# Trenck the Pandur > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Trenck_the_Pandur > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Trenck_the_Pandur.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenck_the_Pandur > Source revision: 1355848690 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1940 film Trenck the Pandur Directed by Herbert Selpin Written by Walter Zerlett-Olfenius Based on Trenck the Pandur by Emmerich Groh Produced by Heinrich Jonen Wilhelm Sperber Starring Hans Albers Käthe Dorsch Sybille Schmitz Cinematography Franz Koch Edited by Friedel Buckow Music by Franz Doelle Production company Tobis Film Distributed by Tobis Film Release date 23 August 1940 (1940-08-23) Running time 80 minutes Country Germany Language German ***Trenck the Pandur*** (German: ***Trenck, der Pandur***) is a 1940 German [historical](/source/Historical_film) [adventure film](/source/Adventure_film) directed by [Herbert Selpin](/source/Herbert_Selpin) and starring [Hans Albers](/source/Hans_Albers), [Käthe Dorsch](/source/K%C3%A4the_Dorsch) and [Sybille Schmitz](/source/Sybille_Schmitz).[1][2] It was shot at the [Babelsberg Studios](/source/Babelsberg_Studios) and [Johannisthal Studios](/source/Johannisthal_Studios) in [Berlin](/source/Berlin). The film's sets were designed by the [art director](/source/Art_director) [Fritz Maurischat](/source/Fritz_Maurischat) and [Fritz Lück](/source/Fritz_L%C3%BCck).[3] It is loosely based on the life of [Baron Franz von der Trenck](/source/Baron_Franz_von_der_Trenck), the commander of [Trenck's Pandurs](/source/Trenck's_Pandurs) raised during the reign of [Maria Theresa](/source/Maria_Theresa) of [Austria](/source/Habsburg_Empire). The film was laced with anti-French attitudes, as when it was went into production [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) and France were enemies in the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). By the time the film was released France had been forced into an armistice after the [German invasion](/source/Battle_of_France). ## Synopsis The nobleman Trenck returns to [Vienna](/source/Vienna) after many years away and raises a unit of [Pandurs](/source/Pandur) to serve in the [War of the Austrian Succession](/source/War_of_the_Austrian_Succession). He has recently escaped from [Russia](/source/Russian_Empire) after facing a [court martial](/source/Court_martial) and execution, and his romantic entanglements have threatened Austria's important alliance with Russia. He leads his Pandurs against the [French](/source/Kingdom_of_France) to redeem himself, but proves himself most useful in foiling a scheme by the French spies [Countess](/source/Countess) St. Croix and Prince Solojew. The latter is betrothed to Prinzessin Deinhardstein who Trenck has rescued from her unwanted engagement. ## Cast - [Hans Albers](/source/Hans_Albers) as [Freiherr von der Trenck](/source/Baron_Franz_von_der_Trenck) - [Käthe Dorsch](/source/K%C3%A4the_Dorsch) as [Kaiserin Maria Theresia](/source/Maria_Theresa) - [Sybille Schmitz](/source/Sybille_Schmitz) as Prinzessin Deinhardstein - [Hilde Weissner](/source/Hilde_Weissner) as Gräfin St. Croix - [Elisabeth Flickenschildt](/source/Elisabeth_Flickenschildt) as Natalie Alexandrowa Fürstin Solojew - [Hans Nielsen](/source/Hans_Nielsen_(actor)) as Laudon - [Oskar Sima](/source/Oskar_Sima) as Harun Bashi - [Jaspar von Oertzen](/source/Jaspar_von_Oertzen) as Todt - [Peter Voß](/source/Peter_Vo%C3%9F) as Fürst Khevenhüller - [Herbert Hübner](/source/Herbert_H%C3%BCbner) as Fürst Solojew - [Karl Fochler](/source/Karl_Fochler) as Prokop, Oberstleutnant - [Hubert von Meyerinck](/source/Hubert_von_Meyerinck) as Herr von Sazenthal - [Harry Hardt](/source/Harry_Hardt) as Major Löwenwalde - [Hadrian Maria Netto](/source/Hadrian_Maria_Netto) as Zeremonienmeister b. K. - [Theodor Thony](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theodor_Thony&action=edit&redlink=1) as Marschall Coigny - [Josef Peterhans](/source/Josef_Peterhans) as Zeremonienmeister Deinartstein - [Fritz Hinz-Fabricius](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fritz_Hinz-Fabricius&action=edit&redlink=1) as Herr von Sommerfeld - [Boris Alekin](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boris_Alekin&action=edit&redlink=1) as Russischer Leutnant ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Goble p.196 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Moeller p.96 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Trenck, der Pandur | filmportal.de"](https://www.filmportal.de/film/trenck-der-pandur_3923d0f96df0455bb960d19e6affaf05). *www.filmportal.de*. Retrieved 2026-03-23. ## Bibliography - Goble, Alan. *The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film*. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. - Klaus, Ulrich J. *Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1940*. Klaus-Archiv, 1988. - Moeller, Felix. *The Film Minister: Goebbels and the Cinema in the Third Reich*. Axel Menges, 2000. ## External links - [*Trenck the Pandur*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033184/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e Films directed by Herbert Selpin Antoinette (1932) Chauffeur Antoinette (1932) The Love Contract (1932) Dream of the Rhine (1933) Girls of Today (1933) Between Two Hearts (1934) The Champion of Pontresina (1934) The Riders of German East Africa (1934) An Ideal Husband (1935) The Green Domino (1935, German) The Green Domino (1935, French) Scandal at the Fledermaus (1936) Game on Board (1936) Romance (1936) Alarm in Peking (1937) The Marriage Swindler (1938) I Love You (1938) Sergeant Berry (1938) Water for Canitoga (1939) A Man Astray (1940) Trenck the Pandur (1940) Carl Peters (1941) Secret File W.B.1 (1942) Titanic (1943) This article related to a German film of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1940s-Germany-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1940s-Germany-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1940s-Germany-film-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Trenck the Pandur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenck_the_Pandur) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenck_the_Pandur?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.