Frederick the Great discussion post 11

[cahn]

In our last installment, our heroes found that Henri de Catt's memoirs, a major source for current biographers of Frederick the Great, are not to be trusted!!

rheinsberg

Comments

[selenak]

Great Grandpa the Great Prince Elector had his anniversary this weekend, so there was an article in my favourite newspaper about him. (Pointing out, among other things, the oddity that in an age where there was Cromwell, Richelieu and Louis XIV, the one making away with the adjective „the Great“ past his own life time was the not king of little Prussia. If google translates for you, have a look at this take on „the creator of Prussia“:

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/friedrich-wilhelm-von-brandenburg-preussen-schoepfer-1.4795494

(Still frightfully busy, but just ten more days to go. Am feeling like Yoda in Return of the Jedi, to tell you the truth.)

[mildred_of_midgard]

Thanks for the link, and best of luck with Darth Real Life! We're cheering for you.

If you're wondering why I've been a little quiet the last few days, it's because, much to my surprise, I managed to get some momentum going on one of my WIPs! I'm trying to hang onto it as long as I can, which may not be much longer, given the struggle to sustain the necessary concentration. But I've managed to produce some 15k words, so yay.

Will be back with some Blanning when the fictional well runs dry. Cheers!

[cahn]

I was wondering, lol :) YAY WIP!

Also interested in Blanning, but maybe I can start reading Blanning myself now that I am actually feeling like reading again (for a couple of weeks there I wasn't reading much that was longer than one of your comments :P :) )

[mildred_of_midgard]

YAY WIP!

Yay successful escape attempt, no Katte execution, three boyfriends, one father figure picking up FW's slack, and no absolute power. #FixItFic #FixAllTheThings

maybe I can start reading Blanning myself

Maybe you can start telling us about Blanning's elementary mistakes. :P

for a couple of weeks there I wasn't reading much that was longer than one of your comments :P :)

In your defense, some of our comments are really long! But yes, I'm very glad you're feeling better again, and I look forward to more fandom participation.

[cahn]

Thank you! This is interesting to me since it's right at the part where you guys haven't told me as much stuff and therefore I don't know *anything*, lol. But of course you have said something: so it inspired me to go reread your rheinsberg post on Our Insane Family: The Prequel Years. Man, rheinsberg makes everything so easy to find, it's so great <3

Nine more days, you can do it!

[mildred_of_midgard]

Man, rheinsberg makes everything so easy to find, it's so great <3

Rheinsberg is a lifesaver, and it's only going to become more of one as time passes. I'm using it as my first stop for info next time I go to Sanssouci. (It's 200k words, hahahaha omg.)

Nine more days, you can do it!

Go, Selena, go!

[selenak]

Thank you for the encouragement! Once it's over, I'll send you both an email with what I was doing. It includes hanging out with some not-insane German nobility. (One of Stauffenberg's granddaughters, as well as her dad, son of S., and some cousins.) All cool activities, but v.v. exhausting and time consuming.

...if you look at the July 20th 1944 conspirators, you'll get the oddest sense of déja vue when reading the names: von Kleist, von Lehndorff, von Treskow, von Schlabrendorff, von Schack, von Wartenburg…

Déja vu all over again

[mildred_of_midgard]

Just ran into the following 1779 conversation in Blanning:

The overriding concern with military matters, together with the ubiquity of the Kleist clan, came out clearly in the following exchange:

KING: What is the name of the village ahead?
FROMME: Protzen.
KING: Who is the owner?
FROMME: Herr von Kleist.
KING: Which Kleist?
FROMME: A son of General von Kleist.
KING: Which General von Kleist?

Re: Déja vu all over again

[gambitten]

Aside from the source Blanning quotes, Thomas Caryle includes a more literal English translation of this entire conversation as an appendix, which is available on Gutenberg. He speaks more about the particulars of Fritz' German speech (he doesn't use the third person when addressing women) than the translator Peter Paret.

My favourite part (from Paret's translation):

KING: But why didn't his predecessor stay?
FROMME: He died.
KING: Couldn't his widow have kept the domain?
FROMME: She fell into poverty.
KING: Through mismanagement? (Caryle translation has 'By woman-husbandry!' LOL)
FROMME: Beg pardon, Your Majesty; she was a careful manager, but a run of bad luck ruined her. Bad luck can set back the best managers. Two years ago my own herd was hit by hoof-and-mouth disease; I was given no remission of taxes, and I can't recover either.
KING: My son, today something is wrong with my left ear; I can't hear well.

Fritz taking selective hearing to the next level.

I also like this:

Suddenly His Majesty left them, came to me, and called: Bailiff (into my ear): Who is the fat man in the white coat?
I (whispering into his ear): Your Majesty, that is County Councilor von Quast, of Radensleben in the county of Ruppin.
KING: All right!
[Some catch up talk with von Zeithen then] Suddenly he turned and said: Your servant, County Councilor. The county councilor began to approach His Majesty, but the king said: Stay where you are, I know you; you are Herr von Quast.

I wonder how much of Fritz' fabled memory for names and faces was just him asking people in-the-know to whisper the names of folks to him.

Re: Déja vu all over again

[mildred_of_midgard]

Thanks! I have Carlyle and like him in small doses, but wow I cannot bear to read that prose all the way through.

I wonder how much of Fritz' fabled memory for names and faces was just him asking people in-the-know to whisper the names of folks to him.

Heee. Quite likely, quite likely. You don't have to know everything, you just have to stay one step ahead of everyone else to create the illusion. :D

Re: Déja vu all over again

[cahn]

(Caryle translation has 'By woman-husbandry!' LOL)

LOL!

KING: My son, today something is wrong with my left ear; I can't hear well.

Fritz taking selective hearing to the next level.

Oh Fritz!

I wonder how much of Fritz' fabled memory for names and faces was just him asking people in-the-know to whisper the names of folks to him.

Heh. Probably so! I guess at least he asked? That may put him ahead of a lot of folks :)

Re: Déja vu all over again

[mildred_of_midgard]

That may put him ahead of a lot of folks :)

My faceblind and antisocial self just awkwardly sidles out of talking to people under these circumstances, so it puts him way ahead of me!