René Sydow plays Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg in the SWR series "Wie wir wurden, was wir sind — Eine Geschichte Südwestdeutschlands" (How We Became What We Are — A History of South-West Germany). And yes, there is a resemblance — though not in temperament, for the good Carl Eugen was a spendthrift Rococo bon vivant who flung the state coffers out of the palace windows on pastoral pageants and mistresses. René, too, hails from Baden-Württemberg; he comes from Lake Constance and has a fine command of his native dialect, but the only thing he squanders is words, in wonderful cabaret pieces. He is scattering those everywhere just now, for after seven major cabaret awards he is much in demand on the country's stages.