The Italian journey: if Fritz was, in fact, afraid of her staying in Italy in that letter I quoted, he wasn't being paranoid. She was tempted, because she was happy there, the climate while at first not as warm as was typical agreed with her, and she liked a great many of the people she encountered. She loved exploring antiques, debating the new discoveries - at one point, they even paid her the compliment of calling her "Dotoressa di Bayreuth" (this isn't something Wilhelmine herself reports but Winckelmann does, who was the formost German expert on this of his day and met her in Italy) - and Protestant-turned-Deist or not, admired a great many of the churches and paintings she saw. But whether or not her husband would have been okay with her staying there (and unless she left him, he'd have to be, and even then, because someone would have to pay her living expenses), she also knew that if she did stay, she'd never see her brother again. So no permanent move to Italy. She did meet Algarotti in Venice, btw, writing to Fritz about it on July 25th 1755: "I met Algarotti, whom I hardly recognized, so much older and changed did he look. His health is still very damaged, but his mind is as quick as ever. He was very, very considerate of us and promised me he was only waiting for his complete recovery in order to return to Berlin. I esteem him higher than ever, for he proved his attachment to you on every occasion."
7 Years War: After the AW/Fritz break up, Fritz informed Wilhelmine of it (and told her what he told everyone at the time, that AW was guilty of the near catastrophe): To which Wilhelmine replied, urging Fritz to forgive him: "He has written two letters to me about his losses. He believes to have lost his honor and reputation. Maybe his behaviour was wrong; he is passionate and at times rules by his passions, but he is assuredly good natured."
She also wrote to AW: "You have no idea what evil results the estrangement between the both of you has. (...) Remember, the one you feel so much bitterness for is your brother, your blood and more. Please forget what has happened. I am convinced the King will then do the same. I'd give my life for all of you to be reconciled."
Then SD died; Fritz told Wilhelmine in his letter "We don't have a mother anymore", but at that point she already knew via their youngest sister Amalie, whose letter had reached her first. And then Fritz started to write despairing letters with a sort of suicidal sub (or not so sub) text ("If I had followed my inclination, I'd have made an end immediately after the unfortunate battle I lost (Kolin)") ; she wrote encouraging and loving letters back, but she was already very sick and definitely very worried, though she tried to keep the former from Fritz as long as she could (though she did write to Amalie about it). He started to win battles again in late 1757. AW died on June 12th 1758; Heinrich visited Wilhelmine in Bayreuth in July, but did not tell her, because he was deeply shocked when he saw her, recognizing at once she was dying herself, and wrote to Fritz "I am very much afraid that she will not recover from this illness". Fritz finally told her in his letter from July 12th, but the Margrave - who'd already been told by Heinrich - kept the letter from Wilhelmine for a while, fearing this would finish her. Naturally, not getting news from Fritz instead made her afraid something had happened to him, so the Margrave finally forwarded the letter after all. The last letters from Fritz thereafter are all frantic pleas with her not to die: "I was more dead than living when I received your letter. My god, your writing! (...) I beg you - avoid all efforts, so your illness does not get worse. As sick and miserable as you are, you still think about my miseries? That is going too far. PLease think of yourself instead and tell yourself that without you, there is no more happiness in life for me, and my life depends on yours."
(BTW, Voltaire, who had kept up his correspondance with her post their encounter in France again, urged her to stay alive for peace in Europe, as he hoped she'd be able to mediate between Fritz and the other powers: "Never, Madame, did you have so much cause to live as right now." No pressure, Voltaire.)
Oster also quotes Henri de Catt quoting Fritz after he learned about her death: "How shall I get back my sister!" (It's a much longer outburst than that Oster quotes, but the first sentence struck me the most, because it's very King Lear - no more, no more. Oster says Wilhelmine died in the arms of her daughter (who'd left her husband Carl Eugen for good at that point and was living with her parents again) and husband, so she was not alone. She'd known she wouldn't recover for a while at that point, and had written to Fritz in her last letter: "I have accepted my fate. I will live and die content as long as I know you will be happy again."
Re: Sibling Correspondance - II
7 Years War: After the AW/Fritz break up, Fritz informed Wilhelmine of it (and told her what he told everyone at the time, that AW was guilty of the near catastrophe): To which Wilhelmine replied, urging Fritz to forgive him: "He has written two letters to me about his losses. He believes to have lost his honor and reputation. Maybe his behaviour was wrong; he is passionate and at times rules by his passions, but he is assuredly good natured."
She also wrote to AW: "You have no idea what evil results the estrangement between the both of you has. (...) Remember, the one you feel so much bitterness for is your brother, your blood and more. Please forget what has happened. I am convinced the King will then do the same. I'd give my life for all of you to be reconciled."
Then SD died; Fritz told Wilhelmine in his letter "We don't have a mother anymore", but at that point she already knew via their youngest sister Amalie, whose letter had reached her first. And then Fritz started to write despairing letters with a sort of suicidal sub (or not so sub) text ("If I had followed my inclination, I'd have made an end immediately after the unfortunate battle I lost (Kolin)") ; she wrote encouraging and loving letters back, but she was already very sick and definitely very worried, though she tried to keep the former from Fritz as long as she could (though she did write to Amalie about it). He started to win battles again in late 1757. AW died on June 12th 1758; Heinrich visited Wilhelmine in Bayreuth in July, but did not tell her, because he was deeply shocked when he saw her, recognizing at once she was dying herself, and wrote to Fritz "I am very much afraid that she will not recover from this illness". Fritz finally told her in his letter from July 12th, but the Margrave - who'd already been told by Heinrich - kept the letter from Wilhelmine for a while, fearing this would finish her. Naturally, not getting news from Fritz instead made her afraid something had happened to him, so the Margrave finally forwarded the letter after all. The last letters from Fritz thereafter are all frantic pleas with her not to die: "I was more dead than living when I received your letter. My god, your writing! (...) I beg you - avoid all efforts, so your illness does not get worse. As sick and miserable as you are, you still think about my miseries? That is going too far. PLease think of yourself instead and tell yourself that without you, there is no more happiness in life for me, and my life depends on yours."
(BTW, Voltaire, who had kept up his correspondance with her post their encounter in France again, urged her to stay alive for peace in Europe, as he hoped she'd be able to mediate between Fritz and the other powers: "Never, Madame, did you have so much cause to live as right now." No pressure, Voltaire.)
Oster also quotes Henri de Catt quoting Fritz after he learned about her death: "How shall I get back my sister!" (It's a much longer outburst than that Oster quotes, but the first sentence struck me the most, because it's very King Lear - no more, no more. Oster says Wilhelmine died in the arms of her daughter (who'd left her husband Carl Eugen for good at that point and was living with her parents again) and husband, so she was not alone. She'd known she wouldn't recover for a while at that point, and had written to Fritz in her last letter: "I have accepted my fate. I will live and die content as long as I know you will be happy again."