Schwabenkinder (2003)

Tyrol, early 20th century: Kaspar Reiter returns home as a grown man. His older sister, who has not seen him since childhood, recognizes him and is astonished, because her brother had long been declared dead. He finds his father on his deathbed. Together, they recall events from Kaspar’s childhood: how Kaspar’s mother, who did sewing for the “Lady of the House” at the nearby castle to earn money for the poor farming family, was killed in an avalanche. Shortly beforehand, his father had given Kaspar a pocketknife, which delights him, since no other child in the village had ever received such a gift. Kaspar never lets it out of his hands. He carves his “K” into some of the furniture. Despite the family’s difficult financial circumstances, which worsened considerably after his mother’s death, his father is initially opposed to Kaspar going to Swabia to earn a little extra money as a herdboy. The widowed father tries to finish the children’s clothes that their mother had been unable to complete, but has no talent for sewing. The next day, he sets off for the castle, where the maid and, at first, the Lady of the House welcome him warmly. He hands over the clothes and hopes to be paid. Because the clothes have turned out terribly, the Countess is beside herself, and he receives no money. At the inn, the other farmers persuade him to send Kaspar to Swabia so he can earn 30 marks. Driven by dire financial need, he is forced to do so. The father beats Kaspar, making Kaspar think that his father no longer loves him. But the father only wants to make the painful parting easier for both of them. Kaspar loses his appetite and says goodbye to the farm animals. More than once, the group of children, accompanied by the curate, is pushed to its physical limits as it makes its way over the winter mountains. Kaspar cannot yet tie his own shoelaces, so Magdalena has to help him. A girl falls into the icy water while walking along a stream. The group then has to spend the night outdoors beneath a rocky overhang. Magdalena’s shoes are too small, and one of her toes becomes sore. Kaspar cuts open her shoe. At the next place they stay, the curate checks the children’s feet and finds large blisters. The next day, Veva, the girl who had fallen into the water, collapses unconscious and has to be pulled along on a blanket with a rope. The group is caught in a dense snowstorm, and the curate is exhausted to his limits as well. The monks from the hospice come to their aid, however, and the group finds shelter with them. Veva is left behind there; she has contracted pneumonia and dies from it. Lieserl, who is going to Swabia for the first time, cries because she misses her mother and is carried on the curate’s back. But the children’s friendships grow stronger too, especially the bond between Kaspar and Magdalena. In Ravensburg, the group arrives at the children’s market, where they are offered for “sale.” On their arrival, a boy explains that the “dirty farmers”—some of whom the children know from before—are secretly marked on the back with chalk lines to warn people about them. Alois and Lukas have to prove their strength to a farmer by lifting weights. Lieserl is placed with a kind-hearted, refined lady as a young household helper. Magdalena, on the other hand, refuses to go into service with a farmer and asks a wealthy merchant couple whether they need a maid. They take her with them at once. Kaspar ends up with the “dirty farmer” Steinhauser, who treats his workers cynically and inhumanely; he has two chalk lines on his back. Kaspar has to sleep in a small room with the farmhand Killian. He must submit to Steinhauser’s harsh rule, is forbidden to wear shoes in accordance with old tradition, and has to “clean spotless” all the cows in the barn within two hours, while Steinhauser times him with an alarm clock. As soon as it rings, Steinhauser checks the cows’ cleanliness with a white glove and finds that they are not clean, so Kaspar has to keep cleaning until late in the evening. Farmhand Albrecht’s horse bolts and wrecks the dovecote. Steinhauser blames him, and because Albrecht cannot pay for the damage, punishes him by chaining him to the dog’s chain and making him spend the night outside in the rain. When Kaspar begins work as a herdboy, the stuttering farmer’s son Gerhard explains the boundaries of the pastures where the cows are allowed to graze. Kaspar carves his initial, a K, into his staff. When he fails to keep an eye on the cows, they wander onto someone else’s meadow, causing trouble with the neighbors. Kaspar is miserable, becomes a bedwetter, and cries all night long. He even has to watch the livestock in the pasture in rain and hail. When farmhand Killian receives a letter from his girlfriend, he asks Kaspar to read it aloud because Killian is illiterate. In return, Killian teaches Kaspar how to tie his shoes. Farmhand Albrecht steals a calf from Steinhauser and flees the farm with it. Steinhauser is beside himself and threatens to break Albrecht’s back. The farmer, Killian, Gerhard, and Kaspar set out to search for Albrecht, but their efforts are unsuccessful. In town, Kaspar also meets Magdalena again. Because Kaspar wets the bed, Steinhauser decides to lock him in the outhouse overnight (a “pit toilet”). Kaspar takes matches and a candle with him, however, and sets the door on fire. He manages to escape. Afterward, the whole farm is ablaze. There is no trace of Kaspar. It is now assumed that he did not survive the fire, and his father is sent a death certificate for him. But Kaspar has fled to Magdalena. She tells him he cannot stay because she is expecting a child by her employer and has to leave herself. To avoid a scandal, Magdalena’s employer is willing to pay for her and Kaspar to sail to the United States, where they begin a new life and later become a couple. The film ends with Kaspar forgiving his father for the decision he made back then, shortly before his father dies; his father had never gotten over sending his son away. The closing credits also suggest that Kaspar became a journalist in America and drew attention there to the suffering of the Swabian children.