Set in 1799, the film tells the story of the Marquise von O, a virtuous widow, who finds herself pregnant and protests her innocence while possibly deserving to be exiled.

[1] The story begins in a tavern in a northern Italian town in the early 19th century, where two men are reading an announcement in the paper by the Marquise of O, a widow, that she is pregnant and wishes the father of her child to present himself in order to marry him.

The next scene shows the Marquise's father's citadel being overrun by Russian forces during the Napoleonic Wars.

The reports of the Count's death turn out to be false, as he appears at the family's house and asks for the Marquise's hand in marriage.

They do not immediately give him an answer because the Marquise had previously resolved to not be remarried after the death of her husband and the family agrees that the couple hardly know each other.

He decides to stay at their home much to the chagrin of the Colonel who does not think he should desert his post in Naples in order to win the hand of his daughter.

He dines with the family and tells them his reasons for wanting to marry the Marquise, mainly being that he hallucinated visions of her while he was recovering from his chest wound.

After dinner, the Marquise admits to her parents that this is a great test to her gratitude because, although she does not wish to be remarried, she feels that she owes him this favour in return for having saved her.

She takes the Marquise back to the family home to explain to the Colonel that she is indeed innocent and then leaves them alone for him to apologize.

When the fateful day arrives, the Marquise and her mother wait in their parlour room for the father to appear, and he does, but it is none other than the Count.

The next day they are unhappily married and shortly thereafter the Count gets an apartment in town but does not visit the family until after the birth of the child.

It also won three German Film Awards: Best Actress for Edith Clever, Best Actor for Bruno Ganz and Best Production Design.