In this collection of puppet plays, the publishers – Richard Kralik and Joseph Winter – transcribed the repertory of a travelling puppeteer from Lower Austria, as they saw it performed in 1883 and 1884. Don Juan figured among the three plays of the repertory of German puppet plays that had already been published – the other two being Genovefa and Faust. Several versions of this play were published in Johann Scheible’s Das Kloster, and another one in Carl Engel’s Deutsche Puppenkomödien. Kralik and Winter’s collection is similar to this latter work, as much because of the date of publication (only ten years after) as because of the publishing project and the title of the work. However the publishers emphasise in the preface that the version they are presenting is different from older versions, that all came from Germany (and not Austria), and that, on the other hand, the other plays were still unpublished.

Donna Anna turns Don Juan away – she prefers her more virtuous brother. Don Juan asks his father for three hundred ducats to win her over. When Don Pedro refuses and threatens to throw him behind bars, he loses his temper and murders him. Don Juan flees the town with his servant Kasperl, whom he pretends is the new sergeant, to fool the guards, and they hide in the woods. There, they meet a hermit and Don Juan wants to borrow his clothes to disguise himself. But Kasperl tells the hermit what crimes his master Don Juan has committed, and Don Juan eliminates this troublesome witness. In the meantime, the devil appears to Kasperl, who promptly gets rid of him. As they arrive to an inn, Don Pedro’s ghost appears to them and Don Juan invites him to dinner. The ghost agrees to the invitation and is poorly received by Kasperl, who go as far as throwing a chair on him. Don Juan refuses to repent. The ghost invites him back, then holds out his hand to him to seal their deal. At this moment, devils come and carry him into the air. Kasperl takes all of his master’s money and celebrates.