A few remarks on something Mildred uploaded to the Fritzian Library, to wit, Rheinsberg by Andrew Hamilton, two volumes, volume 1 about Fritz, volume 2 about Heinrich, both from 1880.
Now: to me, one of the most interesting things to compare this to are the Rheinsberg chapters from Fontane's Wanderungen, not least because they're both contemporaries (Hamilton read and sometimes quotes Fontane, even), coming, however, to quite different conclusions about some of the cast. (Notably, but not exclusively, Heinrich.)
This is because Hamilton's Fritz is Carlyle's Fritz. Carlyle's biography is the one by far most often quoted, usually with great admiration. Meaning: we're talking about Fritz the Übermensch here, endlessly chill, surrounded by unworthy mortals. (Hamilton near the end uses the brief description Goethe gives about visiting Sanssouci in Fritz' absence; remember, during his one and only trip to Berlin with Carl August, when he sneakily had Carl August having lunch with Heinrich as part of the "keep Carl August out of the Prussian army") campaign Anna Amalia had initiated, all of which also happens in the aftermath of Fritz' anti German literature book. In the original Goethe quote, he simply talks about birds, monkeys and even hearing the dogs bark. He says dogs. "Hunde". There is no reason to assume Goethe is talking about anything but the actual, real life, Frederician dogs. In Hamilton's rendition, the dogs are "miserable curs", and are meant metaphorically as descriptions of the unworthy Hohenzollern siblings critisizing their great and wonderful brother.)
This quote alteration to make a point isn't a single aberration. I mean, I realise Hamilton in 1880 doesn't have access to a lot of the sources published later, such as the Marwitz letters or for that matter Lehndorff's diaries, or the erotic poetry. But even with what he does have access to, such as the Preuss edited correspondance which forms the basis of the Trier archive, the editorializing is amazing. In his account of the AW matter, for example, the following happens:
The King's brothers: are all doom and gloom about the war, working themselves up into a frenzy that Prussia is doomed just because of their general anti Fritz attitude
AW: is like a rabbit in the spotlight unable to do anything because of this defeatist gloom, despite Fritz and Winderfeldt trying their best to advise him and get him going.
Fritz: is strict but fair with the casheering.
AW: goes home in even more defeatist gloom and dies.
(Any intermittent verbal abuse by Fritz via correspondance, or refusal to see AW? Does not happen.)
Fritz: writes lovely, kind letter to Heinrich. (Hamilton quotes only the sentences like "I fear for you, I wish you long life and good health" or "I know the tenderness you had for him", but leaves entirely out anything that makes Fritz sound bad, i.e., the majority of the letter.) Heinrich, in his usual anti-Fritz hysteria, for some reason reacts badly to this kind message. And so forth, and so on.
This is basically how Hamilton presents their entire relationship other than the very beginning when he admits Fritz is a bit strict, in Heinrich's own interest, about Heinrich's sloppy behavior with his regiment. Otherwise, Fritz is endlessly chill and friendly and patient, and Heinrich is mean and petty and hysterical throughout the decades of their relationship.
Hamilton also claims that after their bust up post War of Bavarian Succession and resumption of correspondance one and a half year later, Fritz only writes to Heinrich about literature and history anymore, and no more politics, because Heinrich has clearly disqualified himself as someone who can be trusted with political matters. How he can say this when the Trier correspondance has quite a lot of political post 1781 subjects (Fritz' conviction that Joseph is the coming menace of Europe, debates as to whether or not it's possible to talk the French out of the Austrian alliance when Heinrich in 1784 visits France for the first time, ever rising irritation with nephew Gustav in Sweden) is beyond me, except that it fits with the picture he wants to convey of Heinrich despite having some abilities ruining his own life with his totally unwarranted irrational hate for his brother.
