If you think this reads like it was dictated by FW, yeah. Down to the rejection of predestination. Remember, FW has a preacher standing by to step into Fritz's cell the moment Katte's head falls, to lead him back to the true faith, and most specifically, the lack of predestination.
It reads like such a perfect and instant conformity to FW's will that I'm not the only one who thinks that it's a performance. He rejects atheism when staring death in the face and reverts to the religion of his childhood? Sure, maybe. He's been raised in a world where fathers and kings have absolute power and perfect obedience is owed to them, and he buys into that? Sure.
He really, really cares, of his own accord, that Fritz not believe in predestination, so much that it's his second-to-last words to Fritz?
Riiiight.
I'm with you. The predestination paragraph seals it. (That it's dictated and Katte's meaning is "just save your head, Fritz, please!") However:
The prince royal must remember that I remonstrated with him, in the strongest manner, first at the camp in Saxony, where we originally had the idea of absconding, and where I foretold what has now happened; and secondly, more recently, one night when I called upon him in Potsdam.
Here I wonder: did Katte mention this in his interrogations, i.e. would FW, or Müller, or both have known this had happened? Or is it something only Katte and Fritz would know about?
Also, possible theory: in addition originally advising against the escape plan, Katte might have said something to Fritz that he now reminds Fritz off under the disguise of telling him to obey his father. After all, to FW this would sound as pleasingly conformist, but who knows what they have said to each other on those occasions? Maybe it was also something along the lines of "the main thing is that you survive, even if you have to play the good son for some years more, and then, when you're king, it will be worth it".
Rereading your post, could it be that Wolden is sending to *FW* a copy of the Puncta in August? And Fritz has had it since November? Lavisse also says Fritz has had since the first moment Müller talked to him after Katte's execution. So unless you tell me the German can't possibly mean that, that's what I think is going on here. FW is getting a copy for the first time.
Remind me again, was this in Preuss or in Forster or elsewhere, so I can look it up again? It's all jumbled in my head now.
Mysterious Prussian Whistleblower/Leaker of Katte's letters:
So...Katte family servant? Maybe a governess or some loyal retainer who raised Katte as a child? Someone who was angry and rebelling in the only way they could: getting some visibility into this poor guy's fate?
I like it! It's easy to forget the servants. Which were ever present and human beings, not machines. When I read that Fritz even during his hard core imprisonment months got assigned a servant to clean him and presumably dress him etc, I was reminded again of this.
The prince royal must remember that I remonstrated with him, in the strongest manner, first at the camp in Saxony, where we originally had the idea of absconding, and where I foretold what has now happened; and secondly, more recently, one night when I called upon him in Potsdam.
Here I wonder: did Katte mention this in his interrogations, i.e. would FW, or Müller, or both have known this had happened? Or is it something only Katte and Fritz would know about?
That I don't know. He was interrogated five times, and I've never been able to find the write-up, though I've seen quotes. I suppose Kloosterhuis would tell us what's out there?
That said, whatever Katte may or may not have mentioned in his interrogations, it remains the case that only he and Fritz know what was really said. I absolutely think Katte encouraged Fritz to just wait it out, try to hide his sneakiness better and be more outwardly conforming, and that maybe FW would tone down the abuse, and they could wait it out, instead of risking everything now. And Fritz went "But that could be THIRTY YEARS! And also I will KILL MYSELF if I have to put up with this one more day!" and Katte went, "Okay, okay, let's stay calm and think this through. If we're gonna go through with this, we have to make it work."
I would be honestly shocked if Katte had never made any suggestions to Fritz that could be selectively rephrased in front of a committee or in a final letter as "Have you tried just going along with what your father wants a little more convincingly even if you're sneaking books and flutes on the side?"
But did the guy who had wanted to leave Prussian service and stay in England a mere one year before, and who was up to his ears in meeting with envoys and acquiring money and helping plot the itinerary really tell Fritz, in Saxony, that he needed to obey his father because THE BIBLE?
By the time we got to that last meeting in Potsdam Katte mentions, the night before FW and Fritz left on the fatal trip, Katte's "strongest remonstrations," at last according to Lavisse, seem to have taken the form of "PLEASE don't leave in the beginning of the trip, PLEASE leave from Wesel! It's so much safer!" Not "But the fifth commandment!"
It's clear that, in this letter and in the interrogations, he has every incentive to downplay the extent of his cooperation and play up the resistance he put up. So we're getting a very skewed picture, and a letter that really appears to be from a liar to a liar.
"Where I foretold what has now happened" is the only part that I find totally convincing as-is.
Remind me again, was this in Preuss or in Forster or elsewhere, so I can look it up again? It's all jumbled in my head now.
It's in Preuss, Vol 2 Appendix, page 170.
Die Puncta, so der unglückselige Katte kurz vor seiner Execution an den Kronprinzen durch den Feldprediger Müller überreichen lassen; übersende gleichfalls. Ich glaube, daß sie Ew. Majestät Approbation haben werden. Gott gebe nur, daß sie der Kronprinz nimmer vergesse, sondern derselben allemahl eingedenk sein möge.
Now, it sounds to me very much like Katte caused the Puncta to be given to Fritz via Müller shortly before his death, which matches what all my sources are telling me. So I'm guessing "übersende gleichfalls" means "ich übersende gleichfalls," and he (Wolden) is also sending it (to FW). Now that "also"--from looking at the beginning of the letter and getting a little help from Google Translate, it looks like Wolden started out by sending some other materials, pertaining to Fritz's debts and also a thanks in Fritz's own hand for the pardon and all that.
So I'm going with Fritz getting it either the day Katte's executed or the day after.
A little native speaker help: is it clear from that sentence whether Katte gave it to Müller just before his death, or whether it made its way to Fritz just before Katte's death? Because if Fritz read it *before* he saw Katte and fainted...I have all sorts of interesting thoughts about that.
Also, re the place of composition, everyone I've seen either says straight out that the letter to Fritz was composed at Küstrin, or that it was probably composed at Küstrin.
Now that I've read it closely, and seen all those Absalom and predestination and "the King is just an instrument of divine justice" elements...I'm kind of leaning toward it being written in Berlin/Spandau/wherever Katte was being held. Because while FW was beating everyone over the headwith his priorities and wishes before the escape attempt, and it probably would have been possible to figure out exactly what he wanted to hear without outside assistance...that letter's so completely perfect and attuned to recent Biblical comparanda like Absalom that it kind of reads like Katte got some pointers. And that was probably in Berlin.
Also, remember that Müller was in Berlin and accompanied Katte on that final ride to Küstrin. So if Katte had had a completed letter in hand, he could have handed it to Müller in the carriage, or when they arrived, and asked him to give it to Fritz. And Müller would have read it and gone, "Wow, I couldn't possibly approve more of this letter," and passed it on.
That would also make sense if the Fritz letter *isn't* in that set of circulating letters to family members, because it neither ended up with the Katte family nor did it need a clean copy made that could have resulted in it getting left lying around at Küstrin, but went straight from Müller to Fritz.
Small problem with the Katte family servant idea now that I've done the escape attempt chronology for rheinsberg: Hans Heinrich got leave to go home. Maybe Grandpa Wartensleben went at the same time, they had a funeral, etc. But that's December, not November. And was brother-in-law Rochow really there in Wust grieving Hans Hermann? How did all three letters end up in that house in November for the servants to have access to?
Possibility: stepmom and younger kids were there, and letters got copied and forwarded immediately for their comfort? But if Katte wrote a letter to his father on November 5, it had to be copied, then sent from Küstrin to Königsberg, then from Königsberg to Wust, then copied at Wust along with the other letters and distributed in Berlin...maybe that could happen by November 30. Okay, I just did the math, and the earliest my guesstimate can get that letter from Küstrin to Königsberg to Wust to Berlin is November 22, assuming everything got copied and forwarded the same day. Doable, but pretty tight timing. Especially in winter, with the Katte family servants probably having limited opportunities to copy letters and send them to Berlin without getting caught.
Katte having drafts of all the family letters with him at Küstrin and someone (whether a servant or someone of rank) copying all three and getting them to Berlin seems to fit the timing much better.
And Katte made a *huge* impression on everyone at Küstrin, plus everyone there has plausible deniability. ("I just left it on my desk! Someone must have glanced at it and copied it from memory!" Everyone else: *whistles innocently*) Also, remember that at least one person at Küstrin has already smuggled two Fritz letters to Wilhelmine out, and there will be more smuggling in and out in the days and months to come.
Küstrin staff still has my vote. As long as they had access to all three letters, and that just requires Katte to have kept the drafts that he wrote a couple days prior, before he made his clean copies, they'd have had motive, opportunity, and a demonstrated willingness to do such things.
Thank you for finding and quoting the relevant paragraph. Your impression is indeed correct.
A little native speaker help: is it clear from that sentence whether Katte gave it to Müller just before his death, or whether it made its way to Fritz just before Katte's death? Because if Fritz read it *before* he saw Katte and fainted...I have all sorts of interesting thoughts about that.
The impression I get when reading it is that Katte gave it to Müller just before his death. Also, from what I recall Müller was with Katte all through the night, Katte got executed in the early morning, Müller didn't see Fritz until after, not before.
Oh, you're right, Müller was with Katte. Good catch!
All right, after he woke up from the faint, then, Fritz got this letter.
In either case, Fritz has to have read this knowing what we know: that it was a letter from FW in Katte's handwriting, and *also* what Katte was trying to tell him with it. (Including any additional coded messages that Katte worked in.*) And I think that possibly in addition to influencing his own future behavior--complying with Dad, rejecting predestination--there's a very good chance it colored his perception of everything Katte said and did. In other words, this letter undermines Katte's credibility so much that I start wondering how much of the repentance and piety was real, and I sincerely hope Fritz did too.
And then I'm back to Fritz's "One can compel by force some poor wretch to utter a certain form of words, yet he will deny to it his inner consent; thus the persecutor has gained nothing" when endorsing religious tolerance as king. He was compelled to utter a certain form of words to which he denied his inner consent; he has to have known that last letter did not fully reflect Katte's inner consent; that makes the whole Katte performance suspect.
And now I'm thinking that Katte has one more motive for that sudden outspoken piety at the end, if it wasn't genuine. Yes, in the first few days and perhaps even that last night there was the chance of a last-minute pardon. Yes, even as he's being executed, he has nothing to lose and it will comfort his family after he's gone, and we know he cares about that. But if he keeps up the performance to the last minute, and his last words are about Jesus, one, he can sell FW on the fact that his repentance was real and that might make Fritz look better by association (compared to if Fritz's BFF is denying Christ to the end in front of him), and two, he can reinforce that last message to Fritz: "Do whatever it takes to stay alive. You don't have to mean it, just wait him out." And that gives his death extra meaning and purpose.
* I finally, belatedly, got what you were getting at with "Did FW and co. know that Katte tried to talk him out of it on those occasions?"--whose idea was it to include those specific references in the letter? I will try to dig up the documentation and see how much of the "Katte tried to talk Fritz out of escaping" comes from the interrogation vs. this letter, and if there are exact quotations.
ETA: I also love the exclamation point you put in the subject of this thread. ;)
This is what I meant by "possibly not the most comforting thing ever."
Yeeeeah. Ouch. I... it's definitely not surprising to me that Fritz may have had a lot of kind of awful emotional stuff going on *even on top* of the expected awful stuff.
Also, possible theory: in addition originally advising against the escape plan, Katte might have said something to Fritz that he now reminds Fritz off under the disguise of telling him to obey his father. After all, to FW this would sound as pleasingly conformist, but who knows what they have said to each other on those occasions?
I was thinking that too when reading it! That it's plausible deniability about "oh of course we talked about how it was a dumb idea," but if no one else was there, maybe it's supposed to be a code reminder of something else. (Though I was thinking along more romantic lines, myself: that he said something along the lines of, "Remember that I told you that night I'll always love you, whatever happens." Maybe that's too much, but I may just quietly file it in my headcanon anyway :P )
maybe it's supposed to be a code reminder of something else. (Though I was thinking along more romantic lines, myself: that he said something along the lines of, "Remember that I told you that night I'll always love you, whatever happens." Maybe that's too much, but I may just quietly file it in my headcanon anyway :P )
Yeeeeah. Ouch. I... it's definitely not surprising to me that Fritz may have had a lot of kind of awful emotional stuff going on *even on top* of the expected awful stuff.
Plus, new awful stuff keeps popping up. I mean, we all know about Katte's beheading, and I had read the letter before, but then Grumbkow's "How about being aloof with the ONLY confidant and support system you have left??" comes along to match Wilhelmine's account in her memoirs, and then my heart has to break for Fritz (and Wilhelmine) all over again.
Same here. I mean, all the other tips are actually useful in a "how to survive FW and keep on his good side" manner, but "erect boundaries with Wilhelmine" from Grumbkow has to come either from FW or be caused by direct observation that FW is displeased by sibling closeness and wishes them apart. Which, if you think about it, makes coldblooded sense: with her marriage, Wilhelmine loses her value as a hostage. She's in Bayreuth, FW can't threaten her anymore with anything but cut her and her husband off from money. Certainly not with shutting her away from the world. So Fritz and Wilhelmine remaining close has no more plus, and only a minus, because a tyrant always wants to remain the sole focus of emotional attention.
If I find more time, I might to cheer you up get some quotes from 1730s letters from Fritz to Wilhelmine proving that despite what he says to Outsiders like Mitchell or Catt about FW, this did not work, because towards Wilhelmine, he sounds as jaundiced about dear old Dad as ever. Which is presumably yet another reason why Grumbkow (and/or FW) want them apart. Note that Wilhelmine in her memoirs also mentions people keep telling her through the 1730s Fritz has cooled off on her and later that he doesn't love her anymore. At a guess, that might courtiers in Grumbkow/ other FW employees as well.
And that's leaving aside SD as testified by Seckendorff Jr. badmouthing her daughter to her Father. That family...
this did not work, because towards Wilhelmine, he sounds as jaundiced about dear old Dad as ever.
"One can compel by force some poor wretch to utter a certain form of words, yet he will deny to it his inner consent; thus the persecutor has gained nothing" doesn't just apply to religion! It also works for messed-up family dynamics.
By the way, MacDonogh gives the siblings a hard time for their letters that make it clear they're hoping FW dies soon:
During the period of the king’s illness, the tone of Frederick’s correspondence with Wilhelmina took on a sinister, anticipatory air as they waited for the not so old man to die. The letters read like a couple of Hollywood villains planning to murder a rich relative.
And this just makes me so angry. He tried running away from his abuser and things just got a million times worse! Death is the only hope of escape he's got now. I cannot blame either of them for looking forward to it.
Note that Wilhelmine in her memoirs also mentions people keep telling her through the 1730s Fritz has cooled off on her and later that he doesn't love her anymore.
Fritz's letters to her also reflect this: "Stop believing I don't love you! Have some more faith in me!"
And that's leaving aside SD as testified by Seckendorff Jr. badmouthing her daughter to her Father. That family...
:-(
No wonder Fritz turned into the very model of a modern Hohenzollern therapist.
So, wait. I'm reading the Puncta again (mildred, want to put it on rheinsberg?) while in the throes of trying to reply to stuff (I agree, of course, that he's totally writing with an eye to FW, and maybe his dad), and I got stuck here:
I acknowledge that, for wise reasons, Divine Providence has decreed that these misfortunes should fall upon me, to bring me to true repentance, and to enable me to work out my salvation.
Which... looks... if you squint sideways at it... kind of like predestination, to me. I know point 2 assigns an actual Katte-cause making it not!predestination, and I mean, obviously you (by which I mean FW) are supposed to read the whole letter and say "Yeah! You screwed up and God is making all this revenge fall upon you" but I do kind of wonder if there was a reason he did the points like that, where you can read point 1 in a certain way if you don't then go on to read point 2, whereas I feel kind of like it would have been more natural to say as point 1, "The prince royal didn't cause my death, my own ambition and neglect of the Almighty did."
Okay, I know, I am just grasping at straws here to give Fritz as much comfort from this letter as I can wring out of any line of it :P
I'm reading the Puncta again (mildred, want to put it on rheinsberg?)
I've added it to my to-do list. :)
Along with: finish trying to track down Katte's Species Facti and interrogation protocols, write up tonight's Katte findings from Koser, finish outlining Catt's memoirs and do a write-up, and reread Blanning as concentration allows, and keep chipping away at a big Rheinsberg write-up in the works.
I'd also like to get Katte's letters to his father and grandfather in the same Rheinsberg post, and maybe his grandfather's letter to FW and FW's reply.
Meant to add: I'm no kind of theologian, but I feel like "repentance + work out salvation" is the opposite of predestination, where your salvation is decided before you're born and can't be worked toward.
However, it's possible that the mention of Providence doubled as a private nod from Katte toward Fritz and their mutual interest in fatalist doctrines.
Here I wonder: did Katte mention this in his interrogations, i.e. would FW, or Müller, or both have known this had happened? Or is it something only Katte and Fritz would know about?
