Sprengbagger 1010 (1929)

Engineer Karl Hartmann develops a new lignite excavator. During a short visit to his hometown, he discovers a lignite deposit and decides to use the excavator there. Director March, head of the Carolinenwerke, buys up the land while Hartmann completes production of the new excavator. There is resistance, however: Hartmann’s fiancée, Camilla, the landowner, who sees their personal happiness at risk, and Hartmann’s mother, who fears the destruction of the landscape and the loss of its identity. Ultimately, Director March and Engineer Hartmann overcome all opposition, allowing lignite mining to begin. Hartmann in particular pays a high price for it: his mother dies in a fire at the family mill, and he becomes estranged from his fiancée. She dies in a blast when a mountainside collapses at what was thought to be a safe vantage point. In the end, the valley has been cleared and the lignite is being mined. The film ends with a view of a newly built factory on the site where Hartmann’s home village once stood.