Major von Tellheim has just returned from the Seven Years' War. However, since he was dishonorably discharged from the military due to corruption allegations, he finds himself stranded and deeply hurt in an inn, which he can only pay for on credit. Therefore, he is not particularly pleased when he unexpectedly meets his fiancée, who has set out to search for him, at the inn. He is ashamed that he cannot provide her with wealth and would prefer to call off the wedding. Yet his future wife – the wealthy Minna von Barnhelm – does not give up. Through a clever game of deception, she manages to outsmart the hurt Tellheim, and they end up getting married after all.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) wrote "Minna von Barnhelm oder das Soldatenglück," one of the most famous comedies of the Enlightenment, which still remains part of the standard repertoire of the German theater landscape today.