The Flute Concerto of Sanssouci was directed by Gustav Ucicky in 1930. Emphatically nationalistic, the film was initially banned by the Allies after 1945, but was restored by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in the early 1990s. In a central scene of the film, Frederick gives a flute concert at Sanssouci, the setting of which is based on Adolf Menzel's famous painting. The painting is the focus of an exhibition on the life and work of Johann Joachim Quantz, Frederick the Great's flute teacher, on view at the Musical Instrument Museum until February 11, 2024.

The film, from the holdings of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation(www.murnau-stiftung.de) in Wiesbaden, will be accompanied by Jörg Joachim Riehle live on the Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ .

Prior to the screening, curator Christian Breternitz will offer a 30-minute guided tour of the Quantz exhibition at 5 pm.

Between World War I and World War II, many German films dealt with the history of Prussia. Even though there was criticism of Prussia in Germany before 1933, open glorification of this period already predominated, as well as films that nostalgically celebrated the virtues of Prussianism. Especially during the Weimar Republic and National Socialism, these historical films experienced their heyday. Frederick II of Prussia was often the center of attention. But even during the imperial era and the later German partition, the Prussian king was a subject and his image was adapted to the political ideals of the moment. Actor Otto Gebühr is inseparably linked with the Fridericus Rex series; he embodied the Prussian king in twelve feature films as well as various commercials.