Feenhände (1917)

Countess Helene comes from an impoverished noble family and is supported by her extended family, the Föhrwalds. One day, when the young Georg, a close relative, begins to take more of an interest in her than the family council approves of, she is told that she must leave the comfortable home. To support herself, she is to be placed as a companion with a noble family in Sweden. For Countess Helene, being cast out is also a kind of wake-up call: she now decides to take her life into her own hands at last and become independent. Under the pseudonym Marie Madeleine, Helene builds a career as a milliner. She is even able to give something back to her foster family, the Föhrwalds, when she secures the concession for a railway route that is to cross her uncle’s land, which would bring him a great deal of money. The considerably older Prince Gisberti is involved in the major deal. He proposes to her after further complications surrounding Helene, alias Marie Madeleine, and her involvement in the deal temporarily put her in a bad light. The Föhrwald family, who had long misjudged Helene, now has to make amends. Georg, too, now recognizes his deep love for her and snatches Helene from under the Prince’s nose. The two celebrate their engagement.