The Prince of Homburg (German: Der Prinz von Homburg, Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, or in full Prinz

Friedrich von Homburg oder die Schlacht bei Fehrbellin) is a play by Heinrich von Kleist written in 1809
10, but not performed until 1821, after the author's death. A performance during his lifetime was not
possible because Princess Marianne of Prussia (wife of Prince William of Prussia), by birth a member of
the Hesse-Homburgfamily, to whom Kleist had given sight of the work with a dedication, felt her family
honour insulted by it.

The title relates to the real Prince of Homburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675, Friedrich von Hessen-
Homburg (16331708), but beyond the name and place there is little if any resemblance between
the Romanticcharacter in the play and the eponymous Friedrich, a successful professional soldier of
many years' standing.

The play has been filmed a number of times, and inspired the opera Der Prinz von Homburg by Hans
Werner Henze

Plot

The Prince of Homburg, a young officer of the Great Elector (Frederick William I, Elector of
Brandenburg), is exhausted after a long campaign. Walking in his sleep, he puts on a laurel wreath.
Several noblemen notice this, and the Great Elector plays a trick on the Prince, which leads him to
declare his love for the Elector's niece, Natalie. He is able to take one of her gloves. After waking from
his dream the Prince is puzzled by the glove in his hand. When at the next council of war the plans for
the next battle are being discussed, and duties are being handed out, the Prince is thrown into confusion
by the appearance of Princess Natalie, who reveals herself as the owner of the glove, and he is
distracted to the extent that he fails to take on board his orders, which are not to engage the enemy
without a direct order to do so. Contrary to his instructions he attacks the enemy at the Battle of
Fehrbellin and wins.

The Elector however is concerned above all with discipline. Regardless of the victory, he has the Prince
arrested for disobeying an order and tried at a court martial, where the Prince is condemned to death.
He fails initially to grasp the seriousness of the situation, and starts to be truly concerned only when he
hears that the Elector has signed his death warrant. The reality of his situation only hits home when he
is shown the grave that has been dug for him. In the famous and controversial "fear of death scene"
(Todesfurchtszene) the Prince begs for his life, prepared to give up all that is dear to him in return. When
the Elector hears of the Prince's reaction, he too is confused, possibly astonished, but claims to have the
greatest respect for the Prince's feeling. Instead of simply pardoning him, however, he sets a condition:
if the Prince can genuinely call his condemnation unjust, he will be pardoned. The question raises the
Prince to a state of enlightenment: he conquers his fear of death and is prepared to "glorify" the
sentence by a suicide. It remains debatable whether he really considers his sentence justified. Nor does
it ever come to light to what extent the Elector may have planned all this to teach him a lesson.

Meanwhile Natalie, without a legitimate order, has recalled Kottwitz's regiment to obtain support for
Homburg's pardon. In the face of the general pressure now put on him, the Elector now listens to his
officers. Kottwitz is of the opinion that what counts on the field of battle is victory, and that there is
nothing with which to reproach the Prince. Hohenzollern goes further and attributes the guilt to the
Elector, as he caused the Prince's confusion and consequent insubordination by the trick he played on
him, and therefore bears the responsibility himself. Finally the Elector asks the officers if they are happy
to continue to trust themselves to the Prince's leadership to which all say yes.

The Prince learns nothing of his pardon, but is led blindfold into the open air, in the belief that he is
about to be executed. But there is no bullet: instead, the niece of the Elector crowns him with a laurel
wreath. To his question whether this is a dream, Kottwitz replies, "A dream, what else" ("Ein Traum, was
sonst"). The Prince faints.

Characters[edit]

Friedrich Wilhelm, Kurfrst von Brandenburg

The Kurfrstin

Prinzessin Natalie von Oranien, his niece

Feldmarschall Drfling, commander of a dragoon regiment

Prinz Friedrich Arthur von Homburg, general of the cavalry

Obrist Kottwitz, colonel of the regiment of the Prinzessin von Oranien

Hennings, infantry colonel

Graf Truch, infantry colonel

Graf Hohenzollern, of the Elector's entourage

Rittmeister von der Golz and others

Time and place

At Fehrbellin and in Berlin, 1675.

Historical background

In his Mmoires pour servir l'histoire de la maison de Brandenbourg, Frederick the Great describes
how Prince Friedrich of Hessen-Homburg in the Battle of Fehrbellin engaged in a self-willed and
precipitate attack on the enemy and won the battle. This seems to be an anecdote unfounded in
historical fact, but Kleist made use of it as a source anyway and developed the subject matter freely.
Particularly, Kleist changed the prince's action "without express orders" into action " against express
orders".