Wetterleuchten am Dachstein (1953)

Out of love for Jutta, the beautiful young mistress of the Salzerhof, Hannes Kähl von Kählsberg takes a job on her estate as head farmhand. Since becoming a widow, Jutta has grown into a proud, domineering woman who keeps hidden the feelings she has for Hannes. She fights fiercely for the land on Salzberg, which the state saltworks authority is trying to claim. Hannes urges her to give it up because he believes large sections of the underground tunnel are in danger of collapsing. But Jutta refuses to listen to him. One day, during a storm, torrents of water cascading down from the mountains trigger a landslide. It buries the hut belonging to the Salzerhof, where a miner lives with his wife and daughter. Hannes can save only four-year-old Peter. In the wake of the disaster, the local authorities press the farmer to finally cede the endangered areas to the state. But Jutta clings firmly to her inherited rights. Because Hannes does not share her position, the two become embroiled in a bitter argument, which ends with Hannes being thrown off the estate. High in the mountains at the See-Alm, Hannes meets Christl, the youngest maid at the Salzerhof, and falls in love with her. She is so very different from his domineering mistress. By now, Jutta realizes that she wronged her head farmhand, whom she still loves deep in her heart. She gives up the tunnel, believing this will be enough to make Hannes return to her. But when she realizes that he no longer has feelings for her, her hatred of Christl grows. During a terrible thunderstorm that turns into a snowstorm, Jutta climbs up to the alpine pasture, where she finds Christl alone and drives the girl out into the open. On his way up to the pasture, the old shepherd finds a piece of clothing Christl lost during her “flight.” When he shows it to the farmer, something changes in her. Risking her own life, Jutta goes to the edge of the avalanche ravine, where she eventually finds Christl unconscious. Once the maid has recovered, Jutta leads Christl to Hannes.