Sechse kommen durch die Welt (1972)

A war has ended. While the king awards himself the “Order of the Unforgettable” and also decorates his marshals—wooden puppets—with medals, the soldiers receive only three heller each for their service. When one soldier protests, the king has him arrested. The soldier swears to the monarch that one day he will possess all the king’s riches. In prison, the soldier meets the Strongman. He could break his chains, but refuses to, since anything he touches is bound to break. When the Strongman has to sneeze, the force sends the soldier flying out of the prison, which is now in ruins. Although the Strongman wants to remain in prison, the soldier persuades him to come along. A fiddler whose music makes everyone dance also joins them. As the three travel together, they meet the perpetually hungry Runner, who uses his speed to steal food from travelers. He joins the other two wanderers, as does a very accurate hunter who can hit anything, even from a great distance, because that is what the rules require. Earlier, in a sunflower field, the group had encountered a girl who wanted to join them. The soldier had advised her to grow up some more. Later, when the men find a heavy sack by the roadside with a note asking them to take it along, the Strongman hoists it onto his shoulder. The men come to a windmill, where the king’s Lord High Steward announces that the princess is looking for a challenger in a footrace. Whoever beats her will get her as his wife; whoever loses will lose his life. The soldier volunteers, and the group is admitted to the king’s presence. The soldier says he wants the Runner to race for him. If the Runner loses, however, all five men will lose their heads. Both runners are to hurry to a spring, fill a jug with water, and bring it back to the king. The contest begins, and the Runner keeps getting distracted. He repeatedly stops to eat and eventually falls asleep by the roadside, not far from a lighthouse. The princess tips over the jug of water he has already filled and appears to be on the verge of winning. But the hunter manages to shoot the pillow from under the Runner’s head. The Runner wakes up and hurriedly refills his jug. He reaches the finish just ahead of the princess. The princess, however, has no intention of marrying the soldier. At the engagement feast, she locks the five men in a room whose floor and walls are made of iron. The palace staff light a fire beneath the room, and soon the walls are glowing with heat. The floor glows too, so the Strongman cannot get to the door. By now, the men have discovered that the supposedly young boy in the sack is Schiefhütchen. In fact, it is the girl from the sunflower field, disguised as a man. When the heat is at its most intense, Schiefhütchen sets her hat straight on her head, and soon the room is freezing. The princess is horrified when the five men and Schiefhütchen emerge from the ruined room, shivering, after the Strongman sneezes. The king now offers the men as much gold and property as the Strongman can carry. Numerous wagons are loaded with all the valuable objects in the castle, and even the royal crown and the princess’s wedding dress are taken along. As the Strongman pulls the many wagons out of the courtyard, the royal family is left with no wealth at all, except for the three heller the soldier has left them. The six give the valuable objects away to the peasants they meet along the way, even though many of them have little use for mirrors, carpets, and lamps. During a rest stop, the soldier realizes that Schiefhütchen is actually a woman, and the two become a couple. Meanwhile, the furious princess has alerted her soldiers, and the entire court tries to ambush the six and take back the gold, but the fiddler starts playing, and everyone is forced to dance. With a different tune, all the attackers disappear after a short while. The group then goes their separate ways, and the soldier and Schiefhütchen say goodbye to the others together.