DENMARK, 18TH CENTURY.
HOPING TO INCREASE THEIR WEALTH,
A LINE OF KINGS
TRIES TO LURE SETTLERS TO THE VAST HEATH OF JUTLAND
TO TAME IT.
BUT THE ELEMENTS ARE BRUTAL,
THE SOIL IS BARREN AND THE LANDS PLAGUED BY OUTLAWS
AND FOR DECADES,
ALL WHO VENTURE THERE, FAIL MISERABLY.
THE HEATH CANNOT BE TAMED
COPENHAGEN 1755
THE POORHOUSE FOR VETERANS
THE ROYAL TREASURY
Your Majesty.
- Your coach awaits. - I know.
I'll depart when I am ready.
Ludvig Kahlen, we're ready for you.
High Chancellor Paulli.
Who do have we here?
Captain Kahlen just returned
after 25 years of service in the German army.
He seeks permission to build on the Jutland Heath.
Fancy drawings, soldier.
But you're wasting your time.
The heath can't be cultivated.
All soil can be cultivated.
A third of the realm lies barren and unused.
A stain on our country.
I can tame the land and build the first heath settlement.
I've detailed...
Listen to me!
There's nothing out there but heather, rocks and sand.
Nothing can grow there.
Better men than you have proven that time and again.
With all due respect,
I'd like to show my proposal to the king himself.
Of course!
Would someone fetch His Majesty?
We are not wasting money on the heath anymore.
Especially not on a presumptuous soldier
in a flea-ridden uniform.
Get him out of here.
I'm not asking for a penny. I'll finance it myself.
How?
I have my captain's pension.
That's nothing.
Let's say you succeed in building a settlement.
What reward do you have in mind?
A noble title,
along with an estate manor and servants.
Wait outside.
He's nobody.
Unknown father.
His mother was a maid on an estate.
He was a gardener's boy there
until he was sent to the German army.
Made captain, despite his low class.
His demands are outrageous.
His demands are irrelevant.
We could promise him he'll be emperor of Russia.
He won't succeed.
No one can find good soil out there.
But as long as he's out there, we can tell His Majesty...
that we haven't given up on his beloved heath.
Captain Kahlen,
come in.
We have good news.
Help! Help me!
A shilling for a poor little chey
all alone in the woods.
You're a mighty fine chappo.
You must have plenty of coins.
Why build your house in my county?
Go to the south valley or up north!
The hands of the diligent shall rule.
What's in the crates?
I've been asking the same thing.
They came all the way from Germany.
I don't get his damn secrecy.
Are those my men?
I'll need more than that
to get the house ready before fall.
No men in their prime with their wits about them
want to go kill themselves on the heath.
I need three times as many.
Go ask in the neighboring villages.
I'm not going anywhere.
I've got enormous hemorrhoids.
Bumpy country roads are torture for me.
Besides, the woods are crawling with outlaws.
By the way, five rix-dollars, please.
As county marshal I must be compensated
for getting everything on your list.
Including carriages to get your stuff
out there to the world's asshole.
Pardon me, Pastor.
Captain, can I show you something?
I may have a solution to your staff problems.
I'm delighted
that you chose my parish for your settlement.
It's about time God's light shines on the heath.
Come on out.
I've found a home for you.
Johannes Eriksen, a seasoned farmer,
and his wife, Ann Barbara.
Hiring runaway workers is illegal.
They ran away from a brutal master.
Eriksen can work harder
than all of the marshal's men combined
and Ann Barbara is a capable housekeeper.
We'll work for half a wage, sir.
All we ask for is our own chamber.
Ann Barbara shouldn't sleep among the men.
A chamber, two meals a day, but no wage.
You won't get a better offer in your predicament.
I will be receiving important guests
once the house is built.
I expect the housekeeping to be of the highest standard.
Understood?
It's going to be alright.
They won't look for you on the heath.
FOUR MONTHS LATER HALD MANOR
Bondo!
I'm standing here like a moron, wasting the year's best season.
It's the time of blushing cheeks and burning loins.
Bear portraits are the height of fashion, Mr. De Schinkel.
Where's my cousin?
She's training her horse.
All she does is run around with that bloody horse.
Sir, a Captain Kahlen
is building a house on the heath.
He calls it "King's House".
You said we'd have no more fools on the heath.
