Die Erntehelferin

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Germany, 1946: The war has exhausted the country, unemployment and hunger determine people's everyday lives. The Sudeten German Clara also feels the hardship. She had to flee Marienbad and was forcibly quartered in an Upper Franconian village with her war-disabled brother-in-law Johann. The locals' rejection of the "refugee pack" is not their only concern. Six-year-old Heidi, one of the four children Clara looks after after her sister's death, has tuberculosis and urgently needs medication. In order to be able to pay the black market price, Clara applies as a seasonal worker on the cherry orchard at Gut Braunfels. She is lucky because her great love Martin, whom she had to leave seven years ago because of the children, works here as an administrator and selects her from a large number of applicants. The work is hard, but Clara is tough and her love for Martin gives her strength. Both dream of a future together, but their plans are suddenly thwarted: the wealthy landowner Andreas von Braunfels longs for an heir, but his ailing wife Ariane can no longer have children after three miscarriages. Von Braunfels' interest in the self-confident Clara, who refuses to be intimidated and climbs to the highest treetops even in wind and rain, quickly arouses the envy of the other harvest workers. When a colleague steals her hard-earned wages, von Braunfels makes Clara an immoral offer that could save Heidi: He wants Clara to give him an heir and offers her 20,000 Reichsmarks in return. Clara has no choice - but if she accepts the offer, she will lose Martin forever.