In the center of the drama is the battle of Ferbellin (1675), which largely determined the fate of Germany.
Prince Friedrich Arthur of Homburg, cavalry general, sits in a sleepy daze at night under a tree in the castle garden and weaves a laurel wreath. Elector of Bradenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm; Elector, Princess Natalia of Orange and Count von Hohenzollern from the retinue of the elector leave the castle and look at the prince from the balustrade. While the prince is half asleep, they decide to play a trick on him. The elector takes a wreath from the prince, wraps it with a chain from his neck and gives it to the princess. The prince stands up, and the elector with the princess, high-raising a wreath, retreats back. Everyone goes up the stairs. It seems to the prince that he is still sleeping. The Elector and the Princess enter the castle and slam the door in front of him, however, he manages to rip off the glove from Natalia’s hand. The prince in extreme surprise looks at the door and the glove, then, going downstairs, when shouting Hohenzollern falls like a beveled man. Hohenzollern speaks to the prince, and the prince gradually begins to realize where he is. He tells the count his dream, and the count, by agreement with the elector, does not let him understand that everything that happened to him was in reality. The prince, however, does not remember what kind of girl she was with the elector, and is surprised that after waking up the glove did not disappear.
The next morning, the Elector, Field Marshal Derfling, the Prince of Homburg with a glove after a tunic, and other officers gather in the castle hall. Elector and Princess Natalia sit aside. Field Marshal dictates to the officers the plan of battle drawn up by the elector. Everyone but the prince is recording. The prince only pretends to write, he himself reflects on who owns the glove hidden behind his tunic. Soon, he finds out with the help of a trick that the glove belongs to Princess Natalia. By that time, it turns out that the field marshal had already finished dictating the order, and the prince realized that he had listened to almost everything. The Elector in his order especially emphasized that before his signal no one should move the troops into a decisive attack. The prince is still impressed by his prophetic, as he believes, dream.
On the battlefield, seeing the cannonball fall into the elector and he dies, the prince, seized with rage and thirst for revenge, leads his troops on the offensive before the general signal and forces the Swedes to flee. His maneuver contributes to the victory over the enemy.
A little later, the Elector, learning about the death of her husband, mourned his death. Princess Natalia is trying to support the elector, but she herself is very upset, as she has been an orphan for a long time, and now she has lost her last relative and patron. The prince of Homburg, who has arrived in time by this time, offers her his hand and heart and swears that he will forever be a support for her. Natalia accepts his offer and becomes his bride.
Suddenly a vahmister enters and reports that the elector is alive. Instead, one of the officers was killed, who exchanged a horse with the elector. Friedrich Wilhelm himself is currently in Berlin and orders to bring to trial the one who, although he won the victory, but at the same time showed disobedience, breaking the order and speaking ahead of schedule. He does not want accidental victories and believes that the perpetrator is worthy of execution.
The prince arrives in Berlin, where he is arrested and taken to prison back to Fairbellin. His friend Count von Hohenzollern enters the prince’s prison and reports that the court sentenced him to death. The Prince is not at all disturbed by this news, since he does not believe that the Elector, who treated him like a son from childhood, will allow him to carry out this sentence. However, when he finds out that the elector has already signed the court order, he is deprived of the presence of spirit, Hohenzollern suggests the prince that he may have violated some plans of Friedrich Wilhelm. He assumes that the elector’s discontent is caused by the reluctance of Princess Natalia, who was engaged to the Prince of Homburg, to marry the Swedish king Karl, who makes this a condition for signing a peace treaty. Hohenzollern advises the prince to ask for the intercession from the elector, because his deceased mother bequeathed to him to care for the prince as his own son. The prince leaves the prison on parole and goes to the Elector and Natalia. The Elector says that she has already asked for it before the Elector, but to no avail. Then Natalia, having learned that perhaps she herself was guilty of the discontent of Frederick William, goes to his uncle to intercede for the Prince of Homburg. The Elector advises him to arm himself with courage.
Natalia goes to the office of Frederick of Brandenburg, falls to his knees in front of him and prays to spare the prince. She describes the miserable condition of the once brave warrior Prince of Homburg, and says that he does not want to die and asks for mercy. The Elector confusedly admits that he believed that the prince agreed with the court verdict and realized his guilt. If this is not so, then he will never dare to go against the opinion of the prince and writes a letter to him saying that if the prince does not approve of the court’s verdict, let him write a confirmation of this and be free. Natalia takes the message of the Elector, thanks him in tears, and agrees to personally deliver the envelope to the prince.
An officer enters the room for the princess, who is also the chief of the dragoon regiment. He hands over a package with a petition from her entire regiment in defense of the prince and asks Natalia to add her signature to the others. Princess willingly does it. In addition, on behalf of the elector, he draws up an order ordering her commander of the dragoons, Colonel Kottwitz, to bring them from the billets in Arnstein to Ferbellin, closer to the rest of the army, and to petition all regiments in order to increase the number of signatures and make it more significant.
After this, Natalia goes to prison to the Prince of Homburg with the joyful news that now his freedom is in his own hands. The prince carefully reads the Elector's message and tries several times to write an answer. However, in the end he declares that at the cost of bickering he does not need mercy. Natalia kisses him and admits that such an answer is to her heart. She calls the officer who came with her and gives him the final order to inform Kottwitz that the regiment in Ferbellin is waiting until night.
The next morning, the Elector was surprised to find on the square a regiment of dragoons under the command of Kottwitz, who was supposed to be housed in Arnstein. In addition to this, information reaches him that a meeting was organized in the town hall by the generals of Brandenburg. The field marshal says that the officers draw up a petition addressed to the elector in favor of the prince, but if he does not relent, they threaten to release the prince by force.
Officers come in with a petition, and Kottwitz informs the elector, surprised by his presence in the city, that on the eve he received an order signed by Natalia and allegedly drawn up at the behest of Prince Friedrich. He swears that the prince does not know anything about the initiative of the officers, and also reports that he justifies and supports the prince's behavior during the battle.
Count von Hohenzollern enters and declares that the elector himself is to blame for the behavior of the prince, because as a result of a night joke played on his initiative the next morning the prince was scattered and listened to half of the order dictated by the field marshal. Elector ponders what his courtiers have told him. Meanwhile, the Prince of Homburg, called by the elector, is being introduced. He says that he is ready to accept death for disobedience, and asks to fulfill his last request: not to buy peace with Sweden at the cost of the princess’s hand. Elector promises to fulfill his request. The prince is taken back to prison.
Next, the prince is taken out of prison in front of the courtiers and the elector. The latter stares intently after the prince, then takes the death sentence and tears it.
The Prince of Homburg sits in the garden, as at the beginning of the drama, with a blindfold. The bandage is removed from him, and he sees the elector take the princess holding a laurel wreath from the stairs. She lays a wreath on the prince and puts on a chain. The prince falls without feelings. It is driven by single cannon shots. He feels that this is still his dream.
