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The Captain from Köpenick Laval University From the SelectedWorks of Fathi Habashi November, 2019 The aC ptain from Köpenick Fathi Habashi Available at: https://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/560/ The Captain from Köpenick The Captain from Köpenick or Der Hauptmann von Köpenick is a satirical play based on a true story that took place in Germany in 1906. Written by Carl Zuckmayer (1896 –1977) it was first produced as film in 1931. The Prussian cult of the uniform ensures that the townspeople are willing to obey orders. Wilhelm Voigt (1849-1922) gave the German Empire a lesson in overstated obedience. It was the subject of several television shows, films, and plays. Wilhelm Voigt, a shoemaker is released from prison and tries to make an honest living in his advanced age. However, this is doomed to failure even from the outset as the militarized, inflexible society of the late German Empire offers practically nothing to citizens who have not served in the military. This catches him in a vicious circle: Without legal registration (a passport) he can't get any work, and without any work he can't get a legal registration. Wilhelm Voigt who was trained as a military man in prison, purchased the second-hand uniform of a Prussian infantry captain. Wearing this, he travelled to the district of Köpenick in Berlin claiming to be acting in the name of the Kaiser. Around noon, when the guards were changed, he stopped a squad of Guards consisting of four soldiers and a sergeant, who were returning to barracks from guard duty. He stopped the squad, had them stand to attention, and reported to the supposed officer. He ordered them to place themselves under his command. He then declared the town hall to be under military law, occupied the building, interned every civil servant to his office, ordering the arrest of the mayor and treasurer and confiscating all the funds in the exchequer. He prohibited any phone calls, ordered the present gendamery to cordon off the surroundings without giving any further credentials than wearing a captain’s uniform. Then he ordered a closing of the town’s accounts. Voigt's orders were obeyed without question and he temporarily got away with the action, although he was eventually caught. The plot emphasizes the proverb "Kleider machen Leute" (Clothes Make the Man) in the context of the German Empire's militarized society, in which the high military gets all the social privileges while the little man is left with nothing. Voigt was arrested a week later by the police after a tip from one of his former fellow prisoners and sentenced to four years hard labor. Kaiser Wilhelm II laughed at this incident and pardoned him in August 1908. From day one, the media loved the story, and people everywhere followed it closely. Even while he was in prison awaiting trial, Voigt was showered with gifts. Scores of journalists from all over the world and people from all walks of life crowded the court at his trial. The people loved him - for fooling the state, for being so daring, for making them laugh. The play became so popular that a bronze statue was installed at the entrance of the City Hall in Köpenick in Berlin and a wax statute was created for him in Madame Tussaud Museum in London. He retired in 1910 to Luxemburg where he died impoverished due to post-World War I inflation. After 100 years, the story is celebrated in Berlin. In October 2009 the story of Der Hauptmann von Köpenick was celebrated in Berlin. .
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