pretending to be a counselor from a marriage and family advice service, he learns that the source of the trouble is the mother-in-law. He promptly takes Trude Haubold in hand and sees for himself just how domineering she is. But he also discovers that Trude is the only one driving things forward, and that neither her son nor her husband truly wants a divorce. Zimmermann tries to achieve something through Trude’s husband and encourages Otto Haubold to stand up for himself, since if they divorce he will hardly ever see his grandchild. The plan works, and Otto stands up to his wife for the first time. The Haubolds withdraw their divorce petition, and Judge Winkler is proud that “her counseling arguments” worked so well. By now, through all his efforts, Zimmermann has fallen in love with Helga Winkler. But Helga’s ex-husband has noticed, and he seeks a conversation with his former wife. After all, she could give them the same chance she gives her clients. He would like to start over, at any rate. When Zimmermann finds out, he is devastated. His secretary decides he could use some cheering up and finds him a new case to take his mind off things. It proves a tough nut to crack at first, but Zimmermann wouldn’t be Zimmermann if he couldn’t crack this one too. When Helga Winkler accidentally discovers that Zimmermann has secretly saved not only this marriage but the Haubolds’ as well, she knows what she has to do. She goes to Zimmermann and registers a marriage. She has her documents with her; the only thing she is missing is the groom. But she has his name: Robert Zimmermann.