It took me hours of hunting and cost $8.99 in the end, but I finally turned up Katte's written confession after his arrest. In German. So I'll need a little (lot) help.
Caveats: He had 5 or 6 interrogations besides this write-up, and I believe he made another write-up a couple days after this one, so just because it isn't in here, doesn't mean his interrogators didn't know about it. I also notice a whole lot of ellipses in what I shared below. But whatever's in here, his interrogators *did* know about, and could have instructed him to include it in the Puncta.
I haven't even had time to Google translate this properly, *or* look at the Suhm dispatches--I've turned up so many things in looking for this that I want to share, and also I have three other Fritz-related projects I'm working on, and they've led to me turning up numerous other things I want to share--but the one thing I noticed while formatting this was what everyone says: Katte insists that if he'd had ANY idea Fritz was going to flee, he would have said something! (I turned up a historian last night saying that the only big misrepresentation in this write-up is Katte's emphasis on his lack of support for this project, and just from quotes and summaries I've seen, I can't disagree, and I certainly hope it was the case both that he lied to try to save his neck like a non-idiot, and also that he supported Fritz rather more than he presents here.)
Now, btw, I would add that a month after this statement, at his last interrogation, Katte said that he would totally have gone with Fritz if Fritz had escaped, he just didn't think it would happen. Which is *rather* different from "I would have said something if I'd thought it was for real, I would never have supported actual desertion!"
Anyway, cahn, this whole discussion has been giving me flashbacks to when my sister ran away at age 18, and after a lot of "Woe is me!" it finally occurred to my mother to ask me point blank if I'd known she was going to do this. I had a deer-in-headlights moment. "Yes!" *silent freak-out* "But she's been talking about running away since she was 10! She's had crazy plans about sneaking out in the middle of the night to join the circus, you wouldn't believe it. I never thought she'd DO it!"
My mom: *Does not have me beheaded*
She actually totally accepted it without comment, which surprised me a great deal. On the one hand, it was true as far as it went. On the other hand, I left out everything incriminating. Such as how I did kind of have the feeling this escape plan was quite a bit more concrete than the others, and that, as opposed to the other pie-in-the-sky plans, I was consciously keeping a secret that time. I gave it about a 33% chance of her actually acting on it someday. And what I definitely didn't say was that I supported the decision to run away based on the information I had at the time (i.e. before she acted on it and I went, "Whoa, wait a minute, I don't support *that* execution of the plan!"), plus the fact that I'd once had my own teenage plans to run away should that become necessary (which my parents still don't know about).
So watching Katte's defense is kind of hilarious and oddly personal in that respect.
Anyway, enough about me and my childhood. Back to Fritz and his! Here's Katte:
Es wird nunmehro ein Jahr sein, daß Ihro Hoheit mir zum ersten Mahle zu sprechen die Gnade taten, und solches zum öftern sowohl auf der Parade und Parole wiederholeten (…).
In Cosdorf riefen mich I. H. der Kronprinz sogleich nach der Ankunft zu sich und sagten, ich möchte suchen auf Werbung zu gehen, und dann müßte ich ihm einen Gefallen tun, welches er glaubte, ich ihm nicht refüsiren würde. Worauf ich ihm erwiderte, daß wegen der Werbung ich mich schon gemeldet hätte, was das andere aber anlangete, so möchte I. H. nur befehlen, wenn es in meinem Vermögen wäre und ich es tun könnte, so dürfte er nur befehlen, ich wäre bereit alles zu thun. Ich glaube es von ihm, sagte er mir drauf. Im Lager will ich weiter mit ihm sprechen, komme er nur diesen Abend, wenn ich vom Könige wieder zurückkomme, wieder zu mir, worauf er mir verließ, und zu I. H. zur Tafel ging. Hiebei muß aber noch erinnern, daß, ehe ich noch wußte, daß mit nach Sachsen sollte, I. H. der Kronprinz zu mir sageten, sie wollten gerne Jemanden, dem sie was schuldig wären, bezahlen, ohne mir aber zu sagen, wen und wer es sei, ob ich ihm nicht Geld schaffen könnte, worauf ich ihm mein Möglichstes zu tun versprach, überschickte ihm auch 1000 Rth., welche mir der Kammerherr Montolieu lehnete, nach Potsdam durch seinen Pagen, welcher mir bis Zehlendorf entgegen kam, woselbst ich ihm solches Geld, versiegelt in einer Schachtel, gab, damit er nicht wissen sollte, was darinnen wäre. Welches er auch empfangen zu haben, mich den folgenden Tag, durch einen seiner Knechte schrieb, mit Verlangen, ich möchte suchen, ihm nach der Sächsischen Reise mehr zu schaffen, welches noch der Brief, so conserviret, ausweisen wird. Wie sich I. H. des Abends in Cosdorf retirirten, sagten Sie zu mir, Mein Gott, ich kann es fast nicht mehr ausstehen, mein Vater hält mich so hart, er ist mir immer so ungnädig, ich weiß zuletzt nicht mehr, was ich machen soll.
Ich wunderte mich darauf gegen ihn, wie er eben anjetzo auf die Gedanken käme, er müßte nur nicht so ungeduldig sein, überdem müßte man sich nicht sogleich alarmiren über das, was einem vom Vater gesagt würde, er sollte es nur beschlafen, morgen würde er schon anders sagen, darauf er mir eine gute Nacht sagte, und sich schlafen legte. Etliche Tage darauf, ohngefähr 3 oder 4 nach der Ankunft im Lager riefen mir I. H. des Abends zu sich, und sagten, wie sie resolvirt wären, wegzugehen, und ich müßte ihn zu der entreprise behülflich sein.
Ich sagte ihm hierauf, ich könnte ohnmöglich glauben, daß es sein Ernst wäre und also wüßte ich auch nicht, was ich darauf antworten sollte. Wie er mir aber versicherte, daß es nichts weniger als Scherz, sondern sein rechter Ernst, so konnte ich nichts anders, als ihm sagen, daß ich mich über solche Gedanken sehr wunderte, er möchte doch bedenken, was er vornehmen wollte, es wäre eine Sache, wenn ich alle andere Considerationes bei Seite setzen wollte, die nicht allein sehr schwer zu executiren wäre, sondern worüber ihm die ganze Welt blamiren würde, ich hoffte und glaubte, er würde sich noch wohl bedenken (…).
Den Tag darauf befragte mich I. H. bei dem Exerciren, warum ich dann glaubte, daß die Sache nicht practicabel wäre, wenn sie nur erst Pferde hätten und etliche Stunden voraus wären, so respondirte er davor, daß er nicht allein gut wegkommen, sondern ihn auch Niemand einholen sollte. Ich sagte ihm hierauf, daß ich dieses alles wohl glaubte, es wäre aber die Difficultät, Pferde zu bekommen, und dann, so müßte man wissen, was er vor Desseins hätte, wo er hinwollte, es wäre nicht genug, eine Sache entrepreniren wollen, sondern man müßte von dem guten Ausgang derselben versichert sein können, dabei auch wissen, ob der Ort, den man zu seiner retraite ausersehen, so beschaffen, daß man daselbst sicher und wohl aufgenommen sein würde, und so lange er mir hierüber nicht exlaircirte, so sähe ich alle diese seine Desseins nur als leere Projecte an, wie er es gerne wünschte, aber niemals bewerkstelligen würde.
Da er mir dann Frankreich als den Ort seiner retraite nannte, und mir ganz gewiß versicherte, daß man ihn daselbst mit Freuden annehmen würde, ihm auch nicht allein die Sicherheit, sondern soviel Geld, als er verlangte, fourniren würde. Ich bat ihn hierauf, er möchte mir doch sagen, worauf er dieses gründete, wie und auf was Art diese Versicherungen beschaffen wären, so kam es dann auf lauter Mutmaßungen heraus, weil die zwei Höfe, als der Preuß. und Französche nicht wohl miteinander stünden und also würde er dorten ohnfehlbar sein conto finden. (…)
Diese Commission von mir abzulehnen, tat ich alles in der Welt, und stellte ihm vor, wenn solches der Herzog erführe, was er von der ganzen Sache urteilen, und was er für eine opinion fassen würde, daß man ihm seine Domestiquen abspenstig machen wollte, zumal zu einer Zeit, da er solchen so höchst benötiget wäre. (…) Ohne aber das Allergeringste von I. H. des Prinzen Begehren zu proponiren, und den allergeringsten Vorschlag zu tun; gab aber I. H. zur Antwort, daß ich nicht glaubte, bei dem Menschen zu reussiren, indem er, wie ich wohl gemerkt hätte, sehr an seinen Herrn attachirt wäre. Es wollte sich hiermit der Prinz nicht begnügen lassen, sondern ich sollte noch mal an ihn und suchen, ob er nicht zu persuadiren wäre, ich brachte aber wieder zur Antwort, ohne mit dem Pagen gesprochen zu haben, daß bei ihm nichts zu tun wäre, und wollte es seinen Herrn, bei dessen Prinzessin Schwester er erzogen wäre worden, nicht verlassen, welches I. H. noch an ihm lobten, und sagten, daß sie solches von dem Menschen nicht vermutet hätten, deswegen auch noch mehr von ihm hielten, und desto lieber bei sich haben wollten. Einen Nachmittag kamen I. H der Kronprinz sehr mißvergnügt von I. M. und befohlen so bald, da sie in ihr Zelt traten, daß man mich rufen sollte. (…) Unterdessen riefen mich I. H. der Prinz und sagten, sie könnten es ohnmöglich länger ausstehen, es müßten böse Leute sein, die ihn suchten übel bei I. M. zu setzen. Indem er von dieselben an eben dem Tage sehr wäre mortificiret worden: unter anderem hätten I. M. zu ihm gesagt, er wäre ein poltron, hätte kein Herz und dergleichen mehr, davon wollte er nun das Gegenteil zeigen, und wenn I. M. sehen würden, daß er capable wäre, dergleichen entreprise zu tun, so würden sie ihn lieb bekommen, und wieder gnädig werden. Er hätte keine andere desseins als I. M. aus den Augen zu gehen, um daß er dieselbe durch seine Gegenwart nicht mehr irritiren möchte, und davon sollte ihn auch anjetzo nichts mehr abhalten, ich möchte und müßte ihm auch dazu behülflich sein, ich sollte ihm solches versprechen.
Weil ich nun solches nicht gesonnen war, stellte ich ihm recht ernstlich vor, in was für verdrießliche und beschwerliche Umstände er sich stürzen würde, wie sehr er dadurch I. M. den König irritiren, und I. M. die Königin betrüben würde, er wisse ja überdem auch noch nicht, wo er sich hinwenden wollte (…). Unterdessen bat ich ihn, seine Vivacität ein wenig zu zwingen und den courir, wovon er mir gesagt hätte, abzuwarten, worauf er mir dann offenbarte, daß dieser courir der Secretarius Guy Dickens wäre, welcher bei seiner Rückkunft ihm gewisse Nachricht bringen würde, ob er nach Engeland kommen sollte oder nicht. Er wollte aber doch mit dem Grafen Hoym sprechen wegen der Reise, die ich nebst einem andern Officier, welcher er sein wollte, nach Leipzig incognito tun könnten, welches auch den folgenden Tag auf dem Pavillon geschähe, da dann I. H. der Prinz zu mir kamen und sagten, sie hätten mit dem Grafen gesprochen, es würde wohl angehen, ich sollte nur zu ihm gehen. Ich war aber schon vorher bei ihm gewesen und gebeten, wann ihm I. H. der Kronprinz von einer Reise, so ich nach Leipzig tun sollte, sprechen würde, möchte er nur alle Difficultäten, so viel als möglich machen, welches ich auch zum zweiten Mal tat, wie ich auf des Prinzen Befehl zu ihm ging mit Anhange, daß ich die Reise aus unterschiedenen Ursachen nicht gerne über mich nehmen wollte, noch könnte: weiter könnte ich mich hierüber nicht expliciren, welches er mir auch zu tun versprach, und wollte dem Prinzen schon zu verstehen geben, daß es so leichte nicht anginge, als man es sich vorstellte, kamen hernach weiter zu sprechen, wie man sich Projecte fingirte, die man sich leichte vorstellte, und wenn sie zu execution gedeihen sollten, so fänden sich nicht allein soviel Hindernisse, woran man nicht einmal gedacht, sondern sie kämen auch die meiste Zeit nicht zur Ausfährung, welches auch nur am besten wäre, zumalen, wenn sie von solcher Art wären, daß sie einem mehr Schaden und Verdruß als Nutzen brächten.
Ich hinterbrachte hierauf dem Prinzen, daß ich viel mehr Schwierigkeiten bei dem Grafen Hoym dieser Sache wegen gefunden, als ich mich vermutet, müßte man also nicht so geschwinde gehen, und möchte er ihn nur noch selber darüber sprechen, so würde er die Wahrheit davon erfahren. Er gab mit hierauf den Schlüssel zu seinem Kasten, ich möchte nach sein Zelt gehen und seine Sachen nebst dem Gelde, so ich finden würde, zu mir nehmen. Anstatt aber daß ich solches verrichten sollte, blieb ich unten am Pavillon bis das Exerciren vorbei, da ich mich dann wieder sehen ließ und sagte, daß ich nicht reussiren können, indem ich seine Bediente im Zelte angetroffen, die mir daran verhindert hätten, welches er dann auch vor gültig annahm (…).
Ob mir der Graf Hoym davon gesprochen, erwiderte er hierauf, ich sagte Ja, er hätte mir zu verstehen gegeben, wie I. H. viele Aufseher hätten. Ich möchte doch gleich zu ihm reiten, sagte er mir hierauf, und den Grafen bitten, daß er doch einige Nachrichten gäbe, wer doch die Aufseher wären, wie und auf welche Art sie auf ihn Achtung gäben. Um mich los zu machen, versprach ich solches, anstatt aber bei dem Grafen Hoym zu gehen, blieb ich im Lager bei dem Obristen Katten bis gegen 8 Uhr abends, da ich wieder in das Hauptquartier kam, mit einigen Offlciers, die mich dorten erwarteten, nach Riesa zu reiten. Unter dessen kamen I. H. von I. M. geritten, frugen mich sogleich nach dem, was mir der Graf Hoym zur Antwort erteilet hätte. Wie ich ihm aber sagte, daß ich den Grafen nicht getroffen, seine Leute auch nicht gewußt, wo er sich aufgehalten, schienen I. H. mißvergnügt darüber zu sein, sagten auch, ich würde wohl nicht sein bei ihm gewesen. Wie ich ihm aber das Gegenteil versicherte, so stellte er sich, als wenn er mir Glauben beimesse, und sagte weiter nichts, als, daß es meine Schuld, daß er nicht weggekommen, da er die beste Gelegenheit dazu gehabt, wüßte auch noch nicht, ob er es nicht noch wagte, indem es ihm ohnmöglich länger zu ertragen wäre, die Art, wie er tractiret würde. (…)
Cont'd in part 2, because DW comments have really low character limits for us historical researchers. :P
Suchte ihm dadurch eine Furcht einzujagen, die mir auch glücklich reussirte, darauf versicherte er mich, daß er nicht mehr daran denken wollte, ich sollte ihm aber versprechen, daß, wo sich die Sachen nicht änderten, daß ich auf der Ansbachischen Reise es bewerkstelligen wollte; um ihn nur zu beruhigen, so sagte ich, wie daß ich glaubte, daß es dorten füglicher angehen würde, als hier, es wäre noch Zeit genug bis dahin, unterdessen könnte man auf Mittel denken, solches zu bewerkstelligen. (…)
Auf solche Art habe es versucht, in Sachsen zu decliniren, und ihn von einer Zeit zur anderen aufzuhalten, welches I H. auch nicht würden leugnen können, daß es sich von Wort zu Wort so verhält, wie es hier aufgesetzet.
Bei I. H. des Prinzen Ankunft in Berlin frugen mir selbe sogleich, ob ich schon Urlaub wegzugehen hätte, worauf ich ihm mit Nein antwortete: es wäre mir aber Hoffnung gegeben worden, daß ich bald reisen könnte; wenn er seinen Urlaub hat, sagten mir der Prinz, so muß er nur gleich weggehen und voraus nach Nürnberg gehen, woselbst ich wohl erfahren würde, wo die relais bestellet wären, da sollte ich dann mit Pferden auf ihn warten, er wollte dann aus dem Wagen steigen, seine Notdurft verrichten, da er sich dann auf das Pferd setzen und davon jagen wollte. (…) Mittlerweilen kam Monsieur Guy Dickens aus Engeland wieder zurück, welchen I. H. der Prinz zu sprechen verlangte, ging deswegen auch zu ihm hin, und sagte, wie ich gegen 10 Uhr auf den Abend kommen, ihn abzuholen, um mit I. H. den Kronprinzen zu sprechen. Gegen Abend wurde solches bewerkstelligt, und im währenden Hingehen sagte ich ihm, wie daß sich I. H. der Prinz flattirten, eine favorable Antwort durch ihn aus England zu erhalten, worauf er mir antwortete: Es täte ihm leid, daß sich I. H. der Prinz in Ihrer Meinung würden betrogen finden, denn sie wäre so beschaffen, daß sie ihm garnicht gefallen würde: kurz davon zu sagen, man wollte Ihn vorjetzo nicht haben und müßte er sich solche Gedanken ganz aus dem Sinne schlagen.