That we'd soon buy it all.
Kahlen?
Yes, Ludvig Kahlen.
Find out who he is.
Of course.
KING'S HOUSE
I've had better stew in the army.
We'd have thicker milk if we had a cow.
I'm not buying a cow.
If I'm to meet your high standards,
I need a cow.
I've made a detailed budget of my expenses,
week by week.
If I'd thought we needed a cow, there'd be a cow.
Get used to goat stew, then.
Everything must be in neat little rows.
The floor has to be spotless.
The food placed perfectly
in the exact center of the plate.
He behaves like a fancy nobleman
but his clothes are worn, and his hands are rugged.
He's an odd master.
The pastor says we can trust him.
We can't trust anyone.
We'll never get anywhere without wages.
We'll only stay one season.
Just until they stop looking for us.
One season at King's House.
Then we'll head for the coast.
I want to see the sea.
Where are you going?
To join our odd master.
He shouldn't be working alone out there.
You'll need to add clay to the soil.
We'll get clay from the coast.
We need to burn the heather,
then fertilize the soil.
It'll take at least half a year before anything can grow here.
Can I ask what you plan to grow?
You can ask.
But you won't get an answer.
Come here!
Thanks for the hen, chappo!
- What is it? - The outlaws.
What the hell are you doing?
Now all the outlaws know
they can steal from us without consequence!
Why did you let her get away?
She's dangerous.
The Devil protects her kind.
Didn't you see her dark skin?
Spare me the superstitious bullshit!
They pick up beggar kids down south.
That's why she's dark!
Next time, make sure you stop her.
And be cursed? Stop her yourself.
Pack your things and leave.
You're building a wonderful place here.
One already gets a sense of life.
Johannes.
Isn't that Preisler?
Johannes.
Please check on my horse in the barn.
Captain Kahlen?
Major Preisler,
on behalf of my friend
Frederik De Schinkel of Hald Manor.
Owner of 130 tenant farms and our county's judge.
You're invited to dinner at his manor tonight.
I'd be honored.
I hope you have better clothes.
I have my uniform.
One of Mr. De Schinkel's tenant farmers
ran away from his contract recently.
Rumor has it he's still hiding in the area.
Johannes Eriksen and his wife.
Does that ring a bell?
I have the men you see here.
Schinkel.
That's who they ran away from?
The most important man in the county,
a man I need as my ally!
My uncle loved dogs.
Before he died,
he wrote a clause in his will forbidding Frederik
from removing any dog portraits from the manor.
I think he cared more for his dogs
than his own children.
Edel Helene Leising,
Frederik's cousin.
Captain Ludvig Kahlen.
Any relation to Norway's Count Leising?
He's my father.
Seems you know your Norwegian nobility?
I know that your father
is a close friend of the Danish king.
Here he is.
Ludvig Kahlen. Welcome to Hald Manor.
County Judge Schinkel, thank...
De Schinkel.
My father was Schinkel.
I changed it to the more noble-sounding De Schinkel.
De Schinkel, I beg your pardon.
From gardener's boy to decorated captain.
Quite an achievement.
It did take me 25 years.
Twenty-five years!
Do you know how quickly a noble-born makes captain?
Six months.
You must have loathed all the powder puffs
who advanced before you
just because they had the right blood in their veins.
Those are the rules.
Spoken like a true soldier.
So...
you want to cultivate the heath?
I plan to build the king's first settlement there.
The heath is God's creation in all its glory.
Why castrate a wild beast that only wants to be free?
God put man on Earth to create civilization.
So, we aren't civilized out here?
I didn't say that.
God isn't civilized.
God is chaos.
Life is chaos.
I don't agree.
You fought in the Silesian Wars.
Was that civilized?
No, war is chaos.
But victory goes to whoever manages to control it.
Isn't my fiancée a sight?
Are we engaged?
I don't recall saying yes, Frederik.
As if it weren't a done deal.
Her father was practically on his knees,
begging me to take her.
Not that I'm complaining.
Her family is bankrupt and they need my money.
But I drew the long straw in that little horse trade.
To enter noble society
is priceless.
My father used to say that.
Your father was right.
He created all this from nothing.
Two cows and a plow.
Now he lies rotting in the ground.
Life is chaos, Ludvig.
