Die Käserei in der Vehfreude (1958)

The fictional village of Vehfreude in the Emmental has no cheese dairy, unlike the neighboring communities. In order to keep up economically, the villagers build a cheese dairy instead of the school they need. The men’s council has decided on this, but most of the women are skeptical. In fact, strict care is taken to ensure that all the milk is supplied to the cooperative; taking any for personal use is nearly impossible, and in one case a cup that had been secretly skimmed off is even snatched from someone’s hand. Expectations for the cheese’s profitability are high. Unfortunately, almost all the farmers get the idea of watering down their milk. Most of the cheese wheels turn out inferior: they contain too much air. The cheese itself, however, is of good quality. The livestock dealer Eglihannes strikes a crooked deal with an intermediary, the “Cheese Prince”: he will buy each wheel for 44 francs, then resell the cheese for 50, and they will split the profit. To ease the economic hardship, however, the Ammann—the village head, head of the community council, and leader of the cooperative—had also agreed to a sale price of 41 francs. This sparks an argument among the cooperative members, with the Cheese Prince ultimately coming out on top. By chance, Felix Ammann overhears a conversation between the treacherous Eglihannes and the Cheese Prince and confronts his fellow cooperative member. The scene ends in a good old-fashioned market brawl. Felix, the Ammann’s son, has already been promised to a woman—or at least that is how his parents see it. He, however, has other intentions: his heart belongs to Änneli, a foster child who lives with her older sister. She returns his feelings, since Felix once rescued her from a rowdy group of schoolboys who were teasing her and calling her a witch. But she is very reserved because she knows about his “engagement” to the other woman. Eisi, an scheming farmer’s wife, regards Bethli, Änneli’s older sister, with envy and great resentment. Trying to counter the magical powers attributed to Bethli, she attempts a counterspell. But Bethli’s husband Sepp surprises Eisi by suddenly appearing disguised as Beelzebub, whereupon she first falls into the cesspit in fright and, in that state, flees in terror to the bedroom and into the clean bed. Yet resentment toward Änneli grows: Eisi and Eglihannes write anonymous letters. Änneli receives one falsely claiming that Felix is expecting a child with his fiancée, who is already in her fifth month. The Ammann receives the other, falsely claiming that Felix is having an affair with Änneli—a scandal that would have greatly damaged the Ammann’s standing and reputation. To make matters worse, Felix falls asleep during Sunday service, dreams of Änneli, and calls out into the silence of the congregation: “Änneli, kiss me!” The scandal is complete. But Felix explains things to his father and rushes to Änneli, who is planning to leave the valley out of shame and disgrace. At the last moment, there is a happy ending.