Frederick the Great discussion post 9

[cahn]

...I leave you guys alone for one weekend and it's time for a new Fritz post, lol!

I'm gonna reply to the previous post comments but I guess new letter-reading, etc. should go in this one :)

Frederick the Great links

Comments

Re: Toppings of all types, continued

[selenak]

There were indeed.

1. Yes, they were written in French, except for the very occasional German word (like Polterabend ("Stag night") in reference as to what he was doing with Heinrich in his old flat) or sentence (AW's remark "Ich aber stehe für nichts ein, wenn ich König sein werde, denn alsdann fährt der Teuffel in uns!")

2.) No, as far as I know, they were never published in the original language. By the time the Lehndorff family made them available for publication, knowledge of French among the general German reading public was far, far less familiar. So it made sense to publish them in a German translation.

3.) Sadly, only a part of the original manuscripts exist anymore, as I now know through the 2007 reprint with an additional foreword. Some got lost in 1945 for the usual historical reason, though thankfully not all. The diaries 1753 ff, 1770 - 1775, 1786 - 1788 and 1799 ff still exist. For the rest, research has to rely on the translation made by Schmid-Lötzen in 1907 (and following years for the other volumes).

Re: Toppings of all types, continued

[mildred_of_midgard]

Oh no! That's even worse! Almost as bad as losing the Katte letters, lol. But thanks for giving us the latest from your Christmas gift aka 2007 volume.

Re: Toppings of all types, continued

[selenak]

You're welcome. Both Lehndorffs and Kattes made the mistake of keeping the historical papers at their family seats instead of donating them to a state archive, I suppose, though the Lehndorffs at least were considerate enough to led 1907 Editor read, translate and publish them. (Also, who knows what would have happened to Lehndorff's journals if they'd gifted them to a state archive pre 1945!)

Incidentally, re: the Lehndorff family - the two most famous descendants our Lehndorff had in this century were a) the July 20th co-conspirator who ended up executed for being part of Operation Valkyrie, the last attempt to kill Hitler, and b) Vera "Verushka" von Lehndorff the supermodel. (Is one of the models in the Antonioni film "Blow Up" when young and also when old the Russian Countess playing poker on the table with James Bond and Le Chiffre in Casino Royale.) I hope he'd be proud.