Cunt, cock...
shit, blood, chaos.
We can't control a damn thing.
Only when we truly acknowledge that,
can we enjoy our insignificant little lives.
Every word you've uttered so far has been laughable.
I apologize, Captain.
My cousin skipped the lessons in proper behavior.
Perhaps you should tell me why I'm here.
You're here
because you've built on my land without permission.
Your land?
Yes, mine. De Schinkel's land.
The heath belongs to the king.
All uncultivated land belongs to...
Are you a bit deaf?
It's my land.
You have a survey map to prove that?
I must have lost it.
Then we'll get a surveyor here...
Or we can ask the county judge.
Wait, that's me.
The county judge rules yes, it is De Schinkel's land.
We have nothing further to discuss.
Miss Edel.
Your mother was a maid at Count Raben's estate.
Raben was a friend of the family.
A glorious horndog
who shagged his female servants obsessively
and you're the spitting image of him.
It's uncanny.
He sent you off to the army, yes?
My father did the same with his bastards.
Easiest way to get them out of sight.
All my little half-brothers
with their longing eyes and dirty fingernails.
And now the bastard wants
to be the great man on the heath.
What's your reward if you succeed? An estate?
The king's friendship?
A noble title?
- What is that? - A contract.
You may try your luck on Mr. De Schinkel's land.
He'll provide you with men, provisions and materials.
In exchange, you'll pay him 50% of all your future earnings.
And should settlers arrive,
they'll be tenant farmers for Mr. De Schinkel.
No, thank you.
I strongly advise you to accept the offer. Strongly.
It is the king's land.
I work for the king.
Not many people dare to defy Frederik like that.
Will we meet again, Captain?
I don't see how.
The harvest ball a month from now.
All the local bigwigs will be there.
First Sunday in September.
I doubt I'm invited.
You can come as my guest.
I'm free to invite who I please.
Here.
So you won't forget me in the meantime.
Where are the workers?
Gone.
Major Preisler came knocking last night
and asked me to ride out
and offer your men double wages on De Schinkel's farms.
And you didn't hesitate.
I've been riding all night, my hemorrhoids are on fire.
Don't shoot the fucking messenger.
You didn't know it was his land.
It's not his land.
We won't find new workers.
They're all scared of Schinkel.
Has everyone gone mad?
I have the king's seal proving my right to be here.
I have the law on my side.
Schinkel doesn't care about the law.
If he wants something, he gets it.
He's all alone out there now
and he hasn't even burnt the heather yet.
He can't have more than 100 rix-dollars
left of his army pension.
Hundred rix-dollars?
But that's nothing.
Indeed.
He'll never get the soil ready.
Come winter,
he'll sign.
"Dear Captain."
"Good luck
with building your settlement without workmen."
"Enclosed is a small gift, to beautify your days."
"Frederik De Schinkel."
I'll throw it in the chicken coop.
I know where we can get men.
Got you! Come here!
Let go, dammit!
What's your name, thief?
Anmai Mus, dammit.
How old are you, Anmai Mus?
Two.
No, you're not.
I'm 35.
I don't bloody know.
Where is your Tater gang's camp?
Remember this?
Come dawn, you will take me there.
Understand?
They'll kill me.
Not my problem.
Poor little Anmai Mus.
Hers was but a short, hard life.
After eleven days with no food
hunger forced her to thievery.
Her mom and dad didn't want her
and sold her to the outlaws in the North...
Shut up! Enough babbling.
No! Help!
No, let me go!
Useless darkling. You'll get your punishment.
What are you doing here, chappo?
I have work
for you all.
Ten rix-dollars
to work my fields through autumn.
You have no fields.
The heath.
The heath!
You know very well
that the law forbids our kind to work.
You could end up in prison.
Do we have a deal?
Twenty rix-dollars.
And I want that, too.
Your medal.
I've always wanted to be a general.
You can't have that.
And I'm no general. I'm a captain.
Everyone, salute General Hector!
Remember when we met the devil
out here on the heath?
In the shape of a young boy. Oh, how we ran.
Now he's on the run,
because the general's here!
The general's here!
Now the general and the devil work for the crazy captain...
Keep the fire under control.
Get the heather out of the embers.
A shilling for a night?
No, no... thank you.
Pick up the stick, chappo.