Wie ich das hörte, bat ich ihn inständig, die Sache noch schwerer vorzustellen, als wie er es sich vielleicht vorgenommen hätte, welches er auch in meinem Beisein tat, unter dem großen Portal, gegen I. H. des Prinzen Gemächer, es auch so weit poussirte, daß ihm der Prinz in Hand und Mund versprechen mußte, nicht mehr an der Sache zu gedenken.
Den folgenden Tag verlagten I. H. Mons. Guy Dickens wiederum zu sprechen, welcher sich aber excusirte, worauf sich I. H. beklagten, daß man ihn nur suchte aufzuhalten, es täte Ihnen nunmehro leid, daß er nicht aus Sachsen weggegangen wäre, daran wäre ich schuld.
Ich konnte mich hierauf nicht entbrechen, ihme zu sagen, daß er Unrecht täte, sich darüber zu beklagen, er würde finden, daß man ihm gut geraten hätte, welches, wie ich hoffte, er noch einmal selber gestehen würde, wollte ihm auch seine Sachen wieder zustellen, welche er aber nicht haben wollte, bis auf seine Music, die er wieder zu sich nahm; das Übrige möchte ich nur an mich behalten, bis er es abfordern würde. Den Tag darauf, welches etwa der 3. oder 4. vor der Abreise aus Berlin war, sagten mir I. H., wie das I. M. resolvirt hätten, daß er nicht mit von der Reise, sondern in Potsdam bleiben sollte, wollte auch deswegen bei der gefaßten resolution, nicht wegzugehen, bleiben (…). Hier dachte ich nun ganz gewiß, daß die Sache vollkommen ein Ende hätte, und dieserhalb nichts mehr zu besorgen hätte, befohl mir aber noch vor seiner Abreise, ich sollte ja stille sein, und gegen keinen Menschen davon sprechen, daß er sowas vorgehabt hätte, indem er sich sonst gegen keinen Menschen dieserhalb eröffnet. Den anderen Tag darauf, wie I. H. der Prinz nach Potsdam gekommen, bekam ich einen Brief vom Lieutnant von Ingersleben, wie daß I. H. verlangten, ich sollte gegen Abend in Potsdam sein, indem Sie notwendig mit mir zu sprechen hätten.
Wie ich ankam, so sprechen Sie mit mir im Garten, zwischen die Hecken und sagten, I. M. hätten sich anders resolviret, und Sie sollen nun mitreisen, möchte also doch machen, daß Ihm der coup wegzugehen, reussiren möchte. Ich stellte ihm alles in der Welt vor, davon abzustehen, wie er auch bereits solches versprochen, ich auch überdem noch nicht commandiret wäre, auf Werbung zu gehen, es wäre auch noch ungewiß, wenn solches geschehen würde. (…) Den Abend vor I. H. des Prinzen Abreise von Potsdam kam sein Page und brachte mir einen Brief nebst einem Sattel und Music, nichts mehr sagende, als I. H. hätten befohlen, mir solches zu übergeben. In dem Briefe schrieb er mir, wie er hoffe, daß ich ihm werde Wort halten und versprochenermaßen folgen: ich solte nur gerade nach Canstadt gehen und seiner dort erwarten. Ich erfuhr aber kurz darauf, wie die Werbe-Pässe von I. M. unterschrieben wieder zurück kamen, daß meinethalben nicht wäre geschrieben worden, und saget mir der Obrister von Panwitz, daß vor I. M. Wiederkunft zu meiner Reise keine Hoffnung wäre, welches mir um deswegen freuete, weil ich dadurch neue Gelegenheit bekam, des Prinzen Project zu hintertreiben, schrieb deswegen auch an ihn durch einen Expressen, welchen an den Rittmeister Katte nach Erlangen schickte, daß derselbe dem Prinzen den Brief insinuiren möchte:
Worinnen ich ihm vorstellte, wie und auf was Art ich an meiner Reise wäre verhindert worden, und wie es mir also ohnmöglich wäre, an den verlangten Ort zu kommen, ich hätte vom Obristen von Panwitz Urlaub nach Magdeburg verlangt (obgleich solches nicht geschehen), wäre mir aber auch abgeschlagen, und bäte also gar sehr, in Geduld zu stehen, vielleicht würde ich gegen dem, daß er nach Cleve käme, mich dorten einfinden können, und um ihn noch sicherer zu machen, schloß ich den Brief, daß, wenn es nicht anders angehen könnte, wollte ich ohne Urlaub weggehen, darauf bekam ich zur Antwort, daß ihm diese Zeitung gar nicht angenehm wäre, sondern sehr mißfiele, er wollte noch in Geduld stehen und mir noch einmal schreiben. (…)
Inzwischen ließ mir der General Löwenöhr sagen, er würde in etlichen Tagen wegreisen und möchte ich doch zu ihm kommen, weil er mir notwendig zu sprechen; wie ich den anderen Morgen zu ihm kam, frug er mich, ob ich wohl die Ursache wüßte, warum man mir den Urlaub oder die Werbung nicht verstatten wollen, so sagte ihm darauf, weil er mir dergleichen Frage thäte, so glaubte ich auch, daß er gesonnen wäre, mir solche zu offenbahren, ich glaubte, ich käme, wegen einer Mutmaßung, ob ich I. H. den Kronprinzen behülflich sein wollte, wegzugehen, und könnte ich ihm versichern, daß es meine intention niemals gewesen, ob ich gleich solches zum öftern glauben gemacht, erzählete ihm darauf den Verlauf der ganzen Sache, wie solcher hier beschrieben worden, nähme auch Gott zu Zeugen, daß es niemals mein ernstliches Vorhaben gewesen. Es wäre wahr, ich hätte den Prinzen hintergangen, aber es wäre aus einer guten intention geschehen, hätte mich auch zuletzt aller seiner Sachen bemächtiget, einzig und allein, um ihn außer Vermögen zu setzen, dergleichen allein vorzunehmen; daß ich hierin ein gut Gewissen hätte, könnte ich daraus beweisen, daß ich ganz geruhig hier bliebe. Ich wäre auch vollkommen versichert, daß er anjetzo nichts entrepreniren würde, und könnte teils, weil er kein Vermögen dazu in Händen hätte und mich fest erwartete, teils auch, weil Rochow und seine Bediente den soupcon von ihm hätten, sie gewiß sehr genau auf ihn Achtung geben würden, daß er ohnmöglich echappiren könnte. Daraus könnte er ja klärlich sehen, ob meine intention so schlimm wäre. Das Einzige, so man mir imputiren könnte, wäre, daß ich solches nicht gleich angegeben, es wäre aber aus der Ursache geschehen, weil ich mich so sicher bei allen diesen Umständen glaubte, auch so versichert war, daß dieser coup nicht geschehen würde, daß ich nicht einen unnötigen Verdruß oder Chagrin verursachen wolle. Hätte ich aber das Allergeringste befürchten können, so würde ich es gewiß also bald denunciret haben; daß solches meine wahrhafte Intention gewesen, nehme ich Gott zum Zeugen, und will auch daraufleben und sterben.
Vier Tage darauf bekam ich einen Brief von I. H. dem Prinzen aus Ansbach datirt, daß er sich vorstellte, ein hart sejour in Wusterhausen zu erleben, und wo es möglich, wollte er solchem gerne entgehen, indem sich I. M. von Tage zu Tage ungnädiger bezeigten, er wollte probiren, ob er zu Sinzheim echappiren könnte: weil aber zu der Zeit, da ich den Brief bekam, I. M. beinahe in Wesel sein konnten, ich auch durch die Nachrichten, so von I. M. suite einliefen, nicht anders hörete, als daß noch alles im guten Stande und I. M. nebst des Kronprinzen H. aller Orten glücklich angekommen wären und in etlichen Tagen in Wesel anzulangen gedachten, so machte ich mich gar keine Sorgen, noch mehr Gedanken darüber; antwortete deswegen, auch an I. H. der Kronprinzessin, wie sie mir auf mein Gewissen befragte, ob ich dächte, daß ihr Bruder weggehen oder wiederkommen würde, daß ich ihr nunmehro gewiß versichern wollte, daß sie ihn so gesund wiedersehen würde, als wie er von hier weggegangen. Das gebe Gott, antwortete sie hierauf, ich wünsche es von Herzen.
Die Briefe, nebst denen Sachen, so darin, habe wohl 14 Tage vor meinem Arrest an meinen Vetter, so ein Katte, und in Churmärkischer Kammer ist, gegeben, um solche, wenn ich etwa verreisen würde, jemandem zu überliefern, daß sie in der Königin Hände kommen möchten, oder kämen I. H. der Prinz, daß Sie selbige bekäme. (...)
Ich habe also nichts mehr dabei vorzustellen, als nur in aller Untertänigkeit und tiefester Submission E. K. M. zu bitten, gnädigst zu consideriren wie meine Intention keine andere gewesen, als I. H. den Prinzen von seinen desseins abzuhalten, und zu verhindern, daß sie nicht möchten ins Werk gerichtet und vollfähret worden.
Und da Gott Gnade vor Recht ergehen lasset, so hoffe, E. M. werde auch solchesan mich armen Menschen beweisen, undvielmehr meine Intention, so bei dieser Sache gehabt, gnädigst in consideration ziehen. Gott ist mein Zeuge, daß sie auf nichts anders gerichtet gewesen, als dasjenige zu verhindern, was I. H. der Prinz intendiret, und zwar auf eine solche Art, daß I. M. nicht noch mehr wider ihn möchten irritiret werden. (...)
Bitte also nochmals in aller Untertänigkeit E. K. M. wollen mir Gnade widerfahren lassen.
Thanks so much for hunting this down and posting it. Alas, it‘ll be a while until I can make a proper translation - am absolutely swamped this week. But I make one, since I bet all the Rokoko German will drive Google crazy.
Just for now, though, would like to point out that it seems the one scene in Der Thronfolger, part II, between Katte and Wilhelmine where she‘s Hans-ing him seems to be based on the conversation he says in this confession he had with her, and on his claim a few sentences earlier before mentioning the conversation, that since he had all the money and the papers and was in Berlin, and Fritz didn‘t have any of the money and the papers, he assumed Fritz wouldn‘t go for it. „And thus I replied when Her Highness the Crown Princess asked me on my conscience whether I thought her brother would leave or return, that I now could reassure her with certainty that she would see him again and as healthy - or maybe „safe and sound“ is less literal but more idiomatic a translation - as he‘d been when leaving. May God grant it, she replied, I wish it with all my heart.
Note that this actually doesn‘t say Fritz won‘t desert, if you pay attention. It just says Wilhelmine will see him again. (The phrasing does not say when, it‘s just the earlier stated claim that Katte thought Fritz would not make the attempt sans cash that makes it sound like he‘s promising immediate - and physically safe - return.)
BTW, in general, this reads to me like a typical first confession - admit only something that‘s already been proven (Katte knew Fritz wanted to desert) but put the best possible spin on it (I tried to prevent it! I didn‘t think he‘d go through with it at this point! I only didn‘t report it because I didn‘t want to make things worse for him with the King, since they were terrible enough already!) in order to survive. Katte not being suicidal, this makes sense. (Would have worked, too, if not for FW, lest we forget, given the tribunal sentence.)
Was not expecting an immediate translation by any means! Whenever you have time, even a summary would be lovely. I've just glanced at the Google translate so far, have not had time yet to go through and stare at individual sentences to try to use my grammar + Google's vocabulary to make better sense of it.
I don't see any Absalom references, but does it otherwise answer your question about whether the person dictating the Puncta knew about the specific occasions on which Katte tried to dissuade Fritz and what he supposedly said on those occasions?
BTW, in general, this reads to me like a typical first confession - admit only something that‘s already been proven but put the best possible spin on it in order to survive. Katte not being suicidal, this makes sense.
It does, and I totally support Katte trying to talk his way out of it, and curse FW!
Looking through 19th century biographer Koser, he is apparently a major source for the escape attempt, with huge amounts of precise detail, and reliance on primary sources. He is very good about chronology, which is a delight to the heart of yours truly, as you know by now. :)
He's also a major source for a lot of other resources, including Lavisse and Wikipedia. I found the source for a lot of things I'd seen before in unreliable sources. For example:
Fritz didn't like Katte at first but was won over by Katte's schoolfriends, including Ingersleben--Koser.
Katte and Fritz bonded over the study of mechanics and mathematics--Koser. selenak, can you help with the German here? I've almost got it, but not quite:
Mit einem ausgesprochenen Interesse für die Mathematik und Mechanik, das des Prinzen Lehrer Senning durch seinen Unter richt noch reger machte, verbanden sich künstlerische Anlagen;
Katte says that he was overwhelmed with compassion when Fritz used to cry ("weinen"--is this literal weeping with tears, or just lamenting?) over his sad lot, and loved Fritz so much that when Fritz pleaded with him so much, he couldn't say no--Koser.
Oh, something that surprised me very much: Katte said during his interrogation that Fritz said Seckendorff and Grumbkow were trying to make him a Catholic so he could marry an Austrian archduchess and be HRE.
FW: Say WHAATT??! Do you know anything about this, my wretched son?? Fritz: I'm sure there's some mistake! Ask him again. FW: No fucking way did that ever cross their minds, damnable boyfriend of my son. Fritz has no idea what you're talking about. You wanna take that back? Katte: I said what I said. All of Protestant Europe: WOE. Our HERO Fritz was just trying to escape an evil Catholic plot. Fritz, 6 months later: Convert to Catholicism and outrank Dad, huh? Actually, that's not a bad idea.
Here's the passage in Koser, if you're as disbelieving as I am:
Am meisten aber brachte es ihn auf, daß Katte von dem Prinzen gehört haben wollte, Seckendorff und Grumbkow beabsichtigten, ihn katholisch zu machen und ihm die Hand einer Erzherzogin und die römische Königskrone zuzuwenden. Friedrich Wilhelm setzte in die beiden gerade jetzt das unbegrenzteste Vertrauen. Vergebens beteuerte der Kronprinz, daß ein Mißverständ nis von Katte vorliegen müsse; Katte blieb bei seiner Aussage.
The MT marriage AU follows us wherever we go!
After the main interrogation of Fritz on September 16, FW is so furious that he says no more servants?? I think? The servant who was sleeping in town and visiting Fritz isn't allowed to enter the cell any more, and instead there's some kind of guard, who's not allowed to answer Fritz's questions?
Der Lakai, der anfänglich in dem Gemach des Prinzen aufgewartet hatte, sollte es jetzt nicht mehr betreten; statt seiner erschien ein Kalfaktor von der Wache, der ebensowenig wie die beiden diensthabenden Offiziere dem Gefangenen irgend eine Frage beantworten durfte.
Interestingly, Lavisse isn't trying to reconcile Wilhelmine and Fontane by saying the sand heap and Katte's body were visible from Fritz's room; he's following Koser. Koser's version is that the Weißkopf was a tower that had been torn down by 1730. Its ruins prevented 150 men from assembling at the foot of Fritz's window, but the execution site 50 paces to the left was perfectly visible from Fritz's room, next to the guardhouse. Unlike Münchow fils., who has the execution taking place "auf den Wall", Koser has it "unter dem Walle."
And Münchow has the Weißkopf still standing, and higher than the second-floor arrest room. Koser has it torn down and only about man-high.
I'm inclined to trust Münchow more on this particular point? It might have been torn down by Koser's time (almost certainly was, since he's writing in 1900 and by 1921, it's gone) but still standing for young Münchow to use as a playground in the 1720s and 30s.
I trust Koser more on things like documentation--I found him originally because he's the one who quotes the FW letter telling Lepel that Fritz is required to watch the execution--but Münchow more on things like what the fortress was like in 1730 when he had his playground there.
Koser also says that Fritz was informed of the execution 2 hours before it happened. I don't know, I kind of liked it better when he only had a few minutes to agonize. That must have been the worst two hours ever.
He seems to have access to the August 31 species facti and the various interrogations, which so far I have not tracked down. Hinrichs' 1936 Kronprinzenprozeß is looking promising, but it would be rather difficult/expensive to get my hands on.
But Koser is a nice dense 250 pages of German that I've only translated chunks of, so if you wanted to take a look at the whole thing, selenak, when you have time, it might reward your attention. I mean, I only found the marriage AU Katte wrote because I was looking for Katte! Who knows what else is in there?
By the way, I tracked Wikipedia's source on Katte being raised partly in the Netherlands: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie again, wiki's main source. They list so many Katte references at the end, without signaling which one goes with which fact, that I haven't been able to track it any further back than that. I trust Kloosterhuis's "raised largely by Grandpa Wartensleben in Berlin" more at this point.
