But at least 1790 guy doesn't think Fredersdorf was alive and helping run the country until 1780!! That's astounding. Like cahn says, nice AU. :P
It did occur to me that Achim von Arnim's grandpa on the maternal side, whom Mrs. Fredersdorf married as a widow, did in fact work as Fritz' Chamberlain, too. (And may well have lived until 1780.) Though naturally not with the same kind of power as Fredersdorf, let alone the same type of relationship with Fritz. Now, not that I want to be mean, but Bettina von Arnim, née Brentano, was a writer with quite the imagination and none too bothered in rewriting history if the final product justified it, see her book "Goethes Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde". (Which best is described as RPF starring herself and Goethe with the occasional nod to history.) So I could totally see her decide that hey, actual Grandpa of her husband was a nobody no one knows anymore, why not merge him with Fredersdorf and thus make Fredersdorf Achim's ancestor? Hence also the confusion of birthdates. Maybe Burchardt got all his intel on Fredersdorf from her and the late Achim, along with the letters. Unlike us, it's not like he could look up a great many other sources on Fredersdorf.
The least plausible part to me about this proposition is how on earth FW let him out of Potsdam to go be Fritz's valet, if he was tall enough to be a Potsdam giant?
Indeed. So I'm going with your estimation of Fredersdorf's size as just below the Potsdam giant standard.
It's also interesting that Fredersdorf persists in all the quackery despite Fritz's warnings, so either he doesn't believe it'll affect his virility, or he thinks it's worth the risk.
Well, in this particular case, I don't think Fritz actually sent medicine. Paracelsus is a legendary medieval scholar and master of alchemy. I very much doubt that Fritz, whose relationship with his doctors is best described as sceptical, actually took medicine based on a mythical Paracelsus recipe. (I doubt there is such a thing, btw.) My guess is that the "rare elixir" is a bottle of good wine (which has done Fritz and all who have drunk it good), and calling it a Paracelsus-based drought is Fritz kidding Fredersdorf about his alchemy obsession, followed by the kidding about impotence.
This said, in general Fredersdorf not listening to all the Fritz advice about staying away from quackery is interesting. I mean, we know he didn't do his body any favours there, but then again, what Fredersdorf knows that Fritz hasn't studied medicine and is no way a scientist qualified to have an opinion in this matter. Listening to experts over know it alls usually is the smart thing to do (unless we're talking 18th century medicine). In any event, it indicates that Fredersdorf might have been ultra respectful in his few prerserved letters but clearly did have opinions he wasn't willing to budge from in his life with Fritz. (Or rather, where he said "sure thing, your majesty" and promptly ignored whatever Fritz had been advising.)
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Re: Fredersdorf
It did occur to me that Achim von Arnim's grandpa on the maternal side, whom Mrs. Fredersdorf married as a widow, did in fact work as Fritz' Chamberlain, too. (And may well have lived until 1780.) Though naturally not with the same kind of power as Fredersdorf, let alone the same type of relationship with Fritz. Now, not that I want to be mean, but Bettina von Arnim, née Brentano, was a writer with quite the imagination and none too bothered in rewriting history if the final product justified it, see her book "Goethes Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde". (Which best is described as RPF starring herself and Goethe with the occasional nod to history.) So I could totally see her decide that hey, actual Grandpa of her husband was a nobody no one knows anymore, why not merge him with Fredersdorf and thus make Fredersdorf Achim's ancestor? Hence also the confusion of birthdates. Maybe Burchardt got all his intel on Fredersdorf from her and the late Achim, along with the letters. Unlike us, it's not like he could look up a great many other sources on Fredersdorf.
The least plausible part to me about this proposition is how on earth FW let him out of Potsdam to go be Fritz's valet, if he was tall enough to be a Potsdam giant?
Indeed. So I'm going with your estimation of Fredersdorf's size as just below the Potsdam giant standard.
It's also interesting that Fredersdorf persists in all the quackery despite Fritz's warnings, so either he doesn't believe it'll affect his virility, or he thinks it's worth the risk.
Well, in this particular case, I don't think Fritz actually sent medicine. Paracelsus is a legendary medieval scholar and master of alchemy. I very much doubt that Fritz, whose relationship with his doctors is best described as sceptical, actually took medicine based on a mythical Paracelsus recipe. (I doubt there is such a thing, btw.) My guess is that the "rare elixir" is a bottle of good wine (which has done Fritz and all who have drunk it good), and calling it a Paracelsus-based drought is Fritz kidding Fredersdorf about his alchemy obsession, followed by the kidding about impotence.
This said, in general Fredersdorf not listening to all the Fritz advice about staying away from quackery is interesting. I mean, we know he didn't do his body any favours there, but then again, what Fredersdorf knows that Fritz hasn't studied medicine and is no way a scientist qualified to have an opinion in this matter. Listening to experts over know it alls usually is the smart thing to do (unless we're talking 18th century medicine). In any event, it indicates that Fredersdorf might have been ultra respectful in his few prerserved letters but clearly did have opinions he wasn't willing to budge from in his life with Fritz. (Or rather, where he said "sure thing, your majesty" and promptly ignored whatever Fritz had been advising.)