to meet with the King and with Queen Louise, who was described by Napoleon as "the only man in Prussia". Maria's journey leads to the energetic and charismatic Gneisenau being sent to Kolberg. After an initial confrontation with Nettelbeck, in order to show that there is only one leader in Kolberg, and that Gneisenau is that leader, the two work together with the army and the citizens to save the city from the French. After Kolberg is (unhistorically) saved, the film returns to 1813 after the Convention of Tauroggen, a time when Napoleon was defeated in Russia, and Prussian leaders wonder whether it is time to turn openly against him. Frederick William is convinced by Gneisenau to do so, and sits down to write the proclamation An Mein Volk ("To my People") announcing the Wars of Liberation. Cast Kristina Söderbaum as Maria Heinrich George as Joachim Nettelbeck Paul Wegener as General Ludwig Moritz von Loucadou Horst Caspar as August Neidhardt von Gneisenau Gustav Diessl as Ferdinand von Schill Otto Wernicke as Farmer Werner Kurt Meisel as Claus Claus Clausen as Frederick William III of Prussia Irene von Meyendorff as Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Greta Schröder as Sophie Marie von Voß Franz Herterich as Emperor Francis II Jakob Tiedtke as Shipowner Paul Bildt as Rector Charles Schauten as Napoléon Theo Shall as Louis Henri Loison Werner Scharf as Pietro Teulié Jaspar von Oertzen as Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, a role edited out. Production The film is based on the 1823 edition of the autobiography of Joachim Nettelbeck, mayor of Kolberg, and on the 1865 play drawn from the book by Nobel laureate Paul Heyse. No reference was made to the latter as the author was Jewish. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels explicitly ordered the use of the historical events for a film, which he regarded as highly suitable for the circumstances Germany faced. Kolberg entered production in 1943, and was made in Agfacolor with high production values. It cost , not as is often stated. The film's extra cast accounted perhaps 5,000 soldiers and hundreds of Kolberg people participated for a daily fee of . The number of extras is commonly exaggerated at 187,000, and claims of entire divisions of troops taking part are completely false. Principal cinematography took place from 22 October 1943 to August 1944. The exteriors were shot in and around the cities of Kolberg, Königsberg, Treptow, Berlin, Seeburg,