Weinen is literally weeping with tears. Lamenting would be klagen.
Mit einem ausgesprochenen Interesse für die Mathematik und Mechanik, das des Prinzen Lehrer Senning durch seinen Unter richt noch reger machte, verbanden sich künstlerische Anlagen;
With a pronounced interest in mathematics and mechanics, which the teacher of the Prince, Senning, made even more keen through his classes, were connected budding artistic abilities;
The MT marriage AU follows us wherever we go!
It does. Also, I'm no longer surprised Förster thought poor Protestant Fritz was trying to escape an Evil Catholic plot, too, until he found the correspondance between Seckendorff and Eugene with Seckendorff being "WTF?" and Eugene going "that's one dangerous young man". Mind you, now my own MT marriage AU is even more AU than I thought because I let Fritz chastize himself for not thinking of marrying an archduchess while Katte was still alive. Which he evidently did. I mean, not that I trust Grumbkow & Seckendorff, but it wasn't in any way in their interest to piss off FW at this point, and they knew that his oldest son becoming a Catholic would have made him incredibly furious. And they knew as well that Fritz converting would have been a sine qua non for any MT (or even her younger sister) marriage project as far as the Habsburgs were concerned.
So, either:
a) Katte is lying to create trouble between FW and G & S, who until this point have been nothing but trouble for his beloved
or
b) Fritz actually did consider the idea as an alternate escape plan, but Katte knew FW would be even more angry at his son for flirting with Catholicism and thus blames G & S for said idea
or
c) Fritz considered the idea but lied to Katte as to who it was from, because he didn't want Katte to know about his budding Machiavellian instincts.
Weinen is literally weeping with tears. Lamenting would be klagen.
OMGGGG. Hurt/comfort is canon. :'-(((
With a pronounced interest in mathematics and mechanics, which the teacher of the Prince, Senning, made even more keen through his classes, were connected budding artistic abilities;
So he's saying Fritz's teacher, Senning, also taught Katte. Thank you for clarifying the relationships among the individuals there.
Okay, so that's where the "Katte and Fritz shared private lessons on mathematics and mechanics" in Wikipedia (and Zeithain) comes from. Now I just need to figure out where Koser got *his* info from. I'm guessing it's the other species facti, the one I don't have, because the note at the end says that's where most of the Katte info comes from, the two species facti. And I don't see anything about mechanics or sharing lessons in this one.
I'm no longer surprised Förster thought poor Protestant Fritz was trying to escape an Evil Catholic plot, too,
Yes, that makes sense now! There are multiple marriage AU plots going on. It makes sense: if Fritz can't escape his father through one marriage, he'll try another marriage. All he really wants is not to be horrifically abused.
And that was too much to ask. :(
I let Fritz chastize himself for not thinking of marrying an archduchess while Katte was still alive. Which he evidently did.
I was thinking of that! But if Katte really is lying, it may not be AU after all: maybe Fritz got the idea *from* Katte.
But that seems like a surprisingly risky gamble from Katte, if so. (b) and (c) seem more likely to me. Especially (c), if Fritz and Katte can't keep their story straight under interrogation. The most straightforward explanation to me is:
Fritz: *tells Katte about G & S's marriage plan* Katte: *uses the Evil Plot to justify helping Fritz escape* FW: *confronts Fritz with his lie* Fritz: Shit! Dad's never gonna buy that G & S were behind this. "I'm sure there was some mistake! Ask Katte again!" Fritz: *sending Katte frantic telepathic signals* Katte: *oblivious* No, seriously, that's what I was told. Don't you want me to get your son away from evil Catholic plots? *bats eyelashes* FW: The only people not lying to me here are G & S. Off with Fritz and Katte's heads!
Now, I haven't seen the documentary evidence for this supposed accusation by Katte, but I'm trying to get my hands on Hinrichs' book, which might have some of the interrogation material. (Since shipping to the US is expensive, I'm going to try seeing if I can ILL it. Will report back if I'm successful.)
Possible (d) idea:
d) Katte was trying to talk Fritz into staying, and Fritz lied to him to get more support for his plan.
That would be consistent with the account given above, where Katte innocently maintains what he believes to be true and Fritz is frantically denying it.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in my Koser write-up: apparently one argument Fritz used with Katte to argue that escaping was safe was that Grandpa F1 ran away in 1679 when *he* was crown prince, and *he* didn't get in trouble! And then apparently Vienna brought this up with FW when trying to intervene for Fritz.
FW apparently liked that argument about as well as he liked the G & S Catholic plot accusation.
FW: That's completely different! Dad was worried about being poisoned! And he was careful not to desert! My father was nothing like that worst of all possible sons I had to lock up in Küstrin. And DON'T tell me the Emperor mediated with my father and grandfather and it worked out really well. I rule alone!
Mind you, now my own MT marriage AU is even more AU than I thought
I once read something that I thought was clever, which was that if your story includes a firearm and you're not a gun nut, and you specify the make of the firearm by name, you should call it a "modified [whatever]," so that when you make that inevitable mistake somewhere in your story, gun nuts can nod knowingly and think, "Ah, yes, that's the modification." (Whether it's a plausible modification is another matter, but this has to at least improve your odds.)
I'm starting to feel like if I write Fritz fic, I should call everything an AU no matter how closely I'm trying to adhere to reality, because within a month or two, we'll have turned up something to contradict what I wrote. :P
That is, in fact, how I've read historical fiction for a long time: I tell myself it takes place in an AU, whether the author thinks it does or not, and then when I hit that inevitable error, I nod knowingly to myself about parallel universes. It helps my blood pressure like you would not believe, and allows me to focus on whether it's a *good* story without worrying excessively about whether it's a *accurate* or *plausible* story. I realize this doesn't work for everyone, but it's of great assistance to me.
I mean, both "Pulvis et Umbra" and "Counterpoint for Two Flutes" have already turned out to have errors beyond the intentional creative liberties that were taken at time of writing, so it's only a matter of time before any fic I write becomes obsolete in terms of my current knowledge base. It's actually comforting to see it happening to you too. ;)
I dug up the 1731 pamphlet! It's very interesting. It has the execution taking place November 9. It has letters from Katte to his stepmother, FW, grandfather, and father. No brother-in-law. The stepmother's letter is separate, not a postscript to the father's letter, the language is very slightly different from Fontane's version, and it has a closing line that's not in Fontane! Namely, a reference to Genesis 17.1, "I am God Almighty, walk before me and be pious."
There's a two page summary of events that I would love some help with when you have time, selenak; I'm struggling with the poor quality scan, the font (which I'm getting better at!), and the Rococo German.
It's got yet another variant on Katte's last words! This is the only one to mention FW that I've ever seen. (I'm not 100% confident of all the spelling, so please correct any errors.)
Mein gnädigster Cron-prinz sie haben nicht Ursach mich um Verzeihung zu bitten, wenn ich zehen Leben zu verliehren hätte, so wollte ich gern darum geben, wann nur Eu. Königliche Hoheit mit Dero Herrn Vater dem König dadurch könten versöhn et werden.
My most gracious Crown Prince, you have nothing to ask me for forgiveness for; if I had ten lives to lose, I would gladly give them up, if only Your Royal Highness could be reconciled with your Lord Father the King.
Wooow. You said this was printed in the Prussian-hating region of Cologne, and I wonder if the point of this is to emphasize that FW is the problem here.
It's also, interestingly, not the variant that Wilhelmine (and Pöllnitz) has, which involves a thousand lives and no reconciliation. So though this may be where she's getting her letter to Katte's grandfather, it's not where she's not getting the last words to Fritz. The pamphlet account's also got a sand heap and no scaffold, but it has Fritz watching. I can't quite tell, but I think he faints after seeing Katte beheaded, not before. It's got Katte's body lying out there until 2 pm, after which some townspeople put it in a coffin of four planks and bury it (in the soldiers' cemetery?).
It's super useful to know what account was floating around at the time with no reference to the horse's mouth!
Also, it looks like the letters were translated into English by 1734, but I can't seem to get my hands on a copy of that online without being Australian, sigh. We need an Australian royal patron now. :P
Okay, I‘ve read it now. It‘s really very short, the sole reason why it has 40 pages is that the last page is recopied endlessly.
Text before letters:
- in this version, Fritz learns Katte will be executed at 5 am, the execution itself doesn‘t take place until 10 am. He‘s informed by „two captains“ who also tell him they‘re ordered to force him to watch and will have to drag him to the window if he can‘t go on his own. He does faint after, not before the beheading. Katte keeps eye contact with him right until death. He‘s calm and undresses himself (i.e. removes his shirt), and, as described by Fontane, who quotes Major v. S on this, binds his own eyes via the sleeping cap. Before he does that, he makes one last Hand kiss gesture towards Fritz. (Pamphlet says Hand-Fuß, not „Hand-Kuß“, but I think that‘s simply a letter misprint, because a foot instead of a kiss makes no sense here.) Fritz faints as soon as the head rolls and is no more seen by anyone. Katte‘s body lies there until 2 pm.
Thoughts: there are enough accurate elements here - sand, not scaffold, Katte putting the cap over his eyes, the body lying until 2 pm, as specified by FW‘s orders, which the pamphleteer couldn‘t have known, and of course the big one, accurate letters - that I think there‘s an eyewitness report involved. The divergences - the hour of execution, Fritz watching and fainting after, not before, Katte keeping eye contact - can be simply yellow press need for even more drama. Because these kind of pamphlets are the 18th century equivalent of the Daily Mail/Bildzeitung in Germany/ Whatever rag preceeded the existence of Fox TV in the US). The more tearjerking, the better.
Now, FW mention in Katte‘s reply - yes, I do think this is for making FW look even worse. Though there is one alternate explanation, if the whole thing (the pamphlet) is intended as a moral lesson for disobedient sons to lead a more Christian life. But I think in that case, it would have ended on the Crown Prince praying with Pater Müller. That Fritz post fainting „isn‘t seen or heard of“ anymore is one of those details that make me believe someone did get an eyewitness account and then proceeded to juice it up. Pamphlets aren‘t meant for historians but for sensational gossip mongers paying for them, after all!
Yes, the copying job on this was terrible, and disappointing once I realized 80% of it was blank pages and that last page. But still really good to have!
He‘s informed by „two captains“ who also tell him they‘re ordered to force him to watch and will have to drag him to the window if he can‘t go on his own.
That's interesting, because it meas this story was floating around without coming from Fritz, and any memoirist who reports it isn't necessarily getting it from Fritz, or even from someone who was inside the room. *However*, Fritz fainting seems to be real, since he reports it to Mitchell. Since the fainting is in the pamphlet, that means word got out from inside that room pretty quickly. Seeing as how Fritz fainting isn't something an eyewitness of the execution could tell from outside. Since Wilhelmine says doctors were immediately sent for, that makes sense. That was probably known throughout the town by evening November 6.
Katte keeps eye contact with him right until death.
On the one hand, this is obviously something anyone in the history of ever would supply to spice up the narrative, but, on the other, if we trust the sources that say that Fritz couldn't see over the ones that say he could, it's possible that what really happened was that Katte kept looking in the direction of the Schloss where Fritz was. Which is what I always imagined, because I think he's clinging to every anchor he can grab in order to keep his calm exterior, and Fritz is going to be a major focal point. I think Katte's got a voice in the back--or front--of his mind chanting, "This is for Fritz, do it for Fritz, it's okay, it's worth it, Fritz is worth it."
Also, I agree the pamphlet is based largely off an eyewitness report, and if you consider that there were 150 eyewitnesses from the garrison, plus a handful of others, the source is most likely one or more of them. And as I said in another comment, since all contemporaries agree that Fritz could see the execution from where he was, it must not have been at all obvious to them that he couldn't. If nothing else, even if they can tell that Fritz's room isn't visible, they can't be certain that Fritz hasn't been moved to a room with a better view. So if Katte was staring at the Schloss or Weisskopf until the end, everyone outside is going to assume that Fritz is looking back.
And thus FW gets a report that Fritz *totally* watched, and fainted afterwards (I figured that's what Münchow/Schack/Lepel told him, and it's nice to see a contemporary account that says exactly that!).
Pamphlet says Hand-Fuß, not „Hand-Kuß“, but I think that‘s simply a letter misprint, because a foot instead of a kiss makes no sense here.
OOOHHH. Duh. I was wondering what that hand-foot gesture was, knew there were stories about final kiss-blowing, but was wondering if hand-foot was some kind of crazy German idiom like English "raining cats and dogs," and completely forgot the German word for kiss. Thanks!
The divergences - the hour of execution, Fritz watching and fainting after, not before, Katte keeping eye contact - can be simply yellow press need for even more drama.
Yes, and also inaccuracies that inevitably creep into any story through the course of transmission. If something happened at 7:45 am, I wouldn't necessarily expect everyone to remember it didn't happen at 10 am and for that number to be preserved two months later hundreds of miles away. Especially since the date is also wrong (Nov 9 instead of Nov 6), and I'm not entirely sure Nov 9 fits a yellow press need. Unless you can think of something.
And as for the story that Fritz watched and fainted afterward, as noted, that's not only the yellow press need, that's the "I, Münchow and Lepel, don't want my own head chopped off by FW for not making Fritz watch" need. Plus, any given eyewitness was either inside or outside, and the outside eyewitnesses couldn't see what happened inside and vice versa. And let's be real, even if the execution had taken place directly under Fritz's window, one, it's hard for people outside a building to see inside a room through the window anyway, and two, when Katte's head rolls directly in front of you, are you really staring at Fritz's window and timing the moment at which you don't see him any more vis-a-vis the moment the head falls? You're watching either the executioner or Katte. And then when you look up and see Fritz isn't there any more, you conclude that he fainted afterward. No conscious invention necessary.
And since everyone who was in the room is repeating that version of the story loudly, where FW can hear them...actually, much to my surprise, I'm backing myself into a corner where the only account according to which Fritz fainted *before* has to come from Fritz. First to Wilhelmine, presumably, who passes it on to Pöllnitz.
And the only other source that explicitly has Fritz fainting before, not after...is Catt. Who has Fritz saying that he avoided seeing the execution only by dint of fainting first.
Which, as I've pointed out, makes sense if Fritz hadn't been told he wasn't going to have to see the head fall, if afterward everyone is proclaiming to his father that he did, and if when he woke up, he wasn't surprised at not seeing the body because he assumed it was taken away (whereas outside perspectives know it was left until 2 pm), and if his accounts don't report a sand heap because he never saw one, because it was out of sight. Which is why the accounts that might come at least partly from him, Wilhelmine and Voltaire, supply scaffolds.
And you know, if the dominant narrative is that Fritz saw it, if very few people know he didn't, if Catt didn't have access to Wilhelmine (okay, darn, he had access to Pöllnitz, but their accounts are so radically different that I don't see a link), if the *obvious* and *sensationalist* account is that Fritz saw the execution and fainted afterwards, and two people independently making up something less obvious and less exciting would be very strange...
I think the Catt account is real, as in, comes from Fritz. I think the conversation happened after the diary ends in 1760, not remotely on the date that it's reported in the memoirs, where we've seen that Catt clumsily stitches together a bunch of disparate anecdotes and leaves his seams showing, but
1) We know Fritz talked about the execution with Mitchell.
2) We know Fritz talked about Küstrin with Catt.
When I started writing this post, I was 50/50 on Catt getting his Katte account from Fritz vs. fleshing out Voltaire with what he'd heard from other sources. Well, I still think he was reading Voltaire based on that one sentence I pasted earlier, but I'm now like 80/20 on Catt getting his account from Fritz. Which means I suspect Voltaire did too.
Thiébault, though, I think is getting his account from Pöllnitz (probably written rather than orally, or at least not solely orally), possibly Voltaire, and whatever else was floating around by 1804. T's account doesn't have any of the hallmarks of a Fritz account, and even his actual memoirs have more in common with Pöllnitz and Wilhelmine than with Catt, Voltaire, and Mitchell. No, one exception: T has Fritz calling simply "mon ami," and nothing from Katte, and doesn't report any of the variants of Fritz begging Katte's pardon and Katte's last words telling Fritz there's nothing to forgive. The absence of that dialogue is one element I think was probably a feature of Fritz's account, where I can easily imagine Fritz absolutely did not want to recount his last exchange with Katte with people he wasn't really that close to. I.e. I think Wilhelmine got a much more detailed and emotional account from him.
Well, leaving T aside, the important thing is I now think Catt's account is very likely to be real, based on Mitchell + the fainting taking place before rather than after.
Btw, Münchow, Jr. has Fritz *about* to faint, and, since he's the sole 18th century source so far who doesn't believe Fritz could see the execution site from his room, he obviously believes it was triggered by that last exchange with Katte and not by the sight of the execution itself. Which tells me that maybe after FW was dead, Münchow, Sr. started talking, at least with his family, about how Fritz didn't see the execution after all.
