Le Capitaine de Köpenick

'The Captain of Köpenick' is a true story that could only have happened in Germany, where the authority of a uniform was (and still is?) obeyed without question.

In 1906, an obscure Tilsiter cobbler named Wilhelm Voigt (1849-1922) purchased the second-hand uniform of a Prussian infantry captain. Wearing this, he travelled to the borough of Köpenick and ordered a troop of guardsmen to place themselves under his command. He then declared the town hall to be under military law, ordering the arrest of the mayor and treasurer and confiscating all the funds in the exchequer. (In this version it's 4,000 deutschemarks, a tidy sum.) None of Voigt's orders were questioned, and he got away with the dosh. When he was eventually caught, the German people regarded Voigt's imposture as a jolly hoax that pricked the pomposity of petty bureaucrats. Although Voigt was clearly motivated by unlawful financial gain, he emerged from the affair as a folk hero.

This film is based on a stage adaptation of the original incident; I can't vouch for its accuracy. Some of the incidents here seem a bit far-fetched, but I accept that the original incident happened similarly to what we see here (although surely there weren't so many women involved). The movie is a comedy, and succeeds on that level. I was especially impressed with the performance of Fritz Odemar as the apoplectic treasurer. Still, in one sense this subject is no laughing matter. Let's recall what was the ultimate result of the Germans' penchant for mindless obedience to authority figures. This story was funny in 1931, but a few years later nobody in Germany would be laughing. More as an artefact of its time than for its merits as a comedy, I'll rate this movie 7 out of 10.

This film is considered by German film historians to be one of the greatest ever. A valid passport was needed by all in Imperial Prussia to apply for a job, prove citizenship or even to travel. An old cobbler is denied a much-needed passport due to the Prussian bureaucracy. He breaks into City Hall to steal one, and is arrested. Finally, he procures old military uniform of a captain and makes use of his previous military experience (and the fact that nobody in that era would question the authority of any Prussian officer) to commandeer a group of active duty military members he happens to meet and use them to take over city hall. In a series of humorous events, he places the mayor and treasurer of the Berlin suburb of Koepenick under house arrest in his attempt to finally secure his desired passport. This event is still celebrated each year in a parade held in Berlin as the citizens of Berlin make fun of their well-documented habit of yielding almost totally to the whims of the Prussian military throughout much of their history. The film's Berlin dialect can make it difficult for some viewers to understand the spoken dialog. This film has been remade several times, including the most popular 1956 version starring Heinz Rühmann. Nothing beats this 1931 version at rendering a period-correct atmosphere that takes one back in time.