Foreign diplomacy? Eh. Heinrich travelled to Sweden just for family reasons, and then Fritz had to practically force him to go to Catherine next, and then he just got feted there, and fine, he and Catherine got along really well, but politically all the action was between Fritz and Catherine and Heinrich was just sort of there. And later he had to be practically forced to go to Russia again. (Ziebura and Christian von Krockow: quote letters showing that Heinrich, while in Sweden, angled for an invitation from Catherine, Catherine asked Fritz, Fritz couldn't refuse and wrote I am very annoyed that I hadn't heard about the invitation earlier; I could have familiarized you with so many issues before hand..)
Also: Heinrich's entire foreign policy, says Hamilton, can be summed up by "alliance with France" (since comments on Russia and Sweden on his part do not exist in Hamilton's world, neither before nor after Fritz' death), and the sole reason why he was advising this even post revolution was because he was such a Francophile that even a French Revolution was okay by him. Now Hamilton does admit that Heinrich was simultanously very generous to the French émigrés - the royalists fleeing revolutionary France - in need of support and keeping up the interest in and contact with revolutionary France, which lesser beings like myself would interpret as proving an ability to differentiate between support for refugees and discounting the entire republican experiment, something that also fits with Heinrich's attitude re: the overseas former colonies and his reaction when Steuben wants to make him King there. But no, it's all Gallomania by a limited man who could never see the big picture in the way his great brother could.
Now, in the first volume, dealing with Fritz in Rheinsberg, this doesn't matter. Also, Hamilton has a fluent, and often amusing style. Though you may raise an eyebrow or two when he assures us that Fritz totally intended to live happily after with Elisabeth Christine. Yes, he originally objected to the marriage, and may have said something about planning to ditch her, but see, they were so happy in Rheinsberg, and what kind of a bastard fakes that while secretly still planning to ditch his lovely devoted wife? Not the future Überking. Gifting her Schönhausen was just meant as nice present, but Fritz totally was planning to continue living with her as they'd one before, it's just with first all the travelling in 1740, and then the two Silesian wars, he hardly was ever home, and enstrangement happened, and that is why they ended up living apart. But he wasn't planning on any of it in 1740! Or before!
Still: Volume 1 is a highly readable description of Rheinsberg both in Fritz' time and in Hamilton's visit time. There's just the occasional eyeroll inducing observation (Émilie is "greedy and selfish" when keeping Voltaire from Fritz, dontcha know, for example), while otoh there's a lovely write up about Fritz/Suhm (though not as lovely as Mildred's, naturally). It's in the second volume when the 19th century Frederick-the-Great worship truly strikes. And the fascinating thing is: the actual Prussian, Fontane, is way more able to keep a balance here. Now part of this is that Fontane has a softness for supporting characters - hence his rendition of the Katte saga focusing on Katte, not Fritz, and his Rheinsberg chapter having somewhat more Heinrich than Fritz, while the Oranienburg chapter of course is focused on AW - but he likes his Great King as well as the next Prussian and has a lot of Fritz anecdotes sprinkled across all the Wanderungen. It's just that he doesn't like him flawless. So you get this:
AW died...
Fontane: Heartbroken. Hamilton: In a self induced fog of depression. Which he was in ever since getting command. Got there by incomprehensible doom and gloom caused by anti-Fritzness.
The Obelisk is...
Fontane: since Heinrich's commentary on his brother's memoirs got burned, just this. The voice of his majesty's opposition. I'm translating all the inscriptions, though, to show you how highly Heinrich thought of these people; it wasn't just about his brother(s). The Zieten epitaph is my favourite. And look, there's the inscription where Heinrich, in case any 7 Years War veteran feels left out, says he's just being subjective motivated by friendship, and does not mean to imply other veterans not listed are less heroic. Talk about courtoisie. I *heart* Heinrich.
Hamilton: a gigantic outcry of a warped existence. Okay, yes, he was sorry about AW, but guess what, I'm pretty sure he was even sorrier because he'd hoped Fritz would die in the war and he'd become the power behind the throne to King AW. That's what he was really sorry about. I'm not translating any individual inscriptions except the one about the selection being motivated by personal regard and not meant to put down other veterans as less deserving, because coward much?