One more detail that varies: who informed Fritz of the upcoming execution? According to the pamphlet, two captains. According to Wilhelmine, Lepel and Münchow. According to Münchow fils, Lepel and Münchow. But according to Catt and Voltaire, "an old officer and four/several grenadiers."
So either Voltaire is making it up and Catt is copying him, which I now think is unlikely, or else there's this possible reconciliation: Münchow and Lepel as the two men of rank that are worth mentioning, plus several officers there to wrangle the reluctant boy to the window if necessary. Lepel, 73 years old, is the one who breaks the news to Fritz. Münchow is present, but Fritz is too busy freaking out at the time to remember all the details three decades later, or possibly just doesn't consider the presence of another officer important enough to be worth reporting, when there are much bigger deals going on, like the part where his boyfriend is about to die.
Though there is one alternate explanation, if the whole thing (the pamphlet) is intended as a moral lesson for disobedient sons to lead a more Christian life.
That did occur to me as well, but if you say there's nothing else to reinforce it...I, as a sensational gossip-monger who would have paid for this pamphlet (but thankfully didn't have to :P), am going with "Shame on FW!"
That Fritz post fainting „isn‘t seen or heard of“ anymore is one of those details that make me believe someone did get an eyewitness account and then proceeded to juice it up.
Now that sounds like yellow press to me! Wilhelmine's version has Fritz on the verge of death for three days, but I believe Müller's report to FW has him and Fritz chatting about predestination the next day, so I think Wilhelmine is juicing that part up herself, out of sympathy for Fritz, and general sensationalism.
Thanks so much for this write-up. It turned out to be surprisingly helpful in developing my thoughts about the reliability of the Catt account.
Quick question as I do my rheinsberg write-up. The title of this pamphlet being "Wahre Nachricht von der scharffen Execution des mit dem Schwerdt hingerichteten Hernn Lieutenants von Katten," what's the best translation of "scharffen"? While I hope the sword was sharp, that's not a word we would use in English to describe an execution. Brutal? Is that what they're getting at here?
Also, thanks a million for indulging my obsessive detective work on what really happened on November 6, 1730, and who told whom what. :D
By the way, given that the pamphlet includes both an eyewitness account and the letters, do you think that makes it any more likely that the letters were leaked from a sympathetic party at Küstrin?
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Katte!
Katte's puncta:
If you think this reads like it was dictated by FW, yeah. Down to the rejection of predestination. Remember, FW has a preacher standing by to step into Fritz's cell the moment Katte's head falls, to lead him back to the true faith, and most specifically, the lack of predestination.
It reads like such a perfect and instant conformity to FW's will that I'm not the only one who thinks that it's a performance. He rejects atheism when staring death in the face and reverts to the religion of his childhood? Sure, maybe. He's been raised in a world where fathers and kings have absolute power and perfect obedience is owed to them, and he buys into that? Sure.
He really, really cares, of his own accord, that Fritz not believe in predestination, so much that it's his second-to-last words to Fritz?
Riiiight.
I'm with you. The predestination paragraph seals it. (That it's dictated and Katte's meaning is "just save your head, Fritz, please!") However:
The prince royal must remember that I remonstrated with him, in the strongest manner, first at the camp in Saxony, where we originally had the idea of absconding, and where I foretold what has now happened; and secondly, more recently, one night when I called upon him in Potsdam.
Here I wonder: did Katte mention this in his interrogations, i.e. would FW, or Müller, or both have known this had happened? Or is it something only Katte and Fritz would know about?
Also, possible theory: in addition originally advising against the escape plan, Katte might have said something to Fritz that he now reminds Fritz off under the disguise of telling him to obey his father. After all, to FW this would sound as pleasingly conformist, but who knows what they have said to each other on those occasions? Maybe it was also something along the lines of "the main thing is that you survive, even if you have to play the good son for some years more, and then, when you're king, it will be worth it".
Rereading your post, could it be that Wolden is sending to *FW* a copy of the Puncta in August? And Fritz has had it since November? Lavisse also says Fritz has had since the first moment Müller talked to him after Katte's execution. So unless you tell me the German can't possibly mean that, that's what I think is going on here. FW is getting a copy for the first time.
Remind me again, was this in Preuss or in Forster or elsewhere, so I can look it up again? It's all jumbled in my head now.
Mysterious Prussian Whistleblower/Leaker of Katte's letters:
So...Katte family servant? Maybe a governess or some loyal retainer who raised Katte as a child? Someone who was angry and rebelling in the only way they could: getting some visibility into this poor guy's fate?
I like it! It's easy to forget the servants. Which were ever present and human beings, not machines. When I read that Fritz even during his hard core imprisonment months got assigned a servant to clean him and presumably dress him etc, I was reminded again of this.
Re: Katte!
Here I wonder: did Katte mention this in his interrogations, i.e. would FW, or Müller, or both have known this had happened? Or is it something only Katte and Fritz would know about?
That I don't know. He was interrogated five times, and I've never been able to find the write-up, though I've seen quotes. I suppose Kloosterhuis would tell us what's out there?
That said, whatever Katte may or may not have mentioned in his interrogations, it remains the case that only he and Fritz know what was really said. I absolutely think Katte encouraged Fritz to just wait it out, try to hide his sneakiness better and be more outwardly conforming, and that maybe FW would tone down the abuse, and they could wait it out, instead of risking everything now. And Fritz went "But that could be THIRTY YEARS! And also I will KILL MYSELF if I have to put up with this one more day!" and Katte went, "Okay, okay, let's stay calm and think this through. If we're gonna go through with this, we have to make it work."
I would be honestly shocked if Katte had never made any suggestions to Fritz that could be selectively rephrased in front of a committee or in a final letter as "Have you tried just going along with what your father wants a little more convincingly
even if you're sneaking books and flutes on the side?"But did the guy who had wanted to leave Prussian service and stay in England a mere one year before, and who was up to his ears in meeting with envoys and acquiring money and helping plot the itinerary really tell Fritz, in Saxony, that he needed to obey his father because THE BIBLE?
By the time we got to that last meeting in Potsdam Katte mentions, the night before FW and Fritz left on the fatal trip, Katte's "strongest remonstrations," at last according to Lavisse, seem to have taken the form of "PLEASE don't leave in the beginning of the trip, PLEASE leave from Wesel! It's so much safer!" Not "But the fifth commandment!"
It's clear that, in this letter and in the interrogations, he has every incentive to downplay the extent of his cooperation and play up the resistance he put up. So we're getting a very skewed picture, and a letter that really appears to be from a liar to a liar.
"Where I foretold what has now happened" is the only part that I find totally convincing as-is.
Remind me again, was this in Preuss or in Forster or elsewhere, so I can look it up again? It's all jumbled in my head now.
It's in Preuss, Vol 2 Appendix, page 170.
Die Puncta, so der unglückselige Katte kurz vor seiner Execution an den Kronprinzen durch den Feldprediger Müller überreichen lassen; übersende gleichfalls. Ich glaube, daß sie Ew. Majestät Approbation haben werden. Gott gebe nur, daß sie der Kronprinz nimmer vergesse, sondern derselben allemahl eingedenk sein möge.
Now, it sounds to me very much like Katte caused the Puncta to be given to Fritz via Müller shortly before his death, which matches what all my sources are telling me. So I'm guessing "übersende gleichfalls" means "ich übersende gleichfalls," and he (Wolden) is also sending it (to FW). Now that "also"--from looking at the beginning of the letter and getting a little help from Google Translate, it looks like Wolden started out by sending some other materials, pertaining to Fritz's debts and also a thanks in Fritz's own hand for the pardon and all that.
So I'm going with Fritz getting it either the day Katte's executed or the day after.
A little native speaker help: is it clear from that sentence whether Katte gave it to Müller just before his death, or whether it made its way to Fritz just before Katte's death? Because if Fritz read it *before* he saw Katte and fainted...I have all sorts of interesting thoughts about that.
Also, re the place of composition, everyone I've seen either says straight out that the letter to Fritz was composed at Küstrin, or that it was probably composed at Küstrin.
Now that I've read it closely, and seen all those Absalom and predestination and "the King is just an instrument of divine justice" elements...I'm kind of leaning toward it being written in Berlin/Spandau/wherever Katte was being held. Because while FW was beating everyone over the headwith his priorities and wishes before the escape attempt, and it probably would have been possible to figure out exactly what he wanted to hear without outside assistance...that letter's so completely perfect and attuned to recent Biblical comparanda like Absalom that it kind of reads like Katte got some pointers. And that was probably in Berlin.
Also, remember that Müller was in Berlin and accompanied Katte on that final ride to Küstrin. So if Katte had had a completed letter in hand, he could have handed it to Müller in the carriage, or when they arrived, and asked him to give it to Fritz. And Müller would have read it and gone, "Wow, I couldn't possibly approve more of this letter," and passed it on.
That would also make sense if the Fritz letter *isn't* in that set of circulating letters to family members, because it neither ended up with the Katte family nor did it need a clean copy made that could have resulted in it getting left lying around at Küstrin, but went straight from Müller to Fritz.
Small problem with the Katte family servant idea now that I've done the escape attempt chronology for
Possibility: stepmom and younger kids were there, and letters got copied and forwarded immediately for their comfort? But if Katte wrote a letter to his father on November 5, it had to be copied, then sent from Küstrin to Königsberg, then from Königsberg to Wust, then copied at Wust along with the other letters and distributed in Berlin...maybe that could happen by November 30. Okay, I just did the math, and the earliest my guesstimate can get that letter from Küstrin to Königsberg to Wust to Berlin is November 22, assuming everything got copied and forwarded the same day. Doable, but pretty tight timing. Especially in winter, with the Katte family servants probably having limited opportunities to copy letters and send them to Berlin without getting caught.
Katte having drafts of all the family letters with him at Küstrin and someone (whether a servant or someone of rank) copying all three and getting them to Berlin seems to fit the timing much better.
And Katte made a *huge* impression on everyone at Küstrin, plus everyone there has plausible deniability. ("I just left it on my desk! Someone must have glanced at it and copied it from memory!" Everyone else: *whistles innocently*) Also, remember that at least one person at Küstrin has already smuggled two Fritz letters to Wilhelmine out, and there will be more smuggling in and out in the days and months to come.
Küstrin staff still has my vote. As long as they had access to all three letters, and that just requires Katte to have kept the drafts that he wrote a couple days prior, before he made his clean copies, they'd have had motive, opportunity, and a demonstrated willingness to do such things.
Re: Katte!
A little native speaker help: is it clear from that sentence whether Katte gave it to Müller just before his death, or whether it made its way to Fritz just before Katte's death? Because if Fritz read it *before* he saw Katte and fainted...I have all sorts of interesting thoughts about that.
The impression I get when reading it is that Katte gave it to Müller just before his death. Also, from what I recall Müller was with Katte all through the night, Katte got executed in the early morning, Müller didn't see Fritz until after, not before.
Re: Katte!
All right, after he woke up from the faint, then, Fritz got this letter.
In either case, Fritz has to have read this knowing what we know: that it was a letter from FW in Katte's handwriting, and *also* what Katte was trying to tell him with it. (Including any additional coded messages that Katte worked in.*) And I think that possibly in addition to influencing his own future behavior--complying with Dad, rejecting predestination--there's a very good chance it colored his perception of everything Katte said and did. In other words, this letter undermines Katte's credibility so much that I start wondering how much of the repentance and piety was real, and I sincerely hope Fritz did too.
And then I'm back to Fritz's "One can compel by force some poor wretch to utter a certain form of words, yet he will deny to it his inner consent; thus the persecutor has gained nothing" when endorsing religious tolerance as king. He was compelled to utter a certain form of words to which he denied his inner consent; he has to have known that last letter did not fully reflect Katte's inner consent; that makes the whole Katte performance suspect.
And now I'm thinking that Katte has one more motive for that sudden outspoken piety at the end, if it wasn't genuine. Yes, in the first few days and perhaps even that last night there was the chance of a last-minute pardon. Yes, even as he's being executed, he has nothing to lose and it will comfort his family after he's gone, and we know he cares about that. But if he keeps up the performance to the last minute, and his last words are about Jesus, one, he can sell FW on the fact that his repentance was real and that might make Fritz look better by association (compared to if Fritz's BFF is denying Christ to the end in front of him), and two, he can reinforce that last message to Fritz: "Do whatever it takes to stay alive. You don't have to mean it, just wait him out." And that gives his death extra meaning and purpose.
* I finally, belatedly, got what you were getting at with "Did FW and co. know that Katte tried to talk him out of it on those occasions?"--whose idea was it to include those specific references in the letter? I will try to dig up the documentation and see how much of the "Katte tried to talk Fritz out of escaping" comes from the interrogation vs. this letter, and if there are exact quotations.
ETA: I also love the exclamation point you put in the subject of this thread. ;)
Re: Katte!
I'm with you.
Me too. Also, from the last post:
This is what I meant by "possibly not the most comforting thing ever."
Yeeeeah. Ouch. I... it's definitely not surprising to me that Fritz may have had a lot of kind of awful emotional stuff going on *even on top* of the expected awful stuff.
Also, possible theory: in addition originally advising against the escape plan, Katte might have said something to Fritz that he now reminds Fritz off under the disguise of telling him to obey his father. After all, to FW this would sound as pleasingly conformist, but who knows what they have said to each other on those occasions?
I was thinking that too when reading it! That it's plausible deniability about "oh of course we talked about how it was a dumb idea," but if no one else was there, maybe it's supposed to be a code reminder of something else. (Though I was thinking along more romantic lines, myself: that he said something along the lines of, "Remember that I told you that night I'll always love you, whatever happens." Maybe that's too much, but I may just quietly file it in my headcanon anyway :P )
Re: Katte!
<3333
YES PLEASE
Re: Katte!
Plus, new awful stuff keeps popping up. I mean, we all know about Katte's beheading, and I had read the letter before, but then Grumbkow's "How about being aloof with the ONLY confidant and support system you have left??" comes along to match Wilhelmine's account in her memoirs, and then my heart has to break for Fritz (and Wilhelmine) all over again.
Re: Katte!
If I find more time, I might to cheer you up get some quotes from 1730s letters from Fritz to Wilhelmine proving that despite what he says to Outsiders like Mitchell or Catt about FW, this did not work, because towards Wilhelmine, he sounds as jaundiced about dear old Dad as ever. Which is presumably yet another reason why Grumbkow (and/or FW) want them apart. Note that Wilhelmine in her memoirs also mentions people keep telling her through the 1730s Fritz has cooled off on her and later that he doesn't love her anymore. At a guess, that might courtiers in Grumbkow/ other FW employees as well.
And that's leaving aside SD as testified by Seckendorff Jr. badmouthing her daughter to her Father. That family...
Re: Katte!
"One can compel by force some poor wretch to utter a certain form of words, yet he will deny to it his inner consent; thus the persecutor has gained nothing" doesn't just apply to religion! It also works for messed-up family dynamics.
By the way, MacDonogh gives the siblings a hard time for their letters that make it clear they're hoping FW dies soon:
During the period of the king’s illness, the tone of Frederick’s correspondence with Wilhelmina took on a sinister, anticipatory air as they waited for the not so old man to die. The letters read like a couple of Hollywood villains planning to murder a rich relative.
And this just makes me so angry. He tried running away from his abuser and things just got a million times worse! Death is the only hope of escape he's got now. I cannot blame either of them for looking forward to it.
Note that Wilhelmine in her memoirs also mentions people keep telling her through the 1730s Fritz has cooled off on her and later that he doesn't love her anymore.
Fritz's letters to her also reflect this: "Stop believing I don't love you! Have some more faith in me!"
And that's leaving aside SD as testified by Seckendorff Jr. badmouthing her daughter to her Father. That family...
:-(
No wonder Fritz turned into the very model of a modern Hohenzollern therapist.
Re: Katte!
Re: Katte!
Re: Katte!
I acknowledge that, for wise reasons, Divine Providence has decreed that these misfortunes should fall upon me, to bring me to true repentance, and to enable me to work out my salvation.
Which... looks... if you squint sideways at it... kind of like predestination, to me. I know point 2 assigns an actual Katte-cause making it not!predestination, and I mean, obviously you (by which I mean FW) are supposed to read the whole letter and say "Yeah! You screwed up and God is making all this revenge fall upon you" but I do kind of wonder if there was a reason he did the points like that, where you can read point 1 in a certain way if you don't then go on to read point 2, whereas I feel kind of like it would have been more natural to say as point 1, "The prince royal didn't cause my death, my own ambition and neglect of the Almighty did."
Okay, I know, I am just grasping at straws here to give Fritz as much comfort from this letter as I can wring out of any line of it :P
Re: Katte!
I've added it to my to-do list. :)
Along with: finish trying to track down Katte's Species Facti and interrogation protocols, write up tonight's Katte findings from Koser, finish outlining Catt's memoirs and do a write-up, and reread Blanning as concentration allows, and keep chipping away at a big Rheinsberg write-up in the works.
