The Stolen Battle

It is the beginning of the18th century and two boys are born. One in the family of a tailor in Halle, the other becomes the Prussian king Friedrich II. Veliký (Frederick II the Great). Andreas Christian Käsebier takes no pleasure in being a tailor and as a far-famed thief is imprisoned for life. At the same time, the already famous commander Frederick camps with his army at the gates of Prague and in vain tries to seize the city. After six weeks of the battle, he therefore sends to prison for Käsebier and orders him to open the city gates. The thief is just changing into the guard's uniform and is forging his release papers, but accepts the offer anyhow. Not far from Prague, the handsome and courageous Käsebier manages to stop runaway horses and meets a Czech girl, Katka, who together with her friends uses a secret passage to smuggle food into the starving city. For opening the city gates, the king has promised freedom to the thief, but plans to take his promise back. When Käsebier by chance finds out about the false promise, he decides to help the city defenders. He arranges with the Duke Lotrinský (of Lorraine) to open the gates for the Prussians and close it again behind them. Käsebier, however, decides upon a different solution. He gets Frederick's aide-de camps called Krusemark drunk and rewrites the commands for the army. The Prussian army, according to these commands, must stay put after the city gates open. During the morning attack the army does not move. Both commanders plan their revenge on Käsebier. He is caught and is to be executed, but Katka saves him by blowing up the gunpowder storage. The Prussians are marching off and the careless Käsebier is travelling with them in the last army carriage.