Listed Heinrich's boyfriends are...
Fontane: Kaphengst the rough trade and the French comte, also known as "a last sunbeam". Kaphengst: guess some people just fall for their opposites. Am glad the French emigré guy worked out, though!
Hamilton: Just for the record, no one is gay in my volumes. Certainly not Fritz the chill. Heinrich might be, I'm using some coded language here, but mostly these favourites are examples of his inner weakness. Not at all comparable to those wonderful friendships mentioned in volume 1! Warped guy will have his favourites, what can I say. The French comte was sort of okay, though.
Seriously. Theodor Fontane, citizen of Bismarck ruled Prussia-and-Germany, has not only more sympathy for guys with critique for their monarch, who, gasp, might be in the wrong now and then, but also writes with sympathy about m/m "relationships of the heart", as he calls him. Andrew Hamilton, Brit or American (couldn't tell): doesn't quite hero worship on the level of Peter III but definitely subscribes to the "Fritz was right, everyone else was wrong" newsletter, has edited out any and all signs of pettiness or capacity for emotional cruelty from the picture of his hero, and certainly any signs of relationships marked by anything other than fondness and generosity (on the side of Fritz). Meanwhile, Heinrich ends up as the caricature of his brother, after some good beginnings warped into nothing but pettiness and hate. With a very few exceptions, as him being nice to French exiles, but that's just because he's a Gallomaniac. Which brings me to:
"German literature? No such thing."
When Fritz does it, this is....
Tragic, but look, there's that one quote of his from the letter to Voltaire about the dawn of a maybe future great age for German culture. If he'd lived longer, he would totally have changed his mind! How could he not? He was Frederick the Great!
When Heinrich does it, this is...
Typical for his narrow-mindedness. I mean, seriously, the guy lived into the age of Goethe. And did he notice? He did not. Kept playing French plays and reading French books till the end. How ridiculous was that?
In conclusion: read the first volume for your Rheinsberg research, skip the second.
Andrew Hamilton: Rheinsberg
Now: to me, one of the most interesting things to compare this to are the Rheinsberg chapters from Fontane's Wanderungen, not least because they're both contemporaries (Hamilton read and sometimes quotes Fontane, even), coming, however, to quite different conclusions about some of the cast. (Notably, but not exclusively, Heinrich.)
This is because Hamilton's Fritz is Carlyle's Fritz. Carlyle's biography is the one by far most often quoted, usually with great admiration. Meaning: we're talking about Fritz the Übermensch here, endlessly chill, surrounded by unworthy mortals. (Hamilton near the end uses the brief description Goethe gives about visiting Sanssouci in Fritz' absence; remember, during his one and only trip to Berlin with Carl August, when he sneakily had Carl August having lunch with Heinrich as part of the "keep Carl August out of the Prussian army") campaign Anna Amalia had initiated, all of which also happens in the aftermath of Fritz' anti German literature book. In the original Goethe quote, he simply talks about birds, monkeys and even hearing the dogs bark. He says dogs. "Hunde". There is no reason to assume Goethe is talking about anything but the actual, real life, Frederician dogs. In Hamilton's rendition, the dogs are "miserable curs", and are meant metaphorically as descriptions of the unworthy Hohenzollern siblings critisizing their great and wonderful brother.)
This quote alteration to make a point isn't a single aberration. I mean, I realise Hamilton in 1880 doesn't have access to a lot of the sources published later, such as the Marwitz letters or for that matter Lehndorff's diaries, or the erotic poetry. But even with what he does have access to, such as the Preuss edited correspondance which forms the basis of the Trier archive, the editorializing is amazing. In his account of the AW matter, for example, the following happens:
The King's brothers: are all doom and gloom about the war, working themselves up into a frenzy that Prussia is doomed just because of their general anti Fritz attitude
AW: is like a rabbit in the spotlight unable to do anything because of this defeatist gloom, despite Fritz and Winderfeldt trying their best to advise him and get him going.
