Okay, sorry! I didn't see (and still don't see?) any disturbance other than the pulling of teeth and taking of a vertebra. The only decay I can find him mentioning (but I am reading in Google translation) is natural: cobwebs and the whitewash turning gray, for which I wasn't sure why we'd need Lehndorff. But for sure he should have left a wreath! And a report to posterity of leaving a wreath.
Now I'm imagining some 19th century guy thinking "aha, historical document giving us a close up view of The Greatest Prussian Hero and his family, maybe we can publish!", then starting to actually read it and going "um; err; must change that; no, can't, that would mean having to rewrite all volumes, and besides, who's AU Female Heinrich supposed to be? nope, not publishing that!"
AHAHAHAHAAAA, this is too good. Yeah, this one would be hard to convert to compulsory heterosexuality!
It does sound like he loved her, and also his siblings, though the fact he doesn't single one particular sibling out tells me it's more a general fondness than any specifically close relationship?
Yes, seems like it. Given the age difference with the ones from the second marriage, and the fact that he had been living abroad going to university, then hanging out with the Hohenzollerns, that makes sense. Rochow-marrying sister was only a couple years younger, but everyone else is 10-20 years younger. The youngest one isn't even 5 yet, so they may have only seen each other a couple of times, while Hans Hermann was on leave.
Huh. I just noticed the age gap. Youngest first marriage child is born 1706; oldest second marriage child is 1714. That kind of suggests Hans Heinrich took a while to remarry? So I guess Hans Hermann (b. 1704) was most likely just motherless for several years, though it's possible it just took Katharina Elisabeth a while to get pregnant. Her other children are born almost reliably 4 years apart.
which is why I frown at fiction, either pro or fanfic, that has Marie Antoinette call herself "Marie" to anyone, btw.
Oh, that's super interesting!
Okay, so while we're here, I have something to consult with you on for purposes of fanfic. How would a noblewoman most likely refer to her son-in-law, who (of course) is an officer in the military, 1) when talking to her daughter about daughter's husband, 2) when addressing the son-in-law directly? First name? Last name? Military rank? Military rank + last name? Herr last name? (Since apparently Lehndorff is referring to cousin's husband as Herr von Katte, notwithstanding that he was a major.)
Ditto for the daughter when talking to and about her husband.
Henriette the married to Rochow sister: do we think her husband ever told her stories about the crown prince when he was supposed to keep an eye on him? Did they talk about the letter forwarding business later?
Super interesting question! They were evidently already married when the escape attempt happened, so it probably came up? I don't know what kind of marriage they had, though. One with 10 kids, per Wikipedia, but SD and FW have shown us how much that means re marital closeness.
I wonder whether Bismarck ever mentioned his connection to the Katte family in his memoirs, and whether there were any family anecdotes.
Interesting! As I recall, the direct Katte connection is several generations back (I think it was Hans Heinrich's sister), but, the two families did live nearby and there were several intermarriages, and also the Katte family arms on the lintel or something to the front door of the house where Bismarck was born and/or raised, so maybe some anecdotes were preserved.
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Re: Kattes
Date: 2019-12-14 09:15 am (UTC)Now I'm imagining some 19th century guy thinking "aha, historical document giving us a close up view of The Greatest Prussian Hero and his family, maybe we can publish!", then starting to actually read it and going "um; err; must change that; no, can't, that would mean having to rewrite all volumes, and besides, who's AU Female Heinrich supposed to be? nope, not publishing that!"
AHAHAHAHAAAA, this is too good. Yeah, this one would be hard to convert to compulsory heterosexuality!
It does sound like he loved her, and also his siblings, though the fact he doesn't single one particular sibling out tells me it's more a general fondness than any specifically close relationship?
Yes, seems like it. Given the age difference with the ones from the second marriage, and the fact that he had been living abroad going to university, then hanging out with the Hohenzollerns, that makes sense. Rochow-marrying sister was only a couple years younger, but everyone else is 10-20 years younger. The youngest one isn't even 5 yet, so they may have only seen each other a couple of times, while Hans Hermann was on leave.
Huh. I just noticed the age gap. Youngest first marriage child is born 1706; oldest second marriage child is 1714. That kind of suggests Hans Heinrich took a while to remarry? So I guess Hans Hermann (b. 1704) was most likely just motherless for several years, though it's possible it just took Katharina Elisabeth a while to get pregnant. Her other children are born almost reliably 4 years apart.
which is why I frown at fiction, either pro or fanfic, that has Marie Antoinette call herself "Marie" to anyone, btw.
Oh, that's super interesting!
Okay, so while we're here, I have something to consult with you on for purposes of fanfic. How would a noblewoman most likely refer to her son-in-law, who (of course) is an officer in the military, 1) when talking to her daughter about daughter's husband, 2) when addressing the son-in-law directly? First name? Last name? Military rank? Military rank + last name? Herr last name? (Since apparently Lehndorff is referring to cousin's husband as Herr von Katte, notwithstanding that he was a major.)
Ditto for the daughter when talking to and about her husband.
Henriette the married to Rochow sister: do we think her husband ever told her stories about the crown prince when he was supposed to keep an eye on him? Did they talk about the letter forwarding business later?
Super interesting question! They were evidently already married when the escape attempt happened, so it probably came up? I don't know what kind of marriage they had, though. One with 10 kids, per Wikipedia, but SD and FW have shown us how much that means re marital closeness.
I wonder whether Bismarck ever mentioned his connection to the Katte family in his memoirs, and whether there were any family anecdotes.
Interesting! As I recall, the direct Katte connection is several generations back (I think it was Hans Heinrich's sister), but, the two families did live nearby and there were several intermarriages, and also the Katte family arms on the lintel or something to the front door of the house where Bismarck was born and/or raised, so maybe some anecdotes were preserved.