Der Hauptmann von Köpenick

Wilhelm Voigt would like to be an honest subject, but he fails in the bureaucratic vicious circle. The shoemaker, who has a criminal record for minor offenses, is denied the residence permit as long as he is unemployed – and he can only find work if he can present a residence permit. To obtain a passport and thus also be recognized as a person by the state and the law, he engages in a struggle against the windmills of strict legal provisions and absurd bureaucratic mentality. Time and again, he crosses paths with a captain's uniform, which ultimately provides him with the mischievous solution: as the captain of Köpenick, he outsmarts the order-abiding and authority-following with their own weapons.

Carl Zuckmayer's real satire takes place in Berlin before the First World War. With this "best comedy in world literature" (Thomas Mann), Zuckmayer also created a critical contemporary piece about the dehumanization of the individual by the state and bureaucracy. The lovable and tragic figure of Wilhelm Voigt has become a symbol of the little man who stands up against the injustices of the (working) world.