A young woman marries a count who is not what he seems.

Film by Paul Leni and Felix Basch

The film tells the story of Ivan Mazeppa, a Ukrainian page at the Polish court who has an affair with the young wife of a much older count. Outraged when he learns of the incident, the nobleman has Mazeppa tied naked to a wild horse which is then released into the wilderness. The bulk of the poem describes the long hazardous journey during which Mazeppa almost dies twice but ultimately survives and returns to his native Ukraine.

The Swabian journeyman watchmaker Christoph Bühler is in love with Lorle, the daughter of his boss. One day, the factory owner Ferdinand Hausegger woos Bühler away, whereupon the young man seems to forget the Swabian girl. Only after four years does he propose to her, but the marriage is not under a good star. While Christoph, who has long since moved away from the Swabian province with his wife, makes a career for himself, he neglects his Lorle more and more and soon seems ashamed of her simple origins. Feeling unloved and misunderstood, Lorle finally leaves him and returns to her familiar home in the Black Forest. Only now does Christoph realize what he has in his wife. He is transferred and becomes the manager of a Hausegger branch in the Black Forest. Now nothing stands in the way of reconciliation.