You pick up her stick,
you become part of her family clan.
She's yours for five rix-dollars.
Then we're finally rid of that darkling.
We're not in the same clan, understand?
Fresh game for the harvest ball.
I shot two.
You'll all get a taste at the party.
We should all live well.
First and foremost, I shall live well.
Sir.
Did you see the animals? I shot two.
I have worrying news from the heath.
Kahlen has hired a band of outlaw Taters
as workers.
Preisler also made another discovery.
Three loads,
as close to the coast as possible.
And it must be white clay.
It must be white clay.
Mr. De Schinkel was fond of this one.
Then let him wear it.
I want something simpler.
Demure but still attractive.
You mean something a military man would appreciate?
You should stay far away from Schinkel.
Everyone important will be there.
Everyone important?
Businessmen.
People I'll be trading with.
That's not your only reason for going.
Stay out of my personal affairs.
You're a housekeeper.
This is as good as it gets.
The fancy people will have to take you as you are.
Try to hide the stitches up here,
they make you look poor.
Thank God you're here.
I hardly recognized you.
Ludvig Kahlen.
Captain. Subjugator of the heath.
De Schinkel.
How wonderful that you came. I mean it, truly.
But you can't wear that flea-ridden wig.
I can't do that to my other guests.
I assure you there are no fleas in my wig.
I can see them crawling about.
Lise brought a wig for you to borrow.
Come, on the double.
There you go. As good as new.
Enjoy the ball.
Please come with me, sir.
Madam awaits you.
Miss Edel.
Captain.
A gift from your cousin.
He's a spoiled little brat.
Desperately trying to impress his father's friends.
He drinks all day and boasts
of the female servants he's broken in.
As if I would somehow find that amusing or attractive.
I have to get away.
I have to get away from him.
What does your father say?
He only thinks of the money.
He's forbidden me to leave.
I am to stay here all winter and grow to love Frederik.
He wants us wed within a year.
Unless I can...
present him with a better alternative.
Can I?
A man who fulfills the king's highest wish
with the title and rewards that come with it
might be worthy of marrying you.
If that is what you meant.
And I thought I was being obvious.
You're not used to
lengthy conversations with women.
Are you?
I believe this is the longest one I've had.
Correct.
Will you succeed in building your settlement?
Yes.
I apologize for cutting this magical moment short,
but I have a surprise
that I can't wait to share with you.
It's very special.
This peasant ran away in the spring.
I treated him and his wife with respect and love, even.
Like I treat all my workers.
And he thanked me
by running away.
He was hiding out with Ludvig Kahlen on the heath,
but enough about that.
It's a long story.
If you interfere
in the fully legal punishment of a peasant,
you will yourself break the law.
The water isn't as hot as it looks.
It's akin to a light spanking.
One more time for the pretty girls.
Sir, I think it's best to stop now.
The crowd isn't with you.
No, one more time for the pretty girls.
Frederik!
That's enough.
One more time!
One more time for the pretty girls!
You killed him.
I'm fully within my rights to punish my own tenant farmers.
Who knew he would perish?
Right, Bondo?
Absolutely.
It was an accident.
The peasant must have been weaker than most.
Leave him. He's mine.
He's not yours anymore.
The law says he belongs to God now.
Fine, take him.
Ludvig.
You're using Taters as workers.
That's illegal.
As county judge, I order you to send them away.
Here's the deal.
If the Taters aren't gone by dawn,
we'll remove them and you
by force.
Ludvig, I'm willing to overlook it all
if you just sign the contract.
I'm very sorry.
You didn't strike me as a fearful man.
We had a deal.
I can't get the land ready unless you finish your work.
You don't have to leave.
Hide during the day and work at night, unseen.
Are you dimwitted?
You have a boiled man out there.
We're not dying for your damn heath project.
What are we going to do?
You won't make it through winter without men or money.
I don't need men. I'll manage on my own.
I'll be ready to sow by spring.
And Schinkel?
Schinkel takes turns raping his servant girls.
He always brings a few guards to hold you down.
When Johannes and I wed,
he was infuriated that I was no longer his.
And now he's killed him.
Schinkel won't stop until he's won.
Where will you go?
As far away as I can get.
I'd like you to stay.
I can't work the fields and keep house alone.
I need you.
Keep house?
