The Belgian city of Louvain on 20th September 1914, after the German invasion. Civilians walk across the rubble of the recently destroyed church. German soldiers stand in the street in front of the ruins of the Hotel de Ville.

More soldiers march along the street in front of the undamaged Louvain station. A train pulls out of the station, with open carriages revealing carts bearing provisions and soldiers; other soldiers wave from the closed carriages.

A goose-stepping detachment of the Seventh Marine Batallion parades before their officers, including the cycle corp. Later, the officers try to attract the attention of a dog. The guards relax outside a building near the old Market and University Hall.