Scharnhorst, who said that the army should march at the forefront of progress, is one of the NVA's role models. The film uses historical material to cover the years 1806 to 1813, the Battle of Jena and Auerstädt and the Battle of Leipzig.

• Filmstudio der NVA
• Horst Preusker
• Jürgen Frohriep
• Heinz Schröder
• Hans Ulrich Laufer
• Werner Schulz-Wittan