My husband is dead,
and you're worried that your floor won't be swept,
or that everything isn't perfectly lined up as always!
I'll pay you.
With what?
You've spent all your money.
When the king hears...
Stop talking as if you know the king.
You've never met him and never will.
He doesn't even know you exist.
What is Schinkel so afraid of?
What happens to him if settlers come?
His power will vanish.
He'll be an inconsequential little man.
I'll be doing the work of three men,
so I want double wages.
And a fifth of the harvest.
A tenth.
And you have to tell me what you plan to grow.
What is that?
Potatoes.
They grow them in Germany and France.
They're sturdy.
They can endure almost anything, except frost.
My mother was a maid
at an estate.
She had the same troubles as you
with her master.
You're the son of an estate owner.
He was my father, but I was never his son.
Damn you, pot!
What are you doing here?
I escaped from the damn chappos.
I don't want to be sold.
Come.
You have to go back to them.
You can't stay here.
I can't take care of a child.
We can hardly feed ourselves.
I can't take her in.
Thief, damn you. Thief, damn you.
You stole my knife
and tomorrow at two you will lose your life.
A toe-biter!
Get it, Li'l Pops.
It eats children, you idiot.
No, it doesn't.
It's more afraid of you than you of it. Come here.
Madrum, look! I'm holding a toe-biter.
I don't understand your Tater words, Anmai Mus.
Madrum...
It's from Latin.
I believe it means "mother".
Madrum, God-chappo...
and Li'l Pops.
Alright. Back to work.
The miller threw little Carl Andersen
in the lake.
Now everyone knew
that the miller drowned the children.
Why the hell
don't they just kill that son of a bitch?
It's coming.
- Do you want to hear more? - Yes, dammit. What an ass!
You need to stop swearing.
Why the hell didn't he just fly in to the children
if he could fly?
The miller had had four children.
Drink this...
...to soothe your lungs.
Her little body can't fight the illness
without food.
Porridge and water isn't enough.
It's all we have.
We have the potatoes.
We're not touching them.
We have one goat left.
Her milk has to sustain us all through winter.
We have 20 sacks of potatoes...
We're not touching them!
Edel's father says she goes on and on
about Ludvig Kahlen in her letters.
She's not seriously considering him?
Hardly. Edel is a realist.
She'd never choose a poor farmer
over the richest man in the county.
Never.
No, she wouldn't.
She's smarter than that.
So, what does she know that we don't?
He received a shipment from Germany.
Perhaps it's potatoes.
Potatoes?
Don't they grow in almost any kind of soil?
Anmai Mus, go and rest.
Merry Christmas, Ludvig.
Were you hoping it was Edel?
What are you doing here, Schinkel?
De Schinkel, Ludvig.
De Schinkel.
Are you still out here?
Come back home when you tire of the heath.
You'll always be my little Ann Barbara.
I come in good faith.
Christmas leftovers.
Pork and cake.
You'll have to gnaw the meat off the bones.
Come inside where it's warm. I have good news.
I haven't been fair.
I admit that.
You come out here to the heath with your big dreams
and I sit up there in my manor, arms flapping,
ruining it all for you.
Aren't you curious?
It's money.
Oh yes.
It's 2,000 rix-dollars.
Enough to build two settlements
and hire as many men as you like.
You can live like a king.
I won't work for you.
You won't be working for anyone.
All I ask is that you build your settlement somewhere else.
Far, far away,
where we won't have to look at each other.
Start over somewhere else...
and the money is yours.
Good. We have a deal.
I'm going home to my warm fireplace.
Oh, just one more thing.
You'll report to the Royal Treasury
that this is my land and always has been.
Ludvig.
That goat is worth a hundred times more
than a damn sack of potatoes!
What if the harvest fails?
Ludvig!
I know it's Mysling.
I can't hear her bleats anymore.
Tell me again.
What happens
when the settlers come, Li'l Pops?
When the settlers come,
we can cultivate this entire heath
and then the king will visit us.
The big chappo, you mean.
Yes.
The big chappo will visit us.
And we'll have fireplaces in all the rooms
and tight windows.
You'll have all the food you can eat.
We'll have animals in the barn.
As many as Noah on his ark.
I gave Anmai Mus my blanket.
I just want to keep warm.
I know your heart belongs to someone else.
So does mine.
