Der Nikolaus im Haus (2008)

Klaudia Wehmeyer is co-owner of the bakery Die Zuckerbäckerin. Christmas is just around the corner, but Klaudia has little reason to celebrate. She is sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement. She is accused of misappropriating 500,000 euros and causing serious harm to her business partner, Dr. Frank Lehmann. Klaudia is innocent and suspects that the accountant, Roland Müller, and Frank Lehmann are in cahoots to enrich themselves. She flees the courthouse. During her escape, she manages to get hold of a Santa Claus costume. A biker helps her on his motorcycle and drops her off outside Lehmann’s villa in Anif. As they part, he hands her a pair of wire cutters, saying they might come in handy. Klaudia tries to break into the house and cuts a cable belonging to the alarm system. The alarm goes off, and Klaudia runs to the neighboring house. It belongs to Paul Weber and his children, Pia and Tim. Paul is a widower and is facing financial ruin. His small shop, La petite belle France, has been sold to a new investor who intends to close it. Paul had been counting on turning the shop into a bistro. Now he has invested in a bistro that will never exist, and he also has debts from a major renovation of his house. He turns down the chance to take over another branch of the chain in Linz, because of his children. Pia and Tim, unsure whether Santa Claus really exists, let Klaudia into the house and hide her in the attic. A second attempt to break into Lehmann’s house is thwarted by the neighbors’ dog. Tim, in turn, lets the secret slip that evening, revealing that Santa Claus is in the house. Paul initially thinks it is a joke, but soon catches the children trying to take food to Klaudia. He finds her in the children’s bedroom. Since she won’t say who she is or what she wants, he throws her out. She moves into the family’s treehouse. A little later, she sees Lehmann and Müller disappearing into the neighboring house carrying numerous files. From their conversation, she gathers that, on Lehmann’s instructions, Müller replaced the old accounting records with a completely new set. The old files are now stored in Lehmann’s house and would prove Klaudia’s innocence. After a while, Paul takes pity on Klaudia, who is shivering in the cold. He brings her into the house and offers her some cookies. They realize that they work in similar professions, and Klaudia bakes cookies and stollen for the family. The next day, she gets Pia and Tim to lure Mrs. Lehmann out of the house. She tries to break in again, but Paul interrupts her. The alarm goes off once more, and Paul has had enough: he locks Klaudia in the basement and demands an explanation that evening. Klaudia tells him about her trial and her innocence, and Paul now lets her sleep in the attic. Meanwhile, his personal problems have worsened. He visited Kurt Klett, the man behind the sale of La petite belle France. He asked him if he might be able to give him a job in Anif, and Klett immediately saw a big business opportunity. He now wants to buy Paul’s house cheaply and have it demolished so he can make a fortune building something new on the site. Paul refuses to sell, so he is now facing a forced auction because of his debts. At work, he also realizes that La petite belle France is not actually going to be closed. Instead, Klett wants to dismiss the existing staff and hire new workers for low wages. Paul confronts Klett and threatens to expose his criminal dealings, but Klett is happy to call his bluff. Paul realizes he has nothing on him and gives up. Klaudia, however, knows Klett’s weak spot. Although he was already married, he had an affair with her best friend, Vera. Photographs show them in compromising poses. Klaudia blackmails Klett with the pictures. She wants him not only to pay off Paul’s debts, but also to let Paul turn La petite belle France into a bistro as planned. Reluctantly, Klett agrees. Paul, however, finds Klaudia’s photo album and concludes from the pictures that Klaudia and Klett had an affair. The next day, when Klett tells him he can open his bistro, Paul believes Klaudia offered herself to Klett and that this is why he agreed. Enraged, Paul attacks Klett and knocks him down. Klett fires him. Shortly afterward, Klaudia manages to break into Lehmann’s house and take the exculpatory evidence. The alarm still goes off, and Klaudia flees to Paul’s house. But he refuses to let her in, and Klaudia is arrested soon afterward. The stolen documents ultimately clear her name. She cannot feel happy about it, because Paul wants nothing more to do with her. On Christmas Eve, Klaudia appears at Paul’s house again, dressed as Santa Claus. Although he does not want to let her in, his children are delighted to see Klaudia. She explains to Paul that it was not she, but her friend, who had an affair with Klett. Paul realizes he made a mistake, and they reconcile, much to the delight of the children, who had wished for a new mother for Christmas.