WIBBEL. Musical in 11 Bildern nach der Komödie
"Schneider Wibbel" von Hans Müller-Schlösser

All of Düsseldorf is up and about getting ready to greet Emperor Napoleon when he marches into the city. Only a few students and the master tailor Wibbel show their annoyance over the French occupier. At the pub “The Black Anchor” of the French-friendly Knipperling, where people are celebrating, a fistfight ensues during which Wibbel knocks down Colonel Heubes. Wibbel is sentenced to four weeks’ prison for insulting His Majesty. The tailor and his wife Fin convince the consumptive journeyman Zimpel to go to jail in place of Wibbel with the latter’s papers. Everything goes well until the news of Zimpel’s death reaches the shocked tailor couple. Deeply moved, Wibbel now becomes the witness of his own funeral. As the widowed wife of the master, Fin must defend herself against the stormy Mölfes, and she succeeds only with difficulty in refuting the neighbours’ gossip about the strange man coming to see her (namely Wibbel in disguise). A series of tragic-comic events takes place before she has the idea that saves the situation: she introduces Wibbel as his brother Jean-Baptist and, after some inconveniences, finally marries him in the grand finale.