Luise, Königin von Preußen (1931)

Europe, 1806. Napoleon’s troops are advancing ever farther east, threatening large parts of Europe. Austria was defeated at Austerlitz, while tsarist Russia is occupied with internal problems and a conflict with Turkey. Prussia is weaker than it has been in a long time. In Berlin, the hapless and indecisive King Frederick William III rules; he has chosen an unpopular alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte. Unlike the hesitant king, the German patriots Prince Louis Ferdinand, Baron vom Stein, and other young officers try to resist the Corsican aggressor, and manage to win the Queen of Prussia over to their cause and ideals. The king turns a deaf ear to the demands set down in a memorandum, calling at last for the people to take up arms. He is outraged and reprimands Prince Louis Ferdinand. One evening, when Wallenstein’s Camp is to be performed at the court theater, the king prevents his wife from attending because he suspects that a group of hotheaded Prussian officers intend to provoke the French envoy, who will also be there. The affront does indeed take place when the song of freedom “Up, Comrades!” rings out. Soon this call for freedom carries from the stage, across the auditorium, and out into the streets of Berlin, reaching the royal palace. The war party now tries to win Luise over to its convictions once and for all. Tsar Alexander also tries to draw the Queen of Prussia to his side. She is to persuade the king finally to join Russia in the war against Napoleon. But Frederick William continues to hesitate; he does not believe Russia will come to the aid of his nation, besieged by the French, if it comes to that. The French envoy in Berlin protests against a parade in honor of the tsar, and, in defiance of all treaties, Napoleon crosses the Prussian border with his troops. The French win battle after battle; Prince Louis Ferdinand falls in the fighting near Saalfeld, and Napoleon enters Berlin in triumph. Queen Luise flees with her children ever farther east, as far as Memel, with French troops always at their heels. In Königsberg, she has to leave behind her son, the sick Prince Karl, since Napoleon has clearly set his sights on her personally. Finally, in Tilsit, Luise has a fateful encounter with Napoleon, in which she pleads—without success—for lenient terms for her country. In weakened health, Queen Luise returns to Paretz Palace. She “seeks peace, peace for her people, eternal peace for all humankind, peace for her soul. Through the trees she sees a blue, tranquil sky. Luise longs for it, feels it near. A German folk song drifts in from the Havel. Boys sing it in a boat. They are war orphans. A premonition of death settles over the landscape. And a queen wearily closes her eyes.”