Frau Wirtin bläst auch gern Trompete (1970)

Europe, after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. The battered French army streams back across Europe toward its homeland. Susanne, the landlady from the Lahn, and Ferdinand, the leading actor in her little troupe of travelling players, have ended up in Hungary with their Thespian wagon. They narrowly escape marauding soldiers and take refuge in the county ruled by the nouveau-riche Baron Bierrechalet. The Frenchman was once a supplier of war materiel and, until recently, was still called Bierhäusel. The powerful baron is exceptionally greedy for money and taxes everything that can be taxed: drinking, singing and even sex outside marriage, which he considers morally reprehensible, for which he imposes a pleasure tax. The inhabitants groan under the demands of the arrogant despot, driven by greed. With the last of the money they have left, Susanne and Ferdinand buy an abandoned tavern and, through their ingenuity, turn it into a place where people can drink and make love undisturbed, beyond the reach of Herr Bierhäusel’s tax greed. But the baron gets wind of them and soon intends to put an end to their activities. He has Ferdinand arrested. In desperation, Ferdinand claims that Susanne is his wife. Under the pressure put on him, he eventually has to retract the claim and is then to be castrated on the spot. Suddenly, a Prussian nobleman comes to the rescue: Baron von Trenck, who presents himself as the rightful heir to the county and intends to drive the usurping baron from his estates in disgrace. To secure his unlawfully acquired “property,” the baron must be married by a certain date. Trenck is determined to prevent this and plans to abduct the bride who is on her way. Wanting to protect Ferdinand, who is still being held prisoner, from Bierrechalet’s revenge, Susanne offers to pretend to be Bierhäusel’s bride in front of Herr von Trenck, so that Trenck can abduct her as planned. However, the real bride gets in the way, as she would rather be abducted by Trenck herself. Matters soon seem to get completely out of hand when Baron von Trenck wins the old Pandurs over to his side and leads them against the villainous Baron Bierrechalet. Finally, the Archduke also appears, a member of the imperial family from Vienna, and lays down the law. Bierrechalet must give up the county and is driven away in disgrace. Susanne, the landlady from the Lahn, has got her Ferdinand back.