Die kluge Bauerntochter (2009)

A man and his daughter are struggling because they own no farmland. To draw the king’s attention to their plight, the daughter comes up with the idea of planting a garden on the roof of their hut. When the king notices it, he summons the man to learn the reason for it. Impressed by the daughter’s idea, the king grants the man’s wish and gives him land. Meanwhile, the king’s mother has invited Princess Eulalia to the castle as a possible bride for her son, since under the family’s house law he must marry or lose the throne to his (incompetent) cousin and the cousin’s (scheming) wife. But the king rejects Eulalia, as he had the eleven princesses before her, because he considers her too stupid. While plowing his field, the farmer finds a gold mortar. Soon afterward, despite his daughter’s warning, he dutifully presents it to the royal court. Her warning proves justified: the king considers the missing pestle a theft and has the farmer thrown into prison. When he learns that the farmer’s daughter had warned her father before he handed over the mortar, he summons her to see for himself whether she is as clever as she is said to be. He poses a riddle and promises that if she solves it, he will free her father and marry her. To everyone’s astonishment, she solves the riddle, her father is released, and the king asks his mother to prepare the wedding. Although the farmer’s daughter struggles with the rigid life at court, she and the king gradually grow closer—especially because she is receptive to his passion for astronomy. The court councillor von Müller, who was also originally a commoner, quickly forms a good relationship with her, and even the king’s mother, who was initially not very enthusiastic, gradually learns to accept her future daughter-in-law. Meanwhile, the cousin and his wife, the Cousine, want to get rid of the farmer’s daughter so that, under the royal house law, the crown will pass to them. But several of their schemes fail because of the cousin’s clumsiness. Soon afterward, when the Cousine catches the maid stealing food for the poor, the king offers to spare her if she can solve a riddle. With secret help from the farmer’s daughter, the maid gives the right answer, but the king notices and feels betrayed by his bride. Shortly afterward, he settles a dispute unfairly in favor of an ox farmer over a carter who is friends with the farmer’s daughter’s father. The carter asks the farmer’s daughter for help, and she advises him to use a trick to show the king how ridiculous his judgment is. But the king discovers that his future wife is behind it and, feeling slighted once again, sends her back to her hut. However, he allows her to take the dearest and best thing in the castle as a keepsake. Meanwhile, the Cousine and the cousin plot to murder the king with poison. The farmer’s daughter, however, prepares a sleeping potion, unknowingly pouring away the poisoned wine and thereby saving the king’s life. He drinks the sleeping potion and promptly falls into a deep sleep. With the carter’s help, the farmer’s daughter takes him to her hut, where he wakes up a little later, completely bewildered. When the king realizes that he is the dearest and best thing to her, the two reconcile. After the king’s mother has driven the Cousine and the cousin out of the castle, a joyful wedding is celebrated.