I'd also like to get Katte's letters to his father and grandfather in the same Rheinsberg post, and maybe his grandfather's letter to FW and FW's reply.
Meant to add: I'm no kind of theologian, but I feel like "repentance + work out salvation" is the opposite of predestination, where your salvation is decided before you're born and can't be worked toward.
However, it's possible that the mention of Providence doubled as a private nod from Katte toward Fritz and their mutual interest in fatalist doctrines.
Re: Katte!
Re: Katte!
Re: Katte! - Species facti 1
It took me hours of hunting and cost $8.99 in the end, but I finally turned up Katte's written confession after his arrest. In German. So I'll need a little (lot) help.
Caveats: He had 5 or 6 interrogations besides this write-up, and I believe he made another write-up a couple days after this one, so just because it isn't in here, doesn't mean his interrogators didn't know about it. I also notice a whole lot of ellipses in what I shared below. But whatever's in here, his interrogators *did* know about, and could have instructed him to include it in the Puncta.
I haven't even had time to Google translate this properly, *or* look at the Suhm dispatches--I've turned up so many things in looking for this that I want to share, and also I have three other Fritz-related projects I'm working on, and they've led to me turning up numerous other things I want to share--but the one thing I noticed while formatting this was what everyone says: Katte insists that if he'd had ANY idea Fritz was going to flee, he would have said something! (I turned up a historian last night saying that the only big misrepresentation in this write-up is Katte's emphasis on his lack of support for this project, and just from quotes and summaries I've seen, I can't disagree, and I certainly hope it was the case both that he lied to try to save his neck like a non-idiot, and also that he supported Fritz rather more than he presents here.)
Now, btw, I would add that a month after this statement, at his last interrogation, Katte said that he would totally have gone with Fritz if Fritz had escaped, he just didn't think it would happen. Which is *rather* different from "I would have said something if I'd thought it was for real, I would never have supported actual desertion!"
Anyway,
My mom: *Does not have me beheaded*
She actually totally accepted it without comment, which surprised me a great deal. On the one hand, it was true as far as it went. On the other hand, I left out everything incriminating. Such as how I did kind of have the feeling this escape plan was quite a bit more concrete than the others, and that, as opposed to the other pie-in-the-sky plans, I was consciously keeping a secret that time. I gave it about a 33% chance of her actually acting on it someday. And what I definitely didn't say was that I supported the decision to run away based on the information I had at the time (i.e. before she acted on it and I went, "Whoa, wait a minute, I don't support *that* execution of the plan!"), plus the fact that I'd once had my own teenage plans to run away should that become necessary (which my parents still don't know about).
So watching Katte's defense is kind of hilarious and oddly personal in that respect.
Anyway, enough about me and my childhood. Back to Fritz and his! Here's Katte:
Es wird nunmehro ein Jahr sein, daß Ihro Hoheit mir zum ersten Mahle zu sprechen die Gnade taten, und solches zum öftern sowohl auf der Parade und Parole wiederholeten (…).
In Cosdorf riefen mich I. H. der Kronprinz sogleich nach der Ankunft zu sich und sagten, ich möchte suchen auf Werbung zu gehen, und dann müßte ich ihm einen Gefallen tun, welches er glaubte, ich ihm nicht refüsiren würde. Worauf ich ihm erwiderte, daß wegen der Werbung ich mich schon gemeldet hätte, was das andere aber anlangete, so möchte I. H. nur befehlen, wenn es in meinem Vermögen wäre und ich es tun könnte, so dürfte er nur befehlen, ich wäre bereit alles zu thun. Ich glaube es von ihm, sagte er mir drauf. Im Lager will ich weiter mit ihm sprechen, komme er nur diesen Abend, wenn ich vom Könige wieder zurückkomme, wieder zu mir, worauf er mir verließ, und zu I. H. zur Tafel ging. Hiebei muß aber noch erinnern, daß, ehe ich noch wußte, daß mit nach Sachsen sollte, I. H. der Kronprinz zu mir sageten, sie wollten gerne Jemanden, dem sie was schuldig wären, bezahlen, ohne mir aber zu sagen, wen und wer es sei, ob ich ihm nicht Geld schaffen könnte, worauf ich ihm mein Möglichstes zu tun versprach, überschickte ihm auch 1000 Rth., welche mir der Kammerherr Montolieu lehnete, nach Potsdam durch seinen Pagen, welcher mir bis Zehlendorf entgegen kam, woselbst ich ihm solches Geld, versiegelt in einer Schachtel, gab, damit er nicht wissen sollte, was darinnen wäre. Welches er auch empfangen zu haben, mich den folgenden Tag, durch einen seiner Knechte schrieb, mit Verlangen, ich möchte suchen, ihm nach der Sächsischen Reise mehr zu schaffen, welches noch der Brief, so conserviret, ausweisen wird. Wie sich I. H. des Abends in Cosdorf retirirten, sagten Sie zu mir, Mein Gott, ich kann es fast nicht mehr ausstehen, mein Vater hält mich so hart, er ist mir immer so ungnädig, ich weiß zuletzt nicht mehr, was ich machen soll.
Ich wunderte mich darauf gegen ihn, wie er eben anjetzo auf die Gedanken käme, er müßte nur nicht so ungeduldig sein, überdem müßte man sich nicht sogleich alarmiren über das, was einem vom Vater gesagt würde, er sollte es nur beschlafen, morgen würde er schon anders sagen, darauf er mir eine gute Nacht sagte, und sich schlafen legte. Etliche Tage darauf, ohngefähr 3 oder 4 nach der Ankunft im Lager riefen mir I. H. des Abends zu sich, und sagten, wie sie resolvirt wären, wegzugehen, und ich müßte ihn zu der entreprise behülflich sein.
Ich sagte ihm hierauf, ich könnte ohnmöglich glauben, daß es sein Ernst wäre und also wüßte ich auch nicht, was ich darauf antworten sollte. Wie er mir aber versicherte, daß es nichts weniger als Scherz, sondern sein rechter Ernst, so konnte ich nichts anders, als ihm sagen, daß ich mich über solche Gedanken sehr wunderte, er möchte doch bedenken, was er vornehmen wollte, es wäre eine Sache, wenn ich alle andere Considerationes bei Seite setzen wollte, die nicht allein sehr schwer zu executiren wäre, sondern worüber ihm die ganze Welt blamiren würde, ich hoffte und glaubte, er würde sich noch wohl bedenken (…).
Den Tag darauf befragte mich I. H. bei dem Exerciren, warum ich dann glaubte, daß die Sache nicht practicabel wäre, wenn sie nur erst Pferde hätten und etliche Stunden voraus wären, so respondirte er davor, daß er nicht allein gut wegkommen, sondern ihn auch Niemand einholen sollte. Ich sagte ihm hierauf, daß ich dieses alles wohl glaubte, es wäre aber die Difficultät, Pferde zu bekommen, und dann, so müßte man wissen, was er vor Desseins hätte, wo er hinwollte, es wäre nicht genug, eine Sache entrepreniren wollen, sondern man müßte von dem guten Ausgang derselben versichert sein können, dabei auch wissen, ob der Ort, den man zu seiner retraite ausersehen, so beschaffen, daß man daselbst sicher und wohl aufgenommen sein würde, und so lange er mir hierüber nicht exlaircirte, so sähe ich alle diese seine Desseins nur als leere Projecte an, wie er es gerne wünschte, aber niemals bewerkstelligen würde.
Da er mir dann Frankreich als den Ort seiner retraite nannte, und mir ganz gewiß versicherte, daß man ihn daselbst mit Freuden annehmen würde, ihm auch nicht allein die Sicherheit, sondern soviel Geld, als er verlangte, fourniren würde. Ich bat ihn hierauf, er möchte mir doch sagen, worauf er dieses gründete, wie und auf was Art diese Versicherungen beschaffen wären, so kam es dann auf lauter Mutmaßungen heraus, weil die zwei Höfe, als der Preuß. und Französche nicht wohl miteinander stünden und also würde er dorten ohnfehlbar sein conto finden. (…)
Diese Commission von mir abzulehnen, tat ich alles in der Welt, und stellte ihm vor, wenn solches der Herzog erführe, was er von der ganzen Sache urteilen, und was er für eine opinion fassen würde, daß man ihm seine Domestiquen abspenstig machen wollte, zumal zu einer Zeit, da er solchen so höchst benötiget wäre. (…) Ohne aber das Allergeringste von I. H. des Prinzen Begehren zu proponiren, und den allergeringsten Vorschlag zu tun; gab aber I. H. zur Antwort, daß ich nicht glaubte, bei dem Menschen zu reussiren, indem er, wie ich wohl gemerkt hätte, sehr an seinen Herrn attachirt wäre. Es wollte sich hiermit der Prinz nicht begnügen lassen, sondern ich sollte noch mal an ihn und suchen, ob er nicht zu persuadiren wäre, ich brachte aber wieder zur Antwort, ohne mit dem Pagen gesprochen zu haben, daß bei ihm nichts zu tun wäre, und wollte es seinen Herrn, bei dessen Prinzessin Schwester er erzogen wäre worden, nicht verlassen, welches I. H. noch an ihm lobten, und sagten, daß sie solches von dem Menschen nicht vermutet hätten, deswegen auch noch mehr von ihm hielten, und desto lieber bei sich haben wollten. Einen Nachmittag kamen I. H der Kronprinz sehr mißvergnügt von I. M. und befohlen so bald, da sie in ihr Zelt traten, daß man mich rufen sollte. (…) Unterdessen riefen mich I. H. der Prinz und sagten, sie könnten es ohnmöglich länger ausstehen, es müßten böse Leute sein, die ihn suchten übel bei I. M. zu setzen. Indem er von dieselben an eben dem Tage sehr wäre mortificiret worden: unter anderem hätten I. M. zu ihm gesagt, er wäre ein poltron, hätte kein Herz und dergleichen mehr, davon wollte er nun das Gegenteil zeigen, und wenn I. M. sehen würden, daß er capable wäre, dergleichen entreprise zu tun, so würden sie ihn lieb bekommen, und wieder gnädig werden. Er hätte keine andere desseins als I. M. aus den Augen zu gehen, um daß er dieselbe durch seine Gegenwart nicht mehr irritiren möchte, und davon sollte ihn auch anjetzo nichts mehr abhalten, ich möchte und müßte ihm auch dazu behülflich sein, ich sollte ihm solches versprechen.
Weil ich nun solches nicht gesonnen war, stellte ich ihm recht ernstlich vor, in was für verdrießliche und beschwerliche Umstände er sich stürzen würde, wie sehr er dadurch I. M. den König irritiren, und I. M. die Königin betrüben würde, er wisse ja überdem auch noch nicht, wo er sich hinwenden wollte (…). Unterdessen bat ich ihn, seine Vivacität ein wenig zu zwingen und den courir, wovon er mir gesagt hätte, abzuwarten, worauf er mir dann offenbarte, daß dieser courir der Secretarius Guy Dickens wäre, welcher bei seiner Rückkunft ihm gewisse Nachricht bringen würde, ob er nach Engeland kommen sollte oder nicht. Er wollte aber doch mit dem Grafen Hoym sprechen wegen der Reise, die ich nebst einem andern Officier, welcher er sein wollte, nach Leipzig incognito tun könnten, welches auch den folgenden Tag auf dem Pavillon geschähe, da dann I. H. der Prinz zu mir kamen und sagten, sie hätten mit dem Grafen gesprochen, es würde wohl angehen, ich sollte nur zu ihm gehen. Ich war aber schon vorher bei ihm gewesen und gebeten, wann ihm I. H. der Kronprinz von einer Reise, so ich nach Leipzig tun sollte, sprechen würde, möchte er nur alle Difficultäten, so viel als möglich machen, welches ich auch zum zweiten Mal tat, wie ich auf des Prinzen Befehl zu ihm ging mit Anhange, daß ich die Reise aus unterschiedenen Ursachen nicht gerne über mich nehmen wollte, noch könnte: weiter könnte ich mich hierüber nicht expliciren, welches er mir auch zu tun versprach, und wollte dem Prinzen schon zu verstehen geben, daß es so leichte nicht anginge, als man es sich vorstellte, kamen hernach weiter zu sprechen, wie man sich Projecte fingirte, die man sich leichte vorstellte, und wenn sie zu execution gedeihen sollten, so fänden sich nicht allein soviel Hindernisse, woran man nicht einmal gedacht, sondern sie kämen auch die meiste Zeit nicht zur Ausfährung, welches auch nur am besten wäre, zumalen, wenn sie von solcher Art wären, daß sie einem mehr Schaden und Verdruß als Nutzen brächten.
Ich hinterbrachte hierauf dem Prinzen, daß ich viel mehr Schwierigkeiten bei dem Grafen Hoym dieser Sache wegen gefunden, als ich mich vermutet, müßte man also nicht so geschwinde gehen, und möchte er ihn nur noch selber darüber sprechen, so würde er die Wahrheit davon erfahren. Er gab mit hierauf den Schlüssel zu seinem Kasten, ich möchte nach sein Zelt gehen und seine Sachen nebst dem Gelde, so ich finden würde, zu mir nehmen. Anstatt aber daß ich solches verrichten sollte, blieb ich unten am Pavillon bis das Exerciren vorbei, da ich mich dann wieder sehen ließ und sagte, daß ich nicht reussiren können, indem ich seine Bediente im Zelte angetroffen, die mir daran verhindert hätten, welches er dann auch vor gültig annahm (…).
Ob mir der Graf Hoym davon gesprochen, erwiderte er hierauf, ich sagte Ja, er hätte mir zu verstehen gegeben, wie I. H. viele Aufseher hätten. Ich möchte doch gleich zu ihm reiten, sagte er mir hierauf, und den Grafen bitten, daß er doch einige Nachrichten gäbe, wer doch die Aufseher wären, wie und auf welche Art sie auf ihn Achtung gäben. Um mich los zu machen, versprach ich solches, anstatt aber bei dem Grafen Hoym zu gehen, blieb ich im Lager bei dem Obristen Katten bis gegen 8 Uhr abends, da ich wieder in das Hauptquartier kam, mit einigen Offlciers, die mich dorten erwarteten, nach Riesa zu reiten. Unter dessen kamen I. H. von I. M. geritten, frugen mich sogleich nach dem, was mir der Graf Hoym zur Antwort erteilet hätte. Wie ich ihm aber sagte, daß ich den Grafen nicht getroffen, seine Leute auch nicht gewußt, wo er sich aufgehalten, schienen I. H. mißvergnügt darüber zu sein, sagten auch, ich würde wohl nicht sein bei ihm gewesen. Wie ich ihm aber das Gegenteil versicherte, so stellte er sich, als wenn er mir Glauben beimesse, und sagte weiter nichts, als, daß es meine Schuld, daß er nicht weggekommen, da er die beste Gelegenheit dazu gehabt, wüßte auch noch nicht, ob er es nicht noch wagte, indem es ihm ohnmöglich länger zu ertragen wäre, die Art, wie er tractiret würde. (…)
Cont'd in part 2, because DW comments have really low character limits for us historical researchers. :P
Re: Katte! - Species facti 2
Auf solche Art habe es versucht, in Sachsen zu decliniren, und ihn von einer Zeit zur anderen aufzuhalten, welches I H. auch nicht würden leugnen können, daß es sich von Wort zu Wort so verhält, wie es hier aufgesetzet.
Bei I. H. des Prinzen Ankunft in Berlin frugen mir selbe sogleich, ob ich schon Urlaub wegzugehen hätte, worauf ich ihm mit Nein antwortete: es wäre mir aber Hoffnung gegeben worden, daß ich bald reisen könnte; wenn er seinen Urlaub hat, sagten mir der Prinz, so muß er nur gleich weggehen und voraus nach Nürnberg gehen, woselbst ich wohl erfahren würde, wo die relais bestellet wären, da sollte ich dann mit Pferden auf ihn warten, er wollte dann aus dem Wagen steigen, seine Notdurft verrichten, da er sich dann auf das Pferd setzen und davon jagen wollte. (…) Mittlerweilen kam Monsieur Guy Dickens aus Engeland wieder zurück, welchen I. H. der Prinz zu sprechen verlangte, ging deswegen auch zu ihm hin, und sagte, wie ich gegen 10 Uhr auf den Abend kommen, ihn abzuholen, um mit I. H. den Kronprinzen zu sprechen. Gegen Abend wurde solches bewerkstelligt, und im währenden Hingehen sagte ich ihm, wie daß sich I. H. der Prinz flattirten, eine favorable Antwort durch ihn aus England zu erhalten, worauf er mir antwortete: Es täte ihm leid, daß sich I. H. der Prinz in Ihrer Meinung würden betrogen finden, denn sie wäre so beschaffen, daß sie ihm garnicht gefallen würde: kurz davon zu sagen, man wollte Ihn vorjetzo nicht haben und müßte er sich solche Gedanken ganz aus dem Sinne schlagen.
