Der Hauptmann von Köpenick: Ein deutsches Märchen in drei Akten Add a review

The Captain of Köpenick (German: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick) is a satirical play by the German dramatist Carl Zuckmayer. First produced in 1931, the play tells the story, based on a true event that happened in 1906, of a down-on-his-luck ex-convict shoemaker (Wilhelm Voigt) who impersonates a Prussian Guards officer, holds the mayor of a small town to ransom, and successfully "confiscates" the town's treasury, claiming to be acting in the name of the Kaiser. The Prussian cult of the uniform ensures that the townspeople are all too willing to obey his orders, in stark contrast to the treatment the protagonist was given before he donned the uniform. Zuckmayer described the story as a "German fairy tale".