She served thousands of Swiss soldiers that were stationed in Courgenay during the First World War, when the neutral Switzerland had to protect its borders.

Hanns In der Gand made the song La petite Gilberte de Gourgenay by Robert Lustenberger and Oskar Portmann from the Winter 1915/16 very famous across Switzerland.

The popularity of this song quickly resulted in Gilberte becoming an idol for the soldats that had to keep watch far from home and their families.

Secretly, she loves Peter Hasler (Erwin Kohlund), who is upset because his fiancee Tilly (Ditta Oesch) is not answering his letters.

When a colleague of Hasler has to travel to Berne with a sick horse, he finds out why: Tilly's rich father had seized all the letters from Peter because he thought that he was not appropriate for her.