Das Wirtshaus im Spessart

Countess Franziska is "kidnapped" by a band of robbers. However, her father is not willing to pay the ransom, so Franziska changes sides. Countess Franziska is traveling to Würzburg with her fiancee Baron Sperling when their carriage breaks down in the Spessart forest at night. Unlike the fearful Sperling, the young lady does not seem particularly concerned, but innocently follows the advice of two gallows birds to take lodgings in a nearby inn. Of course, this is a den of thieves. The rabble has its sights set on the countess. Count Sandau is to pay 20,000 guilders in ransom for his little daughter. As the gang triumphantly departs, none of the boys suspect that they have a real maid, but the wrong countess. Franziska has secretly swapped clothes with the young journeyman Felix and has long since disappeared. When her father refuses to pay the ransom and instead wants to have the military raid the bandits' hideout, the cheeky countess returns to the gang's hideout. In disguise, she quickly manages to become the handsome robber chieftain's mistress. She likes him much better than the bland Sperling, and so she has no objection whatsoever when, after many exciting adventures, he saves her in his own way from having to marry the unloved baron. —3sat