Hvězda Valdštejnova srdce – Bauer Jan (2023)

Just like during the execution of 27 Czech nobles, on February 11, 1633, a scaffold draped in black cloth stands in the Old Town Square. The same executioner, Jan Mydlář, will behead 16 officers of Wallenstein's army here, who deserted from the battle of Lützen. All the commanders take their places on the platform, except for Wallenstein himself, who is delayed at the last moment by a young imperial messenger with an important message. Thus dramatically begins the romantic historical novel by Jan Bauer, depicting the final act of the life of the Duke of Frýdlant. With authorial exaggeration, it intertwines Wallenstein's hesitation about whether to stand against the emperor with his sudden passionate infatuation for a young Protestant noblewoman. The aging general overlooks this time that the stars are not favorably inclined towards him and succumbs to the call of his heart. He ignores the warnings of his astrologer Senni and lives only for his mysterious mistress, who brings him back to the times of his tumultuous youth. Completely blinded, Wallenstein is unaware that the star of his heart is not a star of hope, but of his doom...