Walter Lesch

A travelogue of Ethiopia by plane, automobile and mule, showing the lives, customs, and habits of the people, and the conditions of the country.

The story revolves around the confusion that arises when a supposed gold discovery in Valais divides the village community. The plot combines elements of a cultural film about old customs in the Lötschental valley with a naive storyline that achieves a strangely powerful effect through its simple realism.

Provincial shop owner Jakob Stäubli and his wife Frieda are looking forward to celebrating Christmas together with their daughter Nelly. But Nelly doesn't come. She prefers to celebrate in the city in the company of her new boyfriend André, a "better gentleman." The saddened Stäublis decide to sell their shop and move to Zurich as well. As they explore the city together after the move, the two country bumpkins find themselves in all sorts of turbulent situations. Father Stäubli is also exposed to erotic temptations when his daughter's lover sends a woman after him to get money out of him.