Tölpelhans (1989)

While his clever brothers, Melchior and Gregor, are allowed to devote themselves to their daily studies, Hans the Clumsy has to take care of the chores in his father’s house. Because of his awkwardness, his family does nothing but mock him. One day, a messenger from the king arrives and announces that a husband is being sought for the king’s daughter, Princess Tausendschön. While his brothers immediately get ready at their father’s bidding, Hans tidies the messy room. Suddenly, a fairy appears to him and says she will help him find happiness. She appears to people only once every seven years, to help someone who has been wronged through no fault of their own and does not know how to help themselves. Hans is unsure whether the fairy can really help him win the princess’s heart. Besides, he knows practically nothing about the world beyond his home. Even so, he joins his brothers, and the three of them set off together. In the forest, they come to a small hut, and Hans wants to ask for directions to the castle. A strange little man lives in the hut and asks Hans to give him a hand. Before Hans knows what is happening, the little man locks him up, and Hans’s cries for help only send his brothers fleeing. Left to fend for himself, Hans does not know how to defend himself against the villain. But the fairy comes to his aid, and he manages to escape from the hut. Meanwhile, his brothers have asked a miller for lunch. But instead of doing anything in return, they fob him off with clever words and make off. When Hans arrives, things are quite different. He immediately lends a hand and is content with a handful of grain for the road, even though the miller offers him his mill if he will become his successor. Hans catches up with his brothers that evening and, using a trick, frees them from the hands of a gang of robbers. They are surprised, since they never would have thought the awkward Hans capable of that. However, they prove very ungrateful and send him to bed while they enjoy their meal by the campfire, then set off for the castle without him. The first suitors have arrived at the royal court, where the princess puts them to a rather unusual test: they are simply expected to find practical solutions. They all prove so incapable that the princess rejects every suitor. Hans’s brothers’ clever speeches impress her no more than the court news they have memorized or the bridal gifts they have brought. The fairy helps Hans once again so that he can reach the castle in time. Since Hans proves anything but clumsy at solving the princess’s tasks, she is willing to choose him. Her father is less pleased. He demands another bridal gift and proof that Hans is fit to rule. The princess, however, says her father may divide his kingdom with whomever he likes; she wants to share her life with the person she likes. With these words, she leaves the castle with Hans. The two hide at the mill, and when the king’s men arrive, having followed their trail, the fairy appears in the guise of Princess Tausendschön and lets herself be taken back to the castle. Hans embraces his real princess and smiles farewell to the fairy.