is set in a fantasy age more reminiscent of the early 19th century. Location seems to be a castle in 1813 Prussia, but ‘Ich war ich weiss nicht wo’. Focus of attention is the high-spirited girl Marie. Her mother is lady of the castle and has dedicated herself to science, leaving Marie to the care of an unpleasant governess. Marie wants to grow up as quickly as possible and until then she flees into the realm of her imagination. She gets out of the rut when the wild Friedrich arrives with a retinue of beggars, hawkers and artistes. The castle is occupied and plundered, but in the end Marie changes the course of history at the head of a gang of children.
