World of Herbs - The Alps

For centuries, people in inaccessible Alpine valleys had no other option than to rely on the healing power of nature. Knowledge of medicinal and poisonous plants was deeply rooted in the everyday life of the mountain dwellers. In the 20th century, herbal medicine was partially suppressed by conventional medicine. Today, however, it is being rediscovered and reused by pharmacologists around the world. The herbs of the Alps are experiencing a renaissance, and their potential is far from being exhausted. The cinematic journey takes us, among other places, to the Bavarian National Park Berchtesgadener Land, the Hohe Tauern National Park in Austria, to Graubünden and the South Tyrolean Dolomites. In Berchtesgadener Land, a root digger harvests the roots of the yellow gentian at great heights for the heart position of herbal schnapps. A license, based on a 400-year-old digging right, makes it possible. In Heiligenblut in the Hohe Tauern Mountains, women in traditional costumes have revived the long-forgotten custom of herb consecration. In the Swiss canton of Graubünden, the edelweiss is also known as the “stomach ache flower”. And the Dolomites are home to the arnica, a medicinal plant. The very species-rich meadows of the high alpine pastures are mowed once a year. That's when it's time to take a hay bath.