The abbreviation "LSR," seen painted on various walls throughout the film, stands for "Luftschutzraum," German for "air raid shelter".
Inspired by "Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder" (1938/39), a play by Bertolt Brecht, and Baby Face (1933).
For the last seven minutes of the film, the last seven minutes of the 1954 World Cup final in Berne between Germany and Hungary is heard above and behind the Maria-Hermann dialogue.
Part of the BRD Trilogy along with Veronika Voss (1982) and Lola (1981). "BRD" stands for Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the official name of West Germany and of the united contemporary Germany, period in which those three stories takes place.
The baby crying in the opening sequence to the sound of the sirens and gunfire is a specific reference to Rainer Werner Fassbinder's autobiography.