Arte - Napoleons James Bond (2017)

- Original title “Napoleons Deutscher 007 – Karl Ludwig Schulmeister” –

The roles of Karl Ludwig Schulmeister' life during the Napoleonic Wars were a smuggler, revolutionary and Napoleon's top spy. In Germany the son of a pastor from Baden is almost forgotten today, in France his adventures became the basis of a television series. The documentary is reminiscent of an unusual life between France and Germany. He was one of the most adventurous figures in an adventurous epoch, the time of the Napoleonic Wars, an era marked by great upheavals. Karl Ludwig Schulmeister was born the son of a pastor in Baden. A contemplative life as a clerk in the service of a south German prince seemed predetermined to him. But when his father died, his life took a surprising turn he became a smuggler and took advantage of the tax differences between the Holy Roman Empire and the revolutionary French Republic. Because he supported the revolution, he made himself suspicious in his German homeland, forced to move to Strasbourg shortly afterwards, and even became chairman of the Jacobin Club there for a time. When the French were looking for a man who knew his way around the delicate border area on the Rhine, an officer remembered schoolmaster. A steep, sometimes life-threatening career began in Napoleon's service. Schoolmaster had a hand in everything, and often he acted quite surprisingly. He got rich as a spy, could afford two castles, but never found the social recognition he longed for. Did he become a spy out of conviction or out of career aspirations? After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, he lost almost all of his belongings, was searched for by Austrians and Prussians, arrested and brought to justice. Karl Ludwig Schulmeister was a man who actively seized the opportunities that turbulent time offers those who recognize them and know how to use them.

Written and Directed by Ute Boennen and Gerald Endres ; Doc.Station GmbH Medienproduktion for ZDF in cooperation with ARTE

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