Wie ich das hörte, bat ich ihn inständig, die Sache noch schwerer vorzustellen, als wie er es sich vielleicht vorgenommen hätte, welches er auch in meinem Beisein tat, unter dem großen Portal, gegen I. H. des Prinzen Gemächer, es auch so weit poussirte, daß ihm der Prinz in Hand und Mund versprechen mußte, nicht mehr an der Sache zu gedenken.
Den folgenden Tag verlagten I. H. Mons. Guy Dickens wiederum zu sprechen, welcher sich aber excusirte, worauf sich I. H. beklagten, daß man ihn nur suchte aufzuhalten, es täte Ihnen nunmehro leid, daß er nicht aus Sachsen weggegangen wäre, daran wäre ich schuld.
Ich konnte mich hierauf nicht entbrechen, ihme zu sagen, daß er Unrecht täte, sich darüber zu beklagen, er würde finden, daß man ihm gut geraten hätte, welches, wie ich hoffte, er noch einmal selber gestehen würde, wollte ihm auch seine Sachen wieder zustellen, welche er aber nicht haben wollte, bis auf seine Music, die er wieder zu sich nahm; das Übrige möchte ich nur an mich behalten, bis er es abfordern würde. Den Tag darauf, welches etwa der 3. oder 4. vor der Abreise aus Berlin war, sagten mir I. H., wie das I. M. resolvirt hätten, daß er nicht mit von der Reise, sondern in Potsdam bleiben sollte, wollte auch deswegen bei der gefaßten resolution, nicht wegzugehen, bleiben (…). Hier dachte ich nun ganz gewiß, daß die Sache vollkommen ein Ende hätte, und dieserhalb nichts mehr zu besorgen hätte, befohl mir aber noch vor seiner Abreise, ich sollte ja stille sein, und gegen keinen Menschen davon sprechen, daß er sowas vorgehabt hätte, indem er sich sonst gegen keinen Menschen dieserhalb eröffnet. Den anderen Tag darauf, wie I. H. der Prinz nach Potsdam gekommen, bekam ich einen Brief vom Lieutnant von Ingersleben, wie daß I. H. verlangten, ich sollte gegen Abend in Potsdam sein, indem Sie notwendig mit mir zu sprechen hätten.
Wie ich ankam, so sprechen Sie mit mir im Garten, zwischen die Hecken und sagten, I. M. hätten sich anders resolviret, und Sie sollen nun mitreisen, möchte also doch machen, daß Ihm der coup wegzugehen, reussiren möchte. Ich stellte ihm alles in der Welt vor, davon abzustehen, wie er auch bereits solches versprochen, ich auch überdem noch nicht commandiret wäre, auf Werbung zu gehen, es wäre auch noch ungewiß, wenn solches geschehen würde. (…) Den Abend vor I. H. des Prinzen Abreise von Potsdam kam sein Page und brachte mir einen Brief nebst einem Sattel und Music, nichts mehr sagende, als I. H. hätten befohlen, mir solches zu übergeben. In dem Briefe schrieb er mir, wie er hoffe, daß ich ihm werde Wort halten und versprochenermaßen folgen: ich solte nur gerade nach Canstadt gehen und seiner dort erwarten. Ich erfuhr aber kurz darauf, wie die Werbe-Pässe von I. M. unterschrieben wieder zurück kamen, daß meinethalben nicht wäre geschrieben worden, und saget mir der Obrister von Panwitz, daß vor I. M. Wiederkunft zu meiner Reise keine Hoffnung wäre, welches mir um deswegen freuete, weil ich dadurch neue Gelegenheit bekam, des Prinzen Project zu hintertreiben, schrieb deswegen auch an ihn durch einen Expressen, welchen an den Rittmeister Katte nach Erlangen schickte, daß derselbe dem Prinzen den Brief insinuiren möchte:
Worinnen ich ihm vorstellte, wie und auf was Art ich an meiner Reise wäre verhindert worden, und wie es mir also ohnmöglich wäre, an den verlangten Ort zu kommen, ich hätte vom Obristen von Panwitz Urlaub nach Magdeburg verlangt (obgleich solches nicht geschehen), wäre mir aber auch abgeschlagen, und bäte also gar sehr, in Geduld zu stehen, vielleicht würde ich gegen dem, daß er nach Cleve käme, mich dorten einfinden können, und um ihn noch sicherer zu machen, schloß ich den Brief, daß, wenn es nicht anders angehen könnte, wollte ich ohne Urlaub weggehen, darauf bekam ich zur Antwort, daß ihm diese Zeitung gar nicht angenehm wäre, sondern sehr mißfiele, er wollte noch in Geduld stehen und mir noch einmal schreiben. (…)
Inzwischen ließ mir der General Löwenöhr sagen, er würde in etlichen Tagen wegreisen und möchte ich doch zu ihm kommen, weil er mir notwendig zu sprechen; wie ich den anderen Morgen zu ihm kam, frug er mich, ob ich wohl die Ursache wüßte, warum man mir den Urlaub oder die Werbung nicht verstatten wollen, so sagte ihm darauf, weil er mir dergleichen Frage thäte, so glaubte ich auch, daß er gesonnen wäre, mir solche zu offenbahren, ich glaubte, ich käme, wegen einer Mutmaßung, ob ich I. H. den Kronprinzen behülflich sein wollte, wegzugehen, und könnte ich ihm versichern, daß es meine intention niemals gewesen, ob ich gleich solches zum öftern glauben gemacht, erzählete ihm darauf den Verlauf der ganzen Sache, wie solcher hier beschrieben worden, nähme auch Gott zu Zeugen, daß es niemals mein ernstliches Vorhaben gewesen. Es wäre wahr, ich hätte den Prinzen hintergangen, aber es wäre aus einer guten intention geschehen, hätte mich auch zuletzt aller seiner Sachen bemächtiget, einzig und allein, um ihn außer Vermögen zu setzen, dergleichen allein vorzunehmen; daß ich hierin ein gut Gewissen hätte, könnte ich daraus beweisen, daß ich ganz geruhig hier bliebe. Ich wäre auch vollkommen versichert, daß er anjetzo nichts entrepreniren würde, und könnte teils, weil er kein Vermögen dazu in Händen hätte und mich fest erwartete, teils auch, weil Rochow und seine Bediente den soupcon von ihm hätten, sie gewiß sehr genau auf ihn Achtung geben würden, daß er ohnmöglich echappiren könnte. Daraus könnte er ja klärlich sehen, ob meine intention so schlimm wäre. Das Einzige, so man mir imputiren könnte, wäre, daß ich solches nicht gleich angegeben, es wäre aber aus der Ursache geschehen, weil ich mich so sicher bei allen diesen Umständen glaubte, auch so versichert war, daß dieser coup nicht geschehen würde, daß ich nicht einen unnötigen Verdruß oder Chagrin verursachen wolle. Hätte ich aber das Allergeringste befürchten können, so würde ich es gewiß also bald denunciret haben; daß solches meine wahrhafte Intention gewesen, nehme ich Gott zum Zeugen, und will auch daraufleben und sterben.
Vier Tage darauf bekam ich einen Brief von I. H. dem Prinzen aus Ansbach datirt, daß er sich vorstellte, ein hart sejour in Wusterhausen zu erleben, und wo es möglich, wollte er solchem gerne entgehen, indem sich I. M. von Tage zu Tage ungnädiger bezeigten, er wollte probiren, ob er zu Sinzheim echappiren könnte: weil aber zu der Zeit, da ich den Brief bekam, I. M. beinahe in Wesel sein konnten, ich auch durch die Nachrichten, so von I. M. suite einliefen, nicht anders hörete, als daß noch alles im guten Stande und I. M. nebst des Kronprinzen H. aller Orten glücklich angekommen wären und in etlichen Tagen in Wesel anzulangen gedachten, so machte ich mich gar keine Sorgen, noch mehr Gedanken darüber; antwortete deswegen, auch an I. H. der Kronprinzessin, wie sie mir auf mein Gewissen befragte, ob ich dächte, daß ihr Bruder weggehen oder wiederkommen würde, daß ich ihr nunmehro gewiß versichern wollte, daß sie ihn so gesund wiedersehen würde, als wie er von hier weggegangen. Das gebe Gott, antwortete sie hierauf, ich wünsche es von Herzen.
Die Briefe, nebst denen Sachen, so darin, habe wohl 14 Tage vor meinem Arrest an meinen Vetter, so ein Katte, und in Churmärkischer Kammer ist, gegeben, um solche, wenn ich etwa verreisen würde, jemandem zu überliefern, daß sie in der Königin Hände kommen möchten, oder kämen I. H. der Prinz, daß Sie selbige bekäme. (...)
Ich habe also nichts mehr dabei vorzustellen, als nur in aller Untertänigkeit und tiefester Submission E. K. M. zu bitten, gnädigst zu consideriren wie meine Intention keine andere gewesen, als I. H. den Prinzen von seinen desseins abzuhalten, und zu verhindern, daß sie nicht möchten ins Werk gerichtet und vollfähret worden.
Und da Gott Gnade vor Recht ergehen lasset, so hoffe, E. M. werde auch solchesan mich armen Menschen beweisen, undvielmehr meine Intention, so bei dieser Sache gehabt, gnädigst in consideration ziehen. Gott ist mein Zeuge, daß sie auf nichts anders gerichtet gewesen, als dasjenige zu verhindern, was I. H. der Prinz intendiret, und zwar auf eine solche Art, daß I. M. nicht noch mehr wider ihn möchten irritiret werden. (...)
Bitte also nochmals in aller Untertänigkeit E. K. M. wollen mir Gnade widerfahren lassen.
Re: Katte! - Species facti 2
Just for now, though, would like to point out that it seems the one scene in Der Thronfolger, part II, between Katte and Wilhelmine where she‘s Hans-ing him seems to be based on the conversation he says in this confession he had with her, and on his claim a few sentences earlier before mentioning the conversation, that since he had all the money and the papers and was in Berlin, and Fritz didn‘t have any of the money and the papers, he assumed Fritz wouldn‘t go for it. „And thus I replied when Her Highness the Crown Princess asked me on my conscience whether I thought her brother would leave or return, that I now could reassure her with certainty that she would see him again and as healthy - or maybe „safe and sound“ is less literal but more idiomatic a translation - as he‘d been when leaving. May God grant it, she replied, I wish it with all my heart.
Note that this actually doesn‘t say Fritz won‘t desert, if you pay attention. It just says Wilhelmine will see him again. (The phrasing does not say when, it‘s just the earlier stated claim that Katte thought Fritz would not make the attempt sans cash that makes it sound like he‘s promising immediate - and physically safe - return.)
BTW, in general, this reads to me like a typical first confession - admit only something that‘s already been proven (Katte knew Fritz wanted to desert) but put the best possible spin on it (I tried to prevent it! I didn‘t think he‘d go through with it at this point! I only didn‘t report it because I didn‘t want to make things worse for him with the King, since they were terrible enough already!) in order to survive. Katte not being suicidal, this makes sense. (Would have worked, too, if not for FW, lest we forget, given the tribunal sentence.)
Re: Katte! - Species facti 2
I don't see any Absalom references, but does it otherwise answer your question about whether the person dictating the Puncta knew about the specific occasions on which Katte tried to dissuade Fritz and what he supposedly said on those occasions?
BTW, in general, this reads to me like a typical first confession - admit only something that‘s already been proven but put the best possible spin on it in order to survive. Katte not being suicidal, this makes sense.
It does, and I totally support Katte trying to talk his way out of it, and curse FW!
Re: Katte! - Species facti 2
Re: Katte! - Species facti 2
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
He's also a major source for a lot of other resources, including Lavisse and Wikipedia. I found the source for a lot of things I'd seen before in unreliable sources. For example:
Fritz didn't like Katte at first but was won over by Katte's schoolfriends, including Ingersleben--Koser.
Katte and Fritz bonded over the study of mechanics and mathematics--Koser.
Mit einem ausgesprochenen Interesse für die Mathematik und Mechanik, das des Prinzen Lehrer Senning durch seinen Unter richt noch reger machte, verbanden sich künstlerische Anlagen;
Katte says that he was overwhelmed with compassion when Fritz used to cry ("weinen"--is this literal weeping with tears, or just lamenting?) over his sad lot, and loved Fritz so much that when Fritz pleaded with him so much, he couldn't say no--Koser.
Oh, something that surprised me very much: Katte said during his interrogation that Fritz said Seckendorff and Grumbkow were trying to make him a Catholic so he could marry an Austrian archduchess and be HRE.
FW: Say WHAATT??! Do you know anything about this, my wretched son??
Fritz: I'm sure there's some mistake! Ask him again.
FW: No fucking way did that ever cross their minds, damnable boyfriend of my son. Fritz has no idea what you're talking about. You wanna take that back?
Katte: I said what I said.
All of Protestant Europe: WOE. Our HERO Fritz was just trying to escape an evil Catholic plot.
Fritz, 6 months later: Convert to Catholicism and outrank Dad, huh? Actually, that's not a bad idea.
Here's the passage in Koser, if you're as disbelieving as I am:
Am meisten aber brachte es ihn auf, daß Katte von dem Prinzen gehört haben wollte, Seckendorff und Grumbkow beabsichtigten, ihn katholisch zu machen und ihm die Hand einer Erzherzogin und die römische Königskrone zuzuwenden. Friedrich Wilhelm setzte in die beiden gerade jetzt das unbegrenzteste Vertrauen. Vergebens beteuerte der Kronprinz, daß ein Mißverständ nis von Katte vorliegen müsse; Katte blieb bei seiner Aussage.
The MT marriage AU follows us wherever we go!
After the main interrogation of Fritz on September 16, FW is so furious that he says no more servants?? I think? The servant who was sleeping in town and visiting Fritz isn't allowed to enter the cell any more, and instead there's some kind of guard, who's not allowed to answer Fritz's questions?
Der Lakai, der anfänglich in dem Gemach des Prinzen aufgewartet hatte, sollte es jetzt nicht mehr betreten; statt seiner erschien ein Kalfaktor von der Wache, der ebensowenig wie die beiden diensthabenden Offiziere dem Gefangenen irgend eine Frage beantworten durfte.
Interestingly, Lavisse isn't trying to reconcile Wilhelmine and Fontane by saying the sand heap and Katte's body were visible from Fritz's room; he's following Koser. Koser's version is that the Weißkopf was a tower that had been torn down by 1730. Its ruins prevented 150 men from assembling at the foot of Fritz's window, but the execution site 50 paces to the left was perfectly visible from Fritz's room, next to the guardhouse. Unlike Münchow fils., who has the execution taking place "auf den Wall", Koser has it "unter dem Walle."
And Münchow has the Weißkopf still standing, and higher than the second-floor arrest room. Koser has it torn down and only about man-high.
I'm inclined to trust Münchow more on this particular point? It might have been torn down by Koser's time (almost certainly was, since he's writing in 1900 and by 1921, it's gone) but still standing for young Münchow to use as a playground in the 1720s and 30s.
I trust Koser more on things like documentation--I found him originally because he's the one who quotes the FW letter telling Lepel that Fritz is required to watch the execution--but Münchow more on things like what the fortress was like in 1730 when he had his playground there.
Koser also says that Fritz was informed of the execution 2 hours before it happened. I don't know, I kind of liked it better when he only had a few minutes to agonize. That must have been the worst two hours ever.
He seems to have access to the August 31 species facti and the various interrogations, which so far I have not tracked down. Hinrichs' 1936 Kronprinzenprozeß is looking promising, but it would be rather difficult/expensive to get my hands on.
But Koser is a nice dense 250 pages of German that I've only translated chunks of, so if you wanted to take a look at the whole thing,
By the way, I tracked Wikipedia's source on Katte being raised partly in the Netherlands: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie again, wiki's main source. They list so many Katte references at the end, without signaling which one goes with which fact, that I haven't been able to track it any further back than that. I trust Kloosterhuis's "raised largely by Grandpa Wartensleben in Berlin" more at this point.
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Mit einem ausgesprochenen Interesse für die Mathematik und Mechanik, das des Prinzen Lehrer Senning durch seinen Unter richt noch reger machte, verbanden sich künstlerische Anlagen;
With a pronounced interest in mathematics and mechanics, which the teacher of the Prince, Senning, made even more keen through his classes, were connected budding artistic abilities;
The MT marriage AU follows us wherever we go!
It does. Also, I'm no longer surprised Förster thought poor Protestant Fritz was trying to escape an Evil Catholic plot, too, until he found the correspondance between Seckendorff and Eugene with Seckendorff being "WTF?" and Eugene going "that's one dangerous young man". Mind you, now my own MT marriage AU is even more AU than I thought because I let Fritz chastize himself for not thinking of marrying an archduchess while Katte was still alive. Which he evidently did. I mean, not that I trust Grumbkow & Seckendorff, but it wasn't in any way in their interest to piss off FW at this point, and they knew that his oldest son becoming a Catholic would have made him incredibly furious. And they knew as well that Fritz converting would have been a sine qua non for any MT (or even her younger sister) marriage project as far as the Habsburgs were concerned.
