Dieter, Angela, Kohle and Karl-Heinz are part of a group of delinquent youths who prowl Schönhauser Allee, in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg.

The screenplay of Berlin – Ecke Schönhauser… was written in summer 1956 - during the early months of the Khrushchev Thaw - and severely criticized by officials in the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Directorate upon its completion.

When Klein held a screening of Ecke Schönhauser in the Ministry of Culture, the officials present strongly disapproved of it, and intended to ban it.

But when it was presented to the Central Committee of the Free German Youth, Hans Modrow praised Klein's work and declared that it would be beneficial for the populace.

[4] Mira and Antonin Liehm wrote that, while still attacking "West Berlin with the same propagandistic undertone of all DEFA films", it also "took into account the shady aspects of life in the East".

[5] Dagmar Schittly noted that the film acknowledged the East German youth's wish to emulate the life in the West, at least partially: on one occasion, Angela states that her model of the ideal man figure is Marlon Brando.