Is there any more Mysling?
When do they come up?
In two or three months.
And there'll be plenty more.
Hundreds of sacks.
Hell you say! Hundreds?
One more.
Frost!
Blankets aren't enough. Get some heather!
Li'l Pops, a springling!
A springling, Li'l Pops!
A springling, come here!
Hurry!
I found a springling!
A springling, Li'l Pops. A springling!
You found it, Anmai Mus.
You found it.
"Grown on the heath. L. Kahlen."
Do you know what this means?
It's taken us five decades to get here.
Stop it!
You're acting as if he invented the wheel.
It's taken him a year to grow one sack...
Eighty sacks, according to this.
His Majesty the King.
Your Majesty.
I hear we've received
a shipment of potatoes grown
on the heath.
Yes, Your Majesty, but...
A great day for Denmark.
Get settlers out there immediately
and send the grower supplies.
What?
Miss.
The captain has succeeded
in growing potatoes on the heath.
- Where did you hear that? - Bondo's chambermaid, Esther.
They made him Royal Surveyor,
and 50 settlers from Germany are on their way.
I've never doubted you. Never.
Nor did God.
Speaking of our Lord,
I'll be leaving you for a bit.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Odense.
With a headache from all the wine.
And then on to Copenhagen
to raise money
for the first church on the heath.
- Cheers, we have pancakes! - Cheers.
Low-bogland...
peat...
has many nuisance...
Nutrients.
Nuisance is something else. Nutrients.
Ludvig.
Are you Ludvig Kahlen?
Welcome to King's House.
You who stand here today will go down in history
as the first settlers
on the Danish heath.
The building materials for your houses are on the way.
Till then, you can set up camp
in the valley out of the wind
and recover from your journey.
We have bread and meat for everyone.
What is she doing here?
She works here.
She helps us with animals and surveying.
Anmai Mus, come here.
No!
Darklings bring bad luck and death.
Everyone knows that.
You have to send her away.
I'll make sure she doesn't come near your wives and children.
She'll stay in the house.
You won't even notice her.
In time,
they'll see you're not dangerous.
They act as if I smell like shit.
Because they're ignorant.
They're scared of you
even if they ought to know better.
Just like you used to be afraid of small beetles.
I thought you said you didn't smell.
Stop teasing. You're very bad at it.
Someone here definitely smells.
You smell like horse piss!
What did you say?!
Take it back!
Two steps to the right.
There.
Write 220 in this column.
Two, two and a circle.
Won't the wig chappo be mad
that we're so close to his house?
Maybe he will,
but he's no longer in charge.
Dearest Frederik.
You will still remain an important man out here
even though settlers have come.
But...
Ludvig Kahlen is a Royal Surveyor now.
If you keep antagonizing him, you'll risk everything.
You have to make peace with him.
Then agree to marry me here and now.
What's holding you back?
You say I'm still an important man.
Then say yes.
Say yes.
Don't you think I know your schemes?
You've already spread your legs for him?
Well? Have you?
Let go of me.
Let go!
Go on.
Hit me again.
- Sir... - What are you doing?
No, no!
- No, no! - Stop!
Frederik, stop!
Let go of her!
You're mad.
I want Kahlen and his settlers
off the heath, Bondo.
Get rid of him.
What is it?
I think I dreamt something.
Stay here.
Easy now.
Easy...
Go inside and lock the doors.
A clean cut from a knife. This wasn't the wolves.
They smelled the blood.
What's going on? Half of our livestock is dead.
Who did this?
Peter?
Peter!
- Peter. - Vera!
Vera!
Is that a new horse?
You've killed two innocent civilians.
I think you need hard evidence
to back up such a mad accusation.
But what does a judge know of the law?
The king will be informed of this.
Do you know what I think?
You've been visited by highwaymen.
They're all over the place.
They attacked several of my own farms.
- Once they taste blood... - Schinkel...
- ...they come back. - Schinkel!
- And they keep coming back. - Stay off the heath.
Understand?
Chaos, Ludvig.
No matter how many plans you make,
life will always be chaos.
Why is that so hard for you to accept?
May I have a glass of water, please?
Sure.
The well is right outside.
- Pardon? - Ann Barbara...
we'd like to be alone.
Of course.
I thought she was your housekeeper.
She is.
You shouldn't be here.
