Der Gang zur Zauberhöhle (The path to the magical cave), also titled Die schöne Schäferin (The Pretty Shepherdess), is a pastoral dating back to the middle of the 18th century. A century later, members of the Grimmer-Regel family were the only ones still performing it. There only exist two versions of the play: Johann Georg Geisselbrecht’s (Der Held auf der Flucht oder der Teufel im Kochtopf. Eine komische Oper in 3 Aufzügen) and Hugo Weste’s, which is more recent. It is that last version, kept in the Puppentheatersammlung of Dresden (typewritten document T-0241, inventory number 15406,53), which is described here.

The shepherd Floritan (Floridan) is in love with the shepherdess Dorinda, but she tells him that she will only answer to his love if he brings her water from a magical cave. Instead of doing it himself, Floritan sends his servant Hans (Kasper) to fetch that water. As a reward, he assures Hans that he will give him a trousseau so that he can marry Dorinda’s servant, Gretel. The latter has to prepare a jar to fetch water, but she refuses to give it to Hans because she thinks he is unfaithful. In fact, Hans is planning on marrying Dorinda if his adventure is a success. Hans and Floritan manage to get to the cave, each independently, but Floritan is scared and runs away. Karikux, the magician, denies entry to the cave to Hans, a devil breaks his pot, then he is eventually chased away by shrews. Hans tells his story, exaggerating it, to Floritan. Floritan gives up on going back to the cave to get water. Instead, Dorinda challenges him to kill a monster that is eating her sheep and goats. Hans, to whom Floritan has again promised money for his wedding, kills the monster for his master. He demands that Dorinda marry him, but she does not care about who has killed the monster, because she is, in fact, in love with Floritan, and with him only. Therefore, Dorinda gets married to Floritan, and Hans to Gretel.