Frederick the Great discussion post 12

[cahn]

Every time I am amazed and enchanted that this is still going on! Truly DW is the Earthly Paradise!

All the good stuff continues to be archived at rheinsberg :)

Comments

Re: Peter-Michael Hahn

[selenak]

Two years ago, I did know that Fritz had lots of siblings other than Wilhelmine, and at least one of them had been in his army and had been good at it, but that was it. I couldn't have told you their names, either. Having read Wilhelmine's memoirs eons ago didn't help there, since she hardly ever mentions anyone's first name as opposed to "my brother", "my sister", "my other sister" etc.

And I had even seen some movies back in the day. But in "Der Thronfolger", the younger sibs are little kids, Amalie in "Mein Name ist Bach" had only registered as "Not Wilhelmine" and Heinrich in the scene from "Der große König" which I saw as part of a seminar about propaganda movies ("Der große König" was the most popular of the Nazi propaganda movies using Frederician subjects, and was the last time Otto Gebühr starred as Old Fritz) registered only as "the one who was in the army". That scene actually is on YouTube, btw, which is sort of illegal since it's one of the 22 Nazi movies still prohibited to be shown in Germany outside of a teaching context. (I.e. you can show them when doing university presentations where you discuss their propaganda strategies and the like, but you couldn't put them on tv or in the cinema.)

Otoh, I bet you could have listed key battles and generals, whereas yours truly, having gone to school after the "no more glorification of the military!" change of mind had come about, could not have said more "and then he invaded Silesia, and then there was another war in Silesia, and then there was the Seven Years War. And I definitely could not have named anyone from the Sanssouci intellectual circle other than Voltaire, with the awareness that this had ended badly (somehow).

Re: Peter-Michael Hahn

[mildred_of_midgard]

Having read Wilhelmine's memoirs eons ago didn't help there, since she hardly ever mentions anyone's first name as opposed to "my brother", "my sister", "my other sister" etc.

Wilhelmine: I have one *brother*, and also I occasionally see some rugrats running around that I'm told I'm related to.

Otoh, I bet you could have listed key battles and generals

Twenty years ago, absolutely. One year ago, without having refreshed myself on Old Fritz since then? ...Definitely Mollwitz and Schwerin, in detail, and I would have remembered some of Leuthen but possibly forgotten the name if you put me on the spot (though as soon as I saw it, it would have triggered a flood of memories).

And I definitely could not have named anyone from the Sanssouci intellectual circle other than Voltaire, with the awareness that this had ended badly (somehow).

He had an intellectual circle other than Voltaire? And same, it ended badly because two prima donnas sharing the same stage is a bad thing, is what I remember from high school days (and I would have used that metaphor). Anything about shady financial deals with Hirschel or pamphlets with Maupertuis, whooosh, gone.

Re: Peter-Michael Hahn

[cahn]

Having read Wilhelmine's memoirs eons ago didn't help there, since she hardly ever mentions anyone's first name as opposed to "my brother", "my sister", "my other sister" etc.

SO TRUE
*was confused the entire time as to whom she was talking about at any given moment; I should go back and read it again now*