Annette von Droste-Hülshoff tells her friend Levin Schücking about her recently completed story Die Judenbuche and begins by reading from the manuscript. The protagonist of the actual story is Friedrich Mergel, whose father Hermann Mergel has a fatal accident under a beech tree on a stormy night while returning from a wedding abroad. Friedrich, who earns his living as a cowherd, is adopted by his uncle Simon, who uses him for his obscure business.
Barbara Morawiecz
as Margaret Mergel
Roland Teubner
as Friedrich Mergel
Eberhard Feik
as Simon Semmler
Franz Rudnick
as Freiherr von Haxthausen
Fritz Lichtenhahn
as Kapp
Joachim Tennstedt
as Johannes Niemand
Harry Raymon
as Aaron
Diether Krebs
as Brandis
Josef Tratnik
as Hülsmeyer
Christiane Lemm
as Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