Fritz: is strict but fair with the casheering.
AW: goes home in even more defeatist gloom and dies.
(Any intermittent verbal abuse by Fritz via correspondance, or refusal to see AW? Does not happen.)
Fritz: writes lovely, kind letter to Heinrich. (Hamilton quotes only the sentences like "I fear for you, I wish you long life and good health" or "I know the tenderness you had for him", but leaves entirely out anything that makes Fritz sound bad, i.e., the majority of the letter.) Heinrich, in his usual anti-Fritz hysteria, for some reason reacts badly to this kind message. And so forth, and so on.
This is basically how Hamilton presents their entire relationship other than the very beginning when he admits Fritz is a bit strict, in Heinrich's own interest, about Heinrich's sloppy behavior with his regiment. Otherwise, Fritz is endlessly chill and friendly and patient, and Heinrich is mean and petty and hysterical throughout the decades of their relationship.
Hamilton also claims that after their bust up post War of Bavarian Succession and resumption of correspondance one and a half year later, Fritz only writes to Heinrich about literature and history anymore, and no more politics, because Heinrich has clearly disqualified himself as someone who can be trusted with political matters. How he can say this when the Trier correspondance has quite a lot of political post 1781 subjects (Fritz' conviction that Joseph is the coming menace of Europe, debates as to whether or not it's possible to talk the French out of the Austrian alliance when Heinrich in 1784 visits France for the first time, ever rising irritation with nephew Gustav in Sweden) is beyond me, except that it fits with the picture he wants to convey of Heinrich despite having some abilities ruining his own life with his totally unwarranted irrational hate for his brother.
Foreign diplomacy? Eh. Heinrich travelled to Sweden just for family reasons, and then Fritz had to practically force him to go to Catherine next, and then he just got feted there, and fine, he and Catherine got along really well, but politically all the action was between Fritz and Catherine and Heinrich was just sort of there. And later he had to be practically forced to go to Russia again. (Ziebura and Christian von Krockow: quote letters showing that Heinrich, while in Sweden, angled for an invitation from Catherine, Catherine asked Fritz, Fritz couldn't refuse and wrote I am very annoyed that I hadn't heard about the invitation earlier; I could have familiarized you with so many issues before hand..)
Also: Heinrich's entire foreign policy, says Hamilton, can be summed up by "alliance with France" (since comments on Russia and Sweden on his part do not exist in Hamilton's world, neither before nor after Fritz' death), and the sole reason why he was advising this even post revolution was because he was such a Francophile that even a French Revolution was okay by him. Now Hamilton does admit that Heinrich was simultanously very generous to the French émigrés - the royalists fleeing revolutionary France - in need of support and keeping up the interest in and contact with revolutionary France, which lesser beings like myself would interpret as proving an ability to differentiate between support for refugees and discounting the entire republican experiment, something that also fits with Heinrich's attitude re: the overseas former colonies and his reaction when Steuben wants to make him King there. But no, it's all Gallomania by a limited man who could never see the big picture in the way his great brother could.
Now, in the first volume, dealing with Fritz in Rheinsberg, this doesn't matter. Also, Hamilton has a fluent, and often amusing style. Though you may raise an eyebrow or two when he assures us that Fritz totally intended to live happily after with Elisabeth Christine. Yes, he originally objected to the marriage, and may have said something about planning to ditch her, but see, they were so happy in Rheinsberg, and what kind of a bastard fakes that while secretly still planning to ditch his lovely devoted wife? Not the future Überking. Gifting her Schönhausen was just meant as nice present, but Fritz totally was planning to continue living with her as they'd one before, it's just with first all the travelling in 1740, and then the two Silesian wars, he hardly was ever home, and enstrangement happened, and that is why they ended up living apart. But he wasn't planning on any of it in 1740! Or before!
