MaG - Thanks for the savegame, but... the trick didn't work.
I followed your instructions as well as I could (using a different savegame location... on my Windows 7 system it's C:\Users\<my username>\AppData\Local\Daedalic Entertainment\A New Beginning\Savegames.)
Anyway, I replaced the latest savegame there by yours, but the game refused to recognize it.
I also noticed that yours is considerably larger than my savegames... around 1.4 against 1.1MB. I bet it has to do with a different patch level.
The question now is, do I have to apply a patch and where do I get it?
Any ideas are welcome!
Lynthorpe, do you have more luck?