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McDonogh is wrong! (Well, mostly.) Since Lehndorff wrote diaries for decades, starting in 1750, there isn't just one manuscript. There are a lot of them. Some of which were indeed destroyed in WWII, but the rest of the original diaries still exist. They are at the state archive in Leipzig, here. (The surviving diaries are in this subsection of the archive.
(Re: the destroyed ones, one reason to be very grateful to Schmidt-Lötzens translations, otherwise they'd be lost forever.)
The Lehndorff Family Archive in Leipzig also has the manuscripts from our Lehndorff's ancestor the baroque globetrotter, who named himself Ahasverus and thus burdened his descendants with that name. ;) They look like a real treasure trove, but reading hand written (mostly) French manuscripts is beyond me, I fear...
ETA: re: Maupertuis: see here:
Die Idee des medizinischen Strafvollzugs war dem gebildeten Bürgertum vertraut und basierte auf aristotelischen Theorien, die im Zuge der Rückbesinnung auf die Antike neue Relevanz erhielten. Befürwortet wurde die Vivisektion zum Beispiel von Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, dem Arzt nach dem bezeichnenderweise die Köpfmaschine der französischen Revolution benannt wurde. Auch Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, Präsident der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin, schlug vor, Hinrichtungen durch die Erprobung neuartiger Operationsmethoden und durch Experimente mit Giften und Antidota zu ersetzen und in die Hände der Ärzte zu legen.
Son of ETA: For more about the fate of the Lehndorff diaries, see this 2002 essay, published before there was a reprint (which happened in 2007).
(Re: the destroyed ones, one reason to be very grateful to Schmidt-Lötzens translations, otherwise they'd be lost forever.)
The Lehndorff Family Archive in Leipzig also has the manuscripts from our Lehndorff's ancestor the baroque globetrotter, who named himself Ahasverus and thus burdened his descendants with that name. ;) They look like a real treasure trove, but reading hand written (mostly) French manuscripts is beyond me, I fear...
ETA: re: Maupertuis: see here:
Die Idee des medizinischen Strafvollzugs war dem gebildeten Bürgertum vertraut und basierte auf aristotelischen Theorien, die im Zuge der Rückbesinnung auf die Antike neue Relevanz erhielten. Befürwortet wurde die Vivisektion zum Beispiel von Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, dem Arzt nach dem bezeichnenderweise die Köpfmaschine der französischen Revolution benannt wurde. Auch Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, Präsident der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin, schlug vor, Hinrichtungen durch die Erprobung neuartiger Operationsmethoden und durch Experimente mit Giften und Antidota zu ersetzen und in die Hände der Ärzte zu legen.
Son of ETA: For more about the fate of the Lehndorff diaries, see this 2002 essay, published before there was a reprint (which happened in 2007).
Edited 2020-03-10 12:53 (UTC)
oooooh, thank you!! For the commentary as well as for the links. I love that first line, that's so Fritz. LOL.
"Maupertuis is arrived. He is a clever fellow, and amiable in conversation; but still a hundred points below Algarotti."
Heeeee. To be fair this is also the conclusion the Emilie biography I read came to :)
As for his war memoirs intended for the public, while I obviously would not trust them from the outset, nor do I know enough about the intricacies of the war to give an accurate assessment about their reliability, he does write much about other generals and majors, obviously not to the extent that Henry wished and he honestly should have done. He completely skips over his fallout with Wilhelm after the battle of Kolin, for example, and is hesitant to outright condemn himself from what I've skimmed.
I was totally going to ask if he gives Heinrich any credit but... lol, ok, guess I don't have to :)
That's also really interesting about Wilhelmina, Princess of Orange's memoirs, which I had no idea about. (In general, you can assume that whatever you are talking about I don't know but would be glad to learn! That's why selenak and mildred so often address various points towards me -- because they know I have no clue :) )
"Maupertuis is arrived. He is a clever fellow, and amiable in conversation; but still a hundred points below Algarotti."
Heeeee. To be fair this is also the conclusion the Emilie biography I read came to :)
As for his war memoirs intended for the public, while I obviously would not trust them from the outset, nor do I know enough about the intricacies of the war to give an accurate assessment about their reliability, he does write much about other generals and majors, obviously not to the extent that Henry wished and he honestly should have done. He completely skips over his fallout with Wilhelm after the battle of Kolin, for example, and is hesitant to outright condemn himself from what I've skimmed.
I was totally going to ask if he gives Heinrich any credit but... lol, ok, guess I don't have to :)
That's also really interesting about Wilhelmina, Princess of Orange's memoirs, which I had no idea about. (In general, you can assume that whatever you are talking about I don't know but would be glad to learn! That's why selenak and mildred so often address various points towards me -- because they know I have no clue :) )
I wish there were English versions, or just digital German versions of Ziebura's works so I could read them. And digital versions of the full Hohenzollern sibling correspondences! Alas, it is not to be.
