​MINNA VON BARNHELM, mǐn′na fō̇n bärn′hĕlm. A comedy by Lessing, produced at Hamburg in 1767. The action occupies part of a single day, and the scene throughout is an inn. The plot rests on the ruse employed by the heroine to overcome the false sense of honor of her fiancé, Major von Tellheim, who refuses to bind her to him, because of his poverty.