
At the battle of Solferino Joseph von Trotta, a lieutenant in the Slovenian infantry, is wounded while saving the life of the young Austrian Emperor Franz-Joseph I. The Emperor rewards him by elevating him in society to a position quite out of keeping with his social rank, and which entirely alienates him from his farming background: Joseph gets promoted to the rank of captain, and is made a member of the nobility. Years later Joseph von Trotta accidentally finds a description of the battle that changed his life in a text-book belonging to his son Franz. Enraged at the over-emotional, patriotic and sentimental way in which the Emperor's rescue at the hands of "the Hero of Solferino" is depicted, he lodges a complaint at the Imperial Court.
Baron Franz von Trotta und Sipolje

Baron Trotta von Sipolje
Valérie von Taussig

Dr. Demant

Kapturak

Eva Demant

Graf Chojnicki
Rittmeister Taittinger

Kapellmeister Nechval

Tattenbach

Herr Knopfmacher

Kaiser Franz Joseph
Held von Solferino

Wagner

Nachtigall aus Mariahilf

Catherine Slama

Junger Kaiser
Kaiser um 40
