So'n Rackerchen (1916)

The landowner von Marwitz receives a letter from his nephew Gerd, saying that he is on a walking tour and intends to visit his uncle and cousin. Lily is looking forward to seeing Gerd again, whom she has not seen since childhood. But her strict father does not want the two young people to meet without parental supervision, so he decides to send Lily to a girls’ boarding school while he is away on an upcoming trip. To outwit her father, Lily decides that her maid Marta should swap places with her and go to the school as “Lily.” When Gerd arrives at the estate, he meets Lily, whom he takes to be the maid Marta, and is delighted by the cheeky little minx. Meanwhile, the real Marta arrives at the boarding school and immediately makes a good impression with her well-behaved, home-loving manner. But missing her sweetheart, who works as a servant in the von Marwitz household, she writes him a wistful letter. The school’s headmistress intercepts it, however, and it gets Marta—who is already serving several hours of confinement for “canoodling”—into serious trouble, because the headmistress is horrified that a refined young noblewoman would become involved with an ordinary servant. Meanwhile, Cousin Gerd begins to fall seriously in love with the supposed maid, his cousin, and the two spend a cheerful, carefree time in the country. By chance, Gerd gets his hands on a letter from the real Marta to Lily and learns from it that the two young women have switched roles and fooled him. Gerd does not take it amiss; he is even amused, but plans a little revenge. Suddenly putting on airs as a nobleman, he orders the little “servant” around like a serf. When Gerd sees that Lily’s delight is gradually turning to sadness, he ends his little act of spite and declares his love to her. They fall into each other’s arms. On his way back, Herr von Marwitz plans to collect his daughter from the boarding school. Fortunately, maid Marta learns of this, climbs out of her bedroom window, and makes her escape. Lily’s father then travels back to his estate alone. There he learns of the prank Lily and Marta played on him. Lily knows how to wrap her father around her little finger, and soon she and her beloved Gerd receive his blessing for their future together.