Plot Summary

The planned construction of a railroad line to connect the small town of Dornstein with the wider world. But instead of the shortest and most practicable connection, the route runs through swampy terrain far away from Dornstein. So the mayor goes to Munich to make representations to the ministry. He achieved nothing, but his trip was soon stylized in Dornstein as a campaign against those up there. This leads the magistrate to break off his engagement to the mayor's daughter because of the latter's well-known hostility towards the government. And the people of Dornstein also start to get cold feet ...