If he finds...
I know who killed the settlers.
Major Preisler and Romer arrived a few nights ago
with men in chains.
They must have taken them from the prison.
Are they still at the manor?
No.
They won't stop here.
Is there some place else they could be?
Where they could hide?
Frederik's hunting lodge.
What do you intend to do?
You'd better go back now.
Come.
See you soon.
I know who killed Peter and Vera.
And I know where they are.
We never would have come here,
if we'd known
you were at war with a landowner.
You should have told us, Kahlen.
It's the king's land.
The law is on our side.
The attackers will be back.
Do you understand?
We have to ride out and stop them.
Have any of you been in the army?
None of us will lift a finger...
until you get rid of the devil girl.
She has nothing to do with this.
That's enough, Kahlen!
We told you her kind is bad luck.
Now two of our people are dead!
Send her away now or we leave.
And you'll have to tell your king
his settlement is gone.
What are you saying?
We can't just send her away. She's our child now!
- Let them leave. - Stop it.
I have no choice.
Yes, you do.
But everything has to fit into Ludvig Kahlen's big plans.
You want your noble title
so you can rub shoulders with people
like De Schinkel and his cousin.
What do you want me to do?
I have no choice!
There's a convent in Odense
that takes in homeless children.
She'll get food and a place to sleep.
But she'll have to work for it.
You'll be happy there.
There are lots of other children.
There now.
You'll have a good life.
You've learned to read.
You know how to take care of animals.
Be strong now.
Go.
Li'l Pops!
How long do we have to stay in this hole?
Until our work is done.
Twelve years in prison,
and he calls this a hole.
I'm going to take a rest.
We'll ride out in an hour. Ready your weapons.
What the hell is going on?
The Germans attacked us.
I was the only one who got away.
They're fucking potato peasants!
It was done with military precision.
They were led by Kahlen.
And here you stand, drinking?
You should've stayed and fought, coward!
Give me new men, sir,
and I'll do away with him. I swear.
Then go! What are you waiting for?
Did you see who killed Romer?
Kahlen.
So, Kahlen murdered a former army officer in cold blood
and we have a witness.
The Germans told me what happened.
And where you were last night.
Did you raise money for the church?
They said that...
that you sent Anmai Mus away.
Where is Ann Barbara?
There's a letter.
"Wil not come bak"
If you can prove
Kahlen killed a former officer...
We can.
Major Preisler saw it with his own eyes.
We don't mind helping you, Schinkel.
De Schinkel.
None of us landowners want Kahlen to build his settlement.
But there's just one thing.
The distribution of revenue that you're suggesting.
It's my land, my heath.
It's only fair that I receive the greater part.
It's not your land, Schinkel.
As you very well know.
De Schinkel.
If everything goes to plan,
you get a tenth, just like the rest of us.
You sit there,
insulting me in my own home.
Forget about it!
No deal!
Mr. De Schinkel accepts your conditions.
He just needs to sleep on it.
But we have a deal.
Goddamn it!
He killed an officer.
An officer!
And he's managed to unite
Jutland's most powerful landowners,
men who usually hate each other.
And now they're a united front!
Against us!
I'm not fucking going to take the blame for him!
We can all agree
that Kahlen wasn't cut out for the job.
Perhaps we ought to investigate
what actually happened.
His Majesty was impressed by Kahlen's results...
His Majesty has no idea who Kahlen is, you idiot.
He's drunk all day long.
He doesn't care who is on the heath,
as long as someone is there.
If we agree to their proposal, we sign Kahlen's death sentence.
Without a trial,
without having heard his side of the story.
You still don't get it.
Should the king ask,
nothing has changed.
The settlement is being built, according to plan.
It doesn't matter if he dies, because he never existed.
You are trespassing on land
belonging to Frederik De Schinkel!
You must leave at once
and report to Hald Manor.
You have until tonight to pack your belongings.
Preisler, leave now!
This settlement is under the king's protection.
Not anymore.
The land now belongs
to Mr. De Schinkel and his partners.
The lease is signed and sealed by the Royal Treasury.
In God's name, that's enough!
I must ask you to leave immediately.
Stay out of this, Eklund. Go home.
You have no authority here, Preisler.
You're here as a lapdog for a private landowner.
How will the high court react
when they hear you're a murderer?
