Secluded for many centuries in inaccessible valleys, the inhabitants of the Alps had no alternative but to rely on the healing powers of nature. A knowledge of herbs was deeply rooted in these mountain-dwellers’ everyday lives – until the twentieth century, when this wisdom became eclipsed by modern academic medicine. Today, Alpine herbs are witnessing a revival, as public interest in regional natural treasures grows. The potential of Alpine herbs is far from exhausted. In the Berchtesgaden Alps, the film shows Hubsi Ilsanker at work as a root-digger, a back-breaking job that has scarcely changed in four hundred years. Authorized by a special historic permit to supply the oldest gentian distillery in Germany, Hubsi digs for protected gentian roots in Berchtesgaden National Park. For yellow gentian is one of the most bitter medicinal herbs in the world, well suited for schnapps and as a general tonic. In the Swiss canton …