Der Teufel vom Mühlenberg (1955)

The greedy miller, whose mill stands on a mountain, wants to force the surrounding farmers to have their grain ground at his mill. But because the Forest Mill, a watermill in the valley, is closer and is therefore the one the farmers use, he disguises himself as the Devil on a stormy night, together with the bailiff and the village headman. He steals the mill’s flour and then sets the Forest Mill on fire. A short time later, he returns to the mill, now blazing fiercely, ostensibly to help the farmers who have rushed there put out the fire. The Forest Mill burns to the ground. The Mountain Miller announces that the Forest Mill was bewitched, and backs up Jörg, the son of the Forest Miller, who has reported seeing the Devil’s shadow during the fire. From now on, the farmers will have to have their grain ground at the Mountain Mill. All that is left to the Forest Mill couple, Jörg, and the maid Anne—who are both secretly in love with each other—is bare survival. The millers move away, leaving the orphan Anne without support. Jörg intends to seek a livelihood at the castle, and the Mountain Miller offers Anne a job. Horrified, she flees into the forest. Three gigantic spirits live there, known among ordinary folk as “the good charcoal burners.” Deep in the forest, they agree that the Mountain Miller’s misdeeds have now gone too far and that they want to punish him and his accomplices. To do so, they need the help of brave people who stand together. Anne, exhausted and collapsed in the forest, hears their voices and decides to turn back. She accepts the Mountain Miller’s offer and enters his service. Neither Jörg nor Anne is happy with their employers. The farmers are in distress because their flour supplies, as they believe, were destroyed in the mill fire. The Mountain Miller sells them flour at wildly inflated prices. While measuring out the portions, Anne discovers the stolen sacks of flour that the miller had taken from the Forest Mill before setting it alight. Anne tells the farmers what she has found, but the bailiff catches her. He locks her in the dungeon of his castle, which stands on a neighboring mountain to the Mountain Mill. Jörg manages to free her, and together they flee from their pursuers with the help of the three forest spirits. Their flight ends at the ruins of the Forest Mill. On the spirits’ advice, the two begin rebuilding the mill, and more and more of the farmers join in. By harvest time, the mill has been rebuilt. The Mountain Miller, who reminds the farmers to have their grain ground at the nearest mill, is furious when he learns that the Forest Mill is standing again. He makes new plans with the headman and the bailiff. The headman intends to collect rent from Jörg and Anne. If they cannot pay, the mill would belong to him. But the greedy Mountain Miller beats the headman to death, believing himself to be the mill’s owner. He sets out for the mill with the bailiff to collect the rent. The forest spirits give Jörg and Anne the gold they need. Unwilling to share it with the bailiff, the Mountain Miller snatches the gold from Anne’s hands and flees on his horse. In great haste, he has tampered with a wooden bridge that the pursuing bailiff and his mounted men must cross. As the castle’s marauding men plunge into the abyss, the gold pieces in the evil miller’s hands turn into glowing coals. Lightning strikes the Mountain Mill; the miller’s estate burns to ashes, and the earth opens in flames. The just punishment meted out by the good charcoal burners turns the Mountain Miller to stone, and he can still be found in the Harz Mountains today as a warning.