Das Erbe von Björndal (1960)

Old Dag Björndal is buried. Although his son Dag is not yet willing to shake hands with his longtime enemy von Gall at the graveside, he soon changes his mind: he helps von Gall rebuild his family’s destroyed estate and finds him a housekeeper in Eleonore. Eleonore is the sister of retired Major Barre, who moves in with the Björndals. Much to the dismay of his daughter Adelheid, Barre is fond of alcohol. One day, while retrieving the lease, Dag meets the young beggar Gunvor and takes her with him to work on his estate. Gunvor was innocently imprisoned because her husband, Aslak, murdered a pharmacist. She helps with the hay harvest on the farm, but Adelheid soon suspects that Dag and Gunvor are having an affair. In reality, it is Barre who secretly slips into Gunvor’s room at night. The relationship between Adelheid and Dag continues to deteriorate. When Dag meets Aslak, who has escaped, in a forest cabin, Aslak tells him that Gunvor is only after men’s money, and Dag wants to drive them off his farm. Gunvor reveals that she is pregnant by Barre. After paying a large sum of money, she lets Dag take her back to town. Before that, she breaks the window of the room where Tore, the son of Dag and Adelheid, lies in his cradle. The child dies of hypothermia. Dag and Adelheid’s relationship is in danger of falling apart. Adelheid still suspects Dag of infidelity. He, in turn, does not want to betray anyone and spends days in one of his remote forest cabins. Aunt Eleonore finally intervenes and asks Barre to speak with Dag. Barre commits suicide when Dag accuses him of his wrongdoing with Gunvor. A farewell letter enlightens Adelheid about Dag’s innocence, and the two reconcile. The following year, Adelheid gives birth to a son, whom they name Dag after his father. Eleven years later, Eleonore adopts Barbara, a girl who lost her parents in a maritime disaster. Because of the behavior of Gall’s intellectually disabled son, Lorenz, the girl soon finds herself in danger on a river and is rescued by Dag, who dies in the act. As Barbara and young Dag grow closer over the years, Adelheid cannot forgive the girl for being the cause of her husband’s death. Only after hearing Eleonore’s words does she realize that her husband would have died in vain if she could not accept Barbara. On the day Dag junior comes of age, Adelheid officially welcomes Barbara into the family by placing on her the family heirloom—a necklace passed down through the generations—which Adelheid had once received from her father-in-law.