Still: Volume 1 is a highly readable description of Rheinsberg both in Fritz' time and in Hamilton's visit time. There's just the occasional eyeroll inducing observation (Émilie is "greedy and selfish" when keeping Voltaire from Fritz, dontcha know, for example), while otoh there's a lovely write up about Fritz/Suhm (though not as lovely as Mildred's, naturally). It's in the second volume when the 19th century Frederick-the-Great worship truly strikes. And the fascinating thing is: the actual Prussian, Fontane, is way more able to keep a balance here. Now part of this is that Fontane has a softness for supporting characters - hence his rendition of the Katte saga focusing on Katte, not Fritz, and his Rheinsberg chapter having somewhat more Heinrich than Fritz, while the Oranienburg chapter of course is focused on AW - but he likes his Great King as well as the next Prussian and has a lot of Fritz anecdotes sprinkled across all the Wanderungen. It's just that he doesn't like him flawless. So you get this:
AW died...
Fontane: Heartbroken.
Hamilton: In a self induced fog of depression. Which he was in ever since getting command. Got there by incomprehensible doom and gloom caused by anti-Fritzness.
The Obelisk is...
Fontane: since Heinrich's commentary on his brother's memoirs got burned, just this. The voice of his majesty's opposition. I'm translating all the inscriptions, though, to show you how highly Heinrich thought of these people; it wasn't just about his brother(s). The Zieten epitaph is my favourite. And look, there's the inscription where Heinrich, in case any 7 Years War veteran feels left out, says he's just being subjective motivated by friendship, and does not mean to imply other veterans not listed are less heroic. Talk about courtoisie. I *heart* Heinrich.
Hamilton: a gigantic outcry of a warped existence. Okay, yes, he was sorry about AW, but guess what, I'm pretty sure he was even sorrier because he'd hoped Fritz would die in the war and he'd become the power behind the throne to King AW. That's what he was really sorry about. I'm not translating any individual inscriptions except the one about the selection being motivated by personal regard and not meant to put down other veterans as less deserving, because coward much?
Listed Heinrich's boyfriends are...
Fontane: Kaphengst the rough trade and the French comte, also known as "a last sunbeam". Kaphengst: guess some people just fall for their opposites. Am glad the French emigré guy worked out, though!
Hamilton: Just for the record, no one is gay in my volumes. Certainly not Fritz the chill. Heinrich might be, I'm using some coded language here, but mostly these favourites are examples of his inner weakness. Not at all comparable to those wonderful friendships mentioned in volume 1! Warped guy will have his favourites, what can I say. The French comte was sort of okay, though.
Seriously. Theodor Fontane, citizen of Bismarck ruled Prussia-and-Germany, has not only more sympathy for guys with critique for their monarch, who, gasp, might be in the wrong now and then, but also writes with sympathy about m/m "relationships of the heart", as he calls him. Andrew Hamilton, Brit or American (couldn't tell): doesn't quite hero worship on the level of Peter III but definitely subscribes to the "Fritz was right, everyone else was wrong" newsletter, has edited out any and all signs of pettiness or capacity for emotional cruelty from the picture of his hero, and certainly any signs of relationships marked by anything other than fondness and generosity (on the side of Fritz). Meanwhile, Heinrich ends up as the caricature of his brother, after some good beginnings warped into nothing but pettiness and hate. With a very few exceptions, as him being nice to French exiles, but that's just because he's a Gallomaniac. Which brings me to:
"German literature? No such thing."
When Fritz does it, this is....
Tragic, but look, there's that one quote of his from the letter to Voltaire about the dawn of a maybe future great age for German culture. If he'd lived longer, he would totally have changed his mind! How could he not? He was Frederick the Great!
When Heinrich does it, this is...
Typical for his narrow-mindedness. I mean, seriously, the guy lived into the age of Goethe. And did he notice? He did not. Kept playing French plays and reading French books till the end. How ridiculous was that?
In conclusion: read the first volume for your Rheinsberg research, skip the second.