In a small German village in the middle of large moors, there is an old legend of a young woman having sunk in the wetland after being raped by a Swedish intruder of the Thirty Years' war. Now young Dorothee, falling in love with the architect Ludwig, is harassed by an obnoxious, rich farmer Eschmann. The brutal man is ready to do anything to get the maiden. The history is repeating itself, as Eschmann follows Dorothee to the moors after his crime.

Young forester Sixt is wounded one night. Smuggling in the mountains is the reason. By day, the brothers Benno and Simon Schaidler are respectable citizens - by night, they are smugglers and poachers. They daredevilly pursue their nocturnal "craft". However, a number of people in Aurach have no idea of the smugglers' activities. For example Barbara, the landlady of the "Gamsbock", and her sister Gretl. One night Sixt, the young forester, is wounded by a pistol shot. Suspicion falls on forester Aiblinger, since it is his lost service pistol that is found near the wounded man.

Dr. Hartwig has settled in a small town as a doctor. One day the magical Ursel Daxenmeyer appears in his practice. Dr. Hartwig falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Beforehand, however, various obstacles have to be cleared out of the way. A very special obstacle is Ursula's father, Eusebius Daxenmeyer. He deals with mixed goods and is also a hypochondriac, that is, an ill patient. No one can tell him his imagination that he is deadly ill.