Anton, don't.
That you rode out here with a band of outlaws
and killed innocent people.
Be quiet and do as he says, Anton. Go home.
The court might not believe a group of German farmers,
but I'm a man of God.
I promise...
Stop!
They've arrested Ludvig Kahlen.
De Schinkel has taken over King's House.
Make way.
They've arrested Ludvig Kahlen.
De Schinkel has taken over King's House.
Open the door! Let me out!
Don't go out to him, Miss.
You'll only make it worse for him.
It's insane that we've ended up here, Ludvig.
So unnecessary.
Just admit...
that it's my land,
that it's always been my land
and I'll let you live.
I promise.
It's the king's land.
Begin boiling the water.
Lise.
Ann Barbara, are you back?
The master asked for a glass of liquor.
Will you make sure he gets it?
What are you doing here?
Let the water cool down a bit.
Sir, Miss Edel wishes to see you in your chamber.
Now she wants to see me in my chamber.
No, thank you. I'm staying here.
Miss Edel says she wishes to discuss your engagement.
You'll agree to marry me if I spare Kahlen's life.
Is that it?
Yes.
That is my only condition.
You are...
a deceitful cow and I can't trust a word you say
but if you show me right now that you are serious...
I promise to let him out
and let the court determine his fate.
Show you?
You know exactly
what I mean.
Right here on the floor?
Or perhaps the bed?
That's up to you, cousin. We could do both.
I think I had one glass too many.
Ann Barbara...
You're not allowed in here.
Get out!
Guard!
You're going to hang for this, bitch!
This is for Johannes.
The master is dead!
Ann Barbara killed him!
Sorry it took so long.
I had to explain everything to the Royal Treasury.
The Germans are gone, Ludvig.
And Miss Edel went home to her family in Norway.
You can keep King's House.
But God knows
if they'll ever send you new settlers.
Ann Barbara?
We'll never see her again.
She's doing life in Aalborg prison.
No visitors.
No chance of getting out.
Have you changed the water?
Go and change the water, girl!
I'm looking for a strong worker to help out at the house.
Someone who's good with animals
and knows how to survey land.
Do you know where I can find someone like that?
I shouldn't have sent you away.
I promise never to let you down again.
I promise to always take care of you.
When will she be back?
She's not coming back.
She's happy where she is now.
I think she's living
in a small house by the sea,
just like she always wanted.
If God-chappo is in Heaven and the Germans are gone,
is it just you and me, Li'l Pops?
Yes,
but we'll manage on our own, won't we?
Forty- one...
Eighteen.
Sixteen...
I don't think it's going to rain,
so we can let the goats out.
Hello. Do you need any windows repaired or replaced?
No, we don't need anything.
Any knives
that need sharpening?
We need five new panes of glass.
We have a box of knives to be sharpened
the barn needs sealing before winter,
and you can also repair the well.
She's a fine little chey, huh?
Stop.
And you're a fine chappo.
You're a Tater?
Anmai Mus.
Further down... there.
Now move your fingers.
It's too early, need more rain...
Sir Ludvig Kahlen,
we have the honor
of presenting you with this signed by His Majesty the King.
You are hereby granted the noble title of baron
with all associated land use rights
and 20 years of tax exemption.
Your yearly grants will take effect
once the new settlers arrive.
That's 2,000 rix-dollars a year.
- The settlers? - Yes.
We'll be sending you 400 settlers
in the spring.
You'll have your work cut out for you.
May we congratulate you, Sir Kahlen?
What an incredible achievement.
I finally sent them on their way.
I've never seen grown men so excited by a potato plant.
Schnapps!
How are your hemorrhoids, Trappaud?
I've decided to stop talking about them.
No one understands the pain I endure anyway.
Your latest request to have Ann Barbara's sentence reduced
was refused.
I'm afraid I have more bad news.
The female prisoners in Aalborg
will be moved to slave labor in Copenhagen.
Ann Barbara, too.
You know what slave labor means.
Those poor people don't live long.
I'm sorry to have to bring you this news.
Can I grab a bottle for the road?
Things rarely turn out the way we imagine them, Ludvig.
Thank you for everything, Li'l Pops.
LUDVIG KAHLEN LEFT THE HEATH IN 1763.
HIS NOBLE TITLE WAS REVOKED.