So, either:
a) Katte is lying to create trouble between FW and G & S, who until this point have been nothing but trouble for his beloved
or
b) Fritz actually did consider the idea as an alternate escape plan, but Katte knew FW would be even more angry at his son for flirting with Catholicism and thus blames G & S for said idea
or
c) Fritz considered the idea but lied to Katte as to who it was from, because he didn't want Katte to know about his budding Machiavellian instincts.
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
OMGGGG. Hurt/comfort is canon. :'-(((
With a pronounced interest in mathematics and mechanics, which the teacher of the Prince, Senning, made even more keen through his classes, were connected budding artistic abilities;
So he's saying Fritz's teacher, Senning, also taught Katte. Thank you for clarifying the relationships among the individuals there.
Okay, so that's where the "Katte and Fritz shared private lessons on mathematics and mechanics" in Wikipedia (and Zeithain) comes from. Now I just need to figure out where Koser got *his* info from. I'm guessing it's the other species facti, the one I don't have, because the note at the end says that's where most of the Katte info comes from, the two species facti. And I don't see anything about mechanics or sharing lessons in this one.
I'm no longer surprised Förster thought poor Protestant Fritz was trying to escape an Evil Catholic plot, too,
Yes, that makes sense now! There are multiple marriage AU plots going on. It makes sense: if Fritz can't escape his father through one marriage, he'll try another marriage. All he really wants is not to be horrifically abused.
And that was too much to ask. :(
I let Fritz chastize himself for not thinking of marrying an archduchess while Katte was still alive. Which he evidently did.
I was thinking of that! But if Katte really is lying, it may not be AU after all: maybe Fritz got the idea *from* Katte.
But that seems like a surprisingly risky gamble from Katte, if so. (b) and (c) seem more likely to me. Especially (c), if Fritz and Katte can't keep their story straight under interrogation. The most straightforward explanation to me is:
Fritz: *tells Katte about G & S's marriage plan*
Katte: *uses the Evil Plot to justify helping Fritz escape*
FW: *confronts Fritz with his lie*
Fritz: Shit! Dad's never gonna buy that G & S were behind this. "I'm sure there was some mistake! Ask Katte again!"
Fritz: *sending Katte frantic telepathic signals*
Katte: *oblivious* No, seriously, that's what I was told. Don't you want me to get your son away from evil Catholic plots? *bats eyelashes*
FW: The only people not lying to me here are G & S. Off with Fritz and Katte's heads!
Now, I haven't seen the documentary evidence for this supposed accusation by Katte, but I'm trying to get my hands on Hinrichs' book, which might have some of the interrogation material. (Since shipping to the US is expensive, I'm going to try seeing if I can ILL it. Will report back if I'm successful.)
Possible (d) idea:
d) Katte was trying to talk Fritz into staying, and Fritz lied to him to get more support for his plan.
That would be consistent with the account given above, where Katte innocently maintains what he believes to be true and Fritz is frantically denying it.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in my Koser write-up: apparently one argument Fritz used with Katte to argue that escaping was safe was that Grandpa F1 ran away in 1679 when *he* was crown prince, and *he* didn't get in trouble! And then apparently Vienna brought this up with FW when trying to intervene for Fritz.
FW apparently liked that argument about as well as he liked the G & S Catholic plot accusation.
FW: That's completely different! Dad was worried about being poisoned! And he was careful not to desert! My father was nothing like that worst of all possible sons I had to lock up in Küstrin. And DON'T tell me the Emperor mediated with my father and grandfather and it worked out really well. I rule alone!
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
Tangentially: St. Joan
Re: Tangentially: St. Joan
Re: Tangentially: St. Joan
Re: Tangentially: St. Joan
Re: Katte! - The Koser take
I once read something that I thought was clever, which was that if your story includes a firearm and you're not a gun nut, and you specify the make of the firearm by name, you should call it a "modified [whatever]," so that when you make that inevitable mistake somewhere in your story, gun nuts can nod knowingly and think, "Ah, yes, that's the modification." (Whether it's a plausible modification is another matter, but this has to at least improve your odds.)
I'm starting to feel like if I write Fritz fic, I should call everything an AU no matter how closely I'm trying to adhere to reality, because within a month or two, we'll have turned up something to contradict what I wrote. :P
That is, in fact, how I've read historical fiction for a long time: I tell myself it takes place in an AU, whether the author thinks it does or not, and then when I hit that inevitable error, I nod knowingly to myself about parallel universes. It helps my blood pressure like you would not believe, and allows me to focus on whether it's a *good* story without worrying excessively about whether it's a *accurate* or *plausible* story. I realize this doesn't work for everyone, but it's of great assistance to me.
I mean, both "Pulvis et Umbra" and "Counterpoint for Two Flutes" have already turned out to have errors beyond the intentional creative liberties that were taken at time of writing, so it's only a matter of time before any fic I write becomes obsolete in terms of my current knowledge base. It's actually comforting to see it happening to you too. ;)
Re: Katte!
There's a two page summary of events that I would love some help with when you have time,
It's got yet another variant on Katte's last words! This is the only one to mention FW that I've ever seen. (I'm not 100% confident of all the spelling, so please correct any errors.)
Mein gnädigster Cron-prinz sie haben nicht Ursach mich um Verzeihung zu bitten, wenn ich zehen Leben zu verliehren hätte, so wollte ich gern darum geben, wann nur Eu. Königliche Hoheit mit Dero Herrn Vater dem König dadurch könten versöhn et werden.
My most gracious Crown Prince, you have nothing to ask me for forgiveness for; if I had ten lives to lose, I would gladly give them up, if only Your Royal Highness could be reconciled with your Lord Father the King.
Wooow. You said this was printed in the Prussian-hating region of Cologne, and I wonder if the point of this is to emphasize that FW is the problem here.
It's also, interestingly, not the variant that Wilhelmine (and Pöllnitz) has, which involves a thousand lives and no reconciliation. So though this may be where she's getting her letter to Katte's grandfather, it's not where she's not getting the last words to Fritz. The pamphlet account's also got a sand heap and no scaffold, but it has Fritz watching. I can't quite tell, but I think he faints after seeing Katte beheaded, not before. It's got Katte's body lying out there until 2 pm, after which some townspeople put it in a coffin of four planks and bury it (in the soldiers' cemetery?).
It's super useful to know what account was floating around at the time with no reference to the horse's mouth!
Also, it looks like the letters were translated into English by 1734, but I can't seem to get my hands on a copy of that online without being Australian, sigh. We need an Australian royal patron now. :P
Re: Katte!
Text before letters:
- in this version, Fritz learns Katte will be executed at 5 am, the execution itself doesn‘t take place until 10 am. He‘s informed by „two captains“ who also tell him they‘re ordered to force him to watch and will have to drag him to the window if he can‘t go on his own. He does faint after, not before the beheading. Katte keeps eye contact with him right until death. He‘s calm and undresses himself (i.e. removes his shirt), and, as described by Fontane, who quotes Major v. S on this, binds his own eyes via the sleeping cap. Before he does that, he makes one last Hand kiss gesture towards Fritz. (Pamphlet says Hand-Fuß, not „Hand-Kuß“, but I think that‘s simply a letter misprint, because a foot instead of a kiss makes no sense here.) Fritz faints as soon as the head rolls and is no more seen by anyone. Katte‘s body lies there until 2 pm.
Thoughts: there are enough accurate elements here - sand, not scaffold, Katte putting the cap over his eyes, the body lying until 2 pm, as specified by FW‘s orders, which the pamphleteer couldn‘t have known, and of course the big one, accurate letters - that I think there‘s an eyewitness report involved. The divergences - the hour of execution, Fritz watching and fainting after, not before, Katte keeping eye contact - can be simply yellow press need for even more drama. Because these kind of pamphlets are the 18th century equivalent of the Daily Mail/Bildzeitung in Germany/ Whatever rag preceeded the existence of Fox TV in the US). The more tearjerking, the better.
Now, FW mention in Katte‘s reply - yes, I do think this is for making FW look even worse. Though there is one alternate explanation, if the whole thing (the pamphlet) is intended as a moral lesson for disobedient sons to lead a more Christian life. But I think in that case, it would have ended on the Crown Prince praying with Pater Müller. That Fritz post fainting „isn‘t seen or heard of“ anymore is one of those details that make me believe someone did get an eyewitness account and then proceeded to juice it up. Pamphlets aren‘t meant for historians but for sensational gossip mongers paying for them, after all!
Re: Katte!
He‘s informed by „two captains“ who also tell him they‘re ordered to force him to watch and will have to drag him to the window if he can‘t go on his own.
That's interesting, because it meas this story was floating around without coming from Fritz, and any memoirist who reports it isn't necessarily getting it from Fritz, or even from someone who was inside the room. *However*, Fritz fainting seems to be real, since he reports it to Mitchell. Since the fainting is in the pamphlet, that means word got out from inside that room pretty quickly. Seeing as how Fritz fainting isn't something an eyewitness of the execution could tell from outside. Since Wilhelmine says doctors were immediately sent for, that makes sense. That was probably known throughout the town by evening November 6.
Katte keeps eye contact with him right until death.
On the one hand, this is obviously something anyone in the history of ever would supply to spice up the narrative, but, on the other, if we trust the sources that say that Fritz couldn't see over the ones that say he could, it's possible that what really happened was that Katte kept looking in the direction of the Schloss where Fritz was. Which is what I always imagined, because I think he's clinging to every anchor he can grab in order to keep his calm exterior, and Fritz is going to be a major focal point. I think Katte's got a voice in the back--or front--of his mind chanting, "This is for Fritz, do it for Fritz, it's okay, it's worth it, Fritz is worth it."
Also, I agree the pamphlet is based largely off an eyewitness report, and if you consider that there were 150 eyewitnesses from the garrison, plus a handful of others, the source is most likely one or more of them. And as I said in another comment, since all contemporaries agree that Fritz could see the execution from where he was, it must not have been at all obvious to them that he couldn't. If nothing else, even if they can tell that Fritz's room isn't visible, they can't be certain that Fritz hasn't been moved to a room with a better view. So if Katte was staring at the Schloss or Weisskopf until the end, everyone outside is going to assume that Fritz is looking back.
And thus FW gets a report that Fritz *totally* watched, and fainted afterwards (I figured that's what Münchow/Schack/Lepel told him, and it's nice to see a contemporary account that says exactly that!).
Pamphlet says Hand-Fuß, not „Hand-Kuß“, but I think that‘s simply a letter misprint, because a foot instead of a kiss makes no sense here.
OOOHHH. Duh. I was wondering what that hand-foot gesture was, knew there were stories about final kiss-blowing, but was wondering if hand-foot was some kind of crazy German idiom like English "raining cats and dogs," and completely forgot the German word for kiss. Thanks!
The divergences - the hour of execution, Fritz watching and fainting after, not before, Katte keeping eye contact - can be simply yellow press need for even more drama.
Yes, and also inaccuracies that inevitably creep into any story through the course of transmission. If something happened at 7:45 am, I wouldn't necessarily expect everyone to remember it didn't happen at 10 am and for that number to be preserved two months later hundreds of miles away. Especially since the date is also wrong (Nov 9 instead of Nov 6), and I'm not entirely sure Nov 9 fits a yellow press need. Unless you can think of something.
And as for the story that Fritz watched and fainted afterward, as noted, that's not only the yellow press need, that's the "I, Münchow and Lepel, don't want my own head chopped off by FW for not making Fritz watch" need. Plus, any given eyewitness was either inside or outside, and the outside eyewitnesses couldn't see what happened inside and vice versa. And let's be real, even if the execution had taken place directly under Fritz's window, one, it's hard for people outside a building to see inside a room through the window anyway, and two, when Katte's head rolls directly in front of you, are you really staring at Fritz's window and timing the moment at which you don't see him any more vis-a-vis the moment the head falls? You're watching either the executioner or Katte. And then when you look up and see Fritz isn't there any more, you conclude that he fainted afterward. No conscious invention necessary.
And since everyone who was in the room is repeating that version of the story loudly, where FW can hear them...actually, much to my surprise, I'm backing myself into a corner where the only account according to which Fritz fainted *before* has to come from Fritz. First to Wilhelmine, presumably, who passes it on to Pöllnitz.
And the only other source that explicitly has Fritz fainting before, not after...is Catt. Who has Fritz saying that he avoided seeing the execution only by dint of fainting first.
Which, as I've pointed out, makes sense if Fritz hadn't been told he wasn't going to have to see the head fall, if afterward everyone is proclaiming to his father that he did, and if when he woke up, he wasn't surprised at not seeing the body because he assumed it was taken away (whereas outside perspectives know it was left until 2 pm), and if his accounts don't report a sand heap because he never saw one, because it was out of sight. Which is why the accounts that might come at least partly from him, Wilhelmine and Voltaire, supply scaffolds.
And you know, if the dominant narrative is that Fritz saw it, if very few people know he didn't, if Catt didn't have access to Wilhelmine (okay, darn, he had access to Pöllnitz, but their accounts are so radically different that I don't see a link), if the *obvious* and *sensationalist* account is that Fritz saw the execution and fainted afterwards, and two people independently making up something less obvious and less exciting would be very strange...
I think the Catt account is real, as in, comes from Fritz. I think the conversation happened after the diary ends in 1760, not remotely on the date that it's reported in the memoirs, where we've seen that Catt clumsily stitches together a bunch of disparate anecdotes and leaves his seams showing, but
1) We know Fritz talked about the execution with Mitchell.
2) We know Fritz talked about Küstrin with Catt.
When I started writing this post, I was 50/50 on Catt getting his Katte account from Fritz vs. fleshing out Voltaire with what he'd heard from other sources. Well, I still think he was reading Voltaire based on that one sentence I pasted earlier, but I'm now like 80/20 on Catt getting his account from Fritz. Which means I suspect Voltaire did too.
Thiébault, though, I think is getting his account from Pöllnitz (probably written rather than orally, or at least not solely orally), possibly Voltaire, and whatever else was floating around by 1804. T's account doesn't have any of the hallmarks of a Fritz account, and even his actual memoirs have more in common with Pöllnitz and Wilhelmine than with Catt, Voltaire, and Mitchell. No, one exception: T has Fritz calling simply "mon ami," and nothing from Katte, and doesn't report any of the variants of Fritz begging Katte's pardon and Katte's last words telling Fritz there's nothing to forgive. The absence of that dialogue is one element I think was probably a feature of Fritz's account, where I can easily imagine Fritz absolutely did not want to recount his last exchange with Katte with people he wasn't really that close to. I.e. I think Wilhelmine got a much more detailed and emotional account from him.
Well, leaving T aside, the important thing is I now think Catt's account is very likely to be real, based on Mitchell + the fainting taking place before rather than after.
Btw, Münchow, Jr. has Fritz *about* to faint, and, since he's the sole 18th century source so far who doesn't believe Fritz could see the execution site from his room, he obviously believes it was triggered by that last exchange with Katte and not by the sight of the execution itself. Which tells me that maybe after FW was dead, Münchow, Sr. started talking, at least with his family, about how Fritz didn't see the execution after all.
One more detail that varies: who informed Fritz of the upcoming execution? According to the pamphlet, two captains. According to Wilhelmine, Lepel and Münchow. According to Münchow fils, Lepel and Münchow. But according to Catt and Voltaire, "an old officer and four/several grenadiers."
So either Voltaire is making it up and Catt is copying him, which I now think is unlikely, or else there's this possible reconciliation: Münchow and Lepel as the two men of rank that are worth mentioning, plus several officers there to wrangle the reluctant boy to the window if necessary. Lepel, 73 years old, is the one who breaks the news to Fritz. Münchow is present, but Fritz is too busy freaking out at the time to remember all the details three decades later, or possibly just doesn't consider the presence of another officer important enough to be worth reporting, when there are much bigger deals going on, like the part where his boyfriend is about to die.
Though there is one alternate explanation, if the whole thing (the pamphlet) is intended as a moral lesson for disobedient sons to lead a more Christian life.
That did occur to me as well, but if you say there's nothing else to reinforce it...I, as a sensational gossip-monger who would have paid for this pamphlet (but thankfully didn't have to :P), am going with "Shame on FW!"
That Fritz post fainting „isn‘t seen or heard of“ anymore is one of those details that make me believe someone did get an eyewitness account and then proceeded to juice it up.
Now that sounds like yellow press to me! Wilhelmine's version has Fritz on the verge of death for three days, but I believe Müller's report to FW has him and Fritz chatting about predestination the next day, so I think Wilhelmine is juicing that part up herself, out of sympathy for Fritz, and general sensationalism.
Thanks so much for this write-up. It turned out to be surprisingly helpful in developing my thoughts about the reliability of the Catt account.
Re: Katte!
Reconciling the evidence
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Also, thanks a million for indulging my obsessive detective work on what really happened on November 6, 1730, and who told whom what. :D
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Catt's reliability
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Re: Katte! - Envoy reports
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