Elsa Dalands

Christian Kempenich, a pedantic law firm manager, attends a christening in Cologne, leading to a boozy night. He wakes up in a stranger’s bed and is accused of stealing bed linen from the hotel. Meanwhile, his wife Hedwig had her own fling and wants to keep it secret. When she learns of Christian’s predicament, she reveals her affair during a heated discussion. Realising their marriage is at risk, they decide to work on their relationship.

During the Napoleonic occupation of the German states in 1812, a tailor by the name of Anton Wibbel is sentenced to sit in jail for insulting the Emperor. The tailor manages to get out of this by paying off a friend to go to prison in his place. But then, the "phony" prisoner suddenly dies in his cell and everyone now thinks Wibbel is dead.