Gerhard von Scharnhorst, who came from a family of small farmers in Lower Saxony, embarked on a military career and became an important Prussian general. Together with Baron vom Stein, he reformed the Prussian army.

After initial resistance, this also met with the approval of King Frederick William III. The story focuses on the last and most important phase of Scharnhorst's life: 1806 to 1813, with all the ups and downs that this great German experienced. For the first time, the life of the Prussian reformer is traced, the period up to the popular uprising of 1813 and the Russian-German allyship in arms against Napoleon's occupying army are brought to mind.