Die große Reise der Agathe Schweigert (1973)

Ernst Schweigert had to leave his mother, Agathe, and Nazi Germany for Paris overnight because he had taken part in a protest. After losing track of him, Agathe sets out to search for her son. To raise money for her journey, she sells her haberdashery shop and travels west by train. The woman, well known and respected in her hometown, is immediately recognized and addressed by the train conductor. She grows a little nervous at the customs inspection, but everything goes well. When she arrives in Paris, Agathe takes in the city and its sights. After all, she has never made such a long journey in her life and has always stood behind the counter of her shop. Having found the address from which her son’s last letter was sent, she learns that Ernst left some time ago. Fortunately, she finds one of Ernst’s friends, who tells her that her son is fighting the Fascists in Spain. Agathe wants to follow him—even if necessary all the way to the front. First, she goes to Toulouse and is astonished that her son has friends there too. Only now does she realize that her Ernst has been a member of the International Brigades for a long time. Traveling onward from France to Spain proves difficult, because no one is willing to issue Agathe the necessary papers. A solution seems possible only when she agrees to take a job in Spain. She is then told to wait for the time being, but in the end everything moves faster than expected and her application is approved. The journey continues by train over the Pyrenees and then on foot to the border. There, Agathe and the men accompanying her are welcomed as fighters for Spain’s freedom and taken to the nearest town. Agathe hopes at last to find her son there, but learns that he is still fighting at the front and that she cannot visit him there. Along the way, Agathe meets many different people, but they are all kind to her and all speak a little German. The simple woman tries to understand what drives people of every nationality to come to Spain and fight the Fascists. She travels as far as Valencia with a young Pole and sees the sea for the first time. There is also a large hospital here, where Ernst is supposed to be staying. But she arrives too late, as her son had already been sent back to the front two days earlier. Agathe has no choice but to wait at the hospital for the time being and help out there until Ernesto returns, as he had promised. There is plenty to do, so the time does not drag: laundry needs folding, beds have to be made, food must be handed out, and there are other tasks for Agathe to take care of. But soon a letter arrives saying that Ernst has to remain at the front. As it happens, a wounded man must be taken to a specialist clinic, and since it is in the city where Ernesto is currently stationed, Agathe is to accompany the patient during the journey. Once there, however, she learns that her son will not come because his battalion had to move on. Disappointed, Agathe wanders through the city streets and eventually gets a ride back to the hospital with a transport. There she receives the devastating news that her son has died. Only work can now distract her from her grief a little. She tirelessly cares for the sick and wounded. In the process, she happens upon Reinhold, a former schoolmate of her son’s, who tells her about him and the final days of his life. After the hospital has to be evacuated, Agathe flees on foot to France with a group of civilians. She makes her way to a small mountain farm. Agathe finds refuge there, but after resting for a few days, she feels drawn onward to an internment camp, where, according to a message, Reinhold is supposed to be interned. The guards take Agathe for Reinhold’s mother, which helps her gain access to him. Since she now has no one else, she wants to stay near Reinhold and intends to go with the internees when they set out into the world in search of asylum.