I knooooooow! I super want to read Ziebura and the full sibling correspondences too! You think she might get her stuff translated if we write to her and tell her there are three of us who are seriously big fans but can't read German and reeeeeeally want an English version? :) (I know, I'm kidding. Mostly.)
You probably have seen mildred's machine translations of the letters at Trier but that's of course super incomplete, sigh.
I knooooooow! I super want to read Ziebura and the full sibling correspondences too! You think she might get her stuff translated if we write to her and tell her there are three of us who are seriously big fans but can't read German and reeeeeeally want an English version? :) (I know, I'm kidding. Mostly.)
You probably have seen mildred's machine translations of the letters at Trier but that's of course super incomplete, sigh.
Huh. OK, I have a bit more sympathy in context -- scientist!me does rather think that he is right that vivisection would in fact be a really great way to learn about the human body. It is probably a good thing that scientist!me has twenty-first century ethics drummed into me and no actual power to do whatever kinds of experiments I want :P
I mean, it's still a terrible idea, and it sounds from the article that even in the 18th C people realized this (although I think it's sort of hilarious that if I'm parsing google translate correctly, a major objection was from people who wanted the corpses for teaching purposes) -- so, yeah, I'll take this as at least partial further evidence that Maupertuis wasn't actually the deepest of thinkers. (I mean, not that deep scientific thinkers are necessarily the deepest ethical thinkers at any time!)
(As I told![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gambitten upthread, Zinsser's Emilie bio also really doesn't think Maupertuis's intellect is All That.)
I mean, it's still a terrible idea, and it sounds from the article that even in the 18th C people realized this (although I think it's sort of hilarious that if I'm parsing google translate correctly, a major objection was from people who wanted the corpses for teaching purposes) -- so, yeah, I'll take this as at least partial further evidence that Maupertuis wasn't actually the deepest of thinkers. (I mean, not that deep scientific thinkers are necessarily the deepest ethical thinkers at any time!)
(As I told
gambitten upthread, Zinsser's Emilie bio also really doesn't think Maupertuis's intellect is All That.) but did admittedly have a one night stand with Heinrich just in case and for the hell of it, so while Heinrich (correctly) denies having said anything, Fritz will never ever believe him.
HAHAHAHAHA omg, I am dying here.
Justice through Voltaire trashy tell-alls is SO awesome, ngl.
but by withdrawing from her entirely and agreeing to lead separate lives.
!!!! You saved Isabella!! okay, now I need this!
Fix-it for all! Fix allllll the things! (Fix All the Things is my favorite type of AU, you will be totally unsurprised to hear.)
And if Voltaire can avoid gloating too much, which, err....
Yeah, I dunno. Maybe after, like, the fifth time or so?
HAHAHAHAHA omg, I am dying here.
Justice through Voltaire trashy tell-alls is SO awesome, ngl.
but by withdrawing from her entirely and agreeing to lead separate lives.
!!!! You saved Isabella!! okay, now I need this!
Fix-it for all! Fix allllll the things! (Fix All the Things is my favorite type of AU, you will be totally unsurprised to hear.)
And if Voltaire can avoid gloating too much, which, err....
Yeah, I dunno. Maybe after, like, the fifth time or so?
Re: Keeping Up With the (Censoring) Hohenzollerns
mildred_of_midgard
2020-03-11 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
If you're willing to pay for 1) the copy of whatever Ziebura book(s) you want translated, and 2) more books as bribes for my time and labor, there's nothing stopping me from machine translating Ziebura for you, now that I have my library-digitizing technology. If you're interested, talk to me once I'm done with Poniatowski. (It's coming along, a little every day.)
Re: Katte at Küstrin: The Theodor Hoffbauer Version
mildred_of_midgard
2020-03-11 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the English translations! I would reply in detail, and I may come back to do so at a later date, but am having a rough couple of days health-wise and so am just leaving a brief thank-you note for now. :)
after Heinrich had the renovating done and had moved in, and is very proud to show it off to Mom, she sighs in delight and says: "How beautiful! Your brother has such excellent taste!"
LOLOLOL
It must have been cold there in my shadow
To never have sunlight on your face
Even funnier given how much of Heinrich's taste came from Mom via Fritz.
Palaces: makes sense.
Isabella: I'm withcahn--yay, fix ALL the things! (that can reasonably be fixed)
LOLOLOL
It must have been cold there in my shadow
To never have sunlight on your face
Even funnier given how much of Heinrich's taste came from Mom via Fritz.
Palaces: makes sense.
Isabella: I'm with
cahn--yay, fix ALL the things! (that can reasonably be fixed)Fix-it for all! Fix allllll the things! (Fix All the Things is my favorite type of AU, you will be totally unsurprised to hear.)
Well, then you will like the fic I'm currently plotting and hoping to write. :D My stated aim is to fix as many things as possible. I've been thinking I need a historical consultant to hash out ideas with...maybe I should join theselenak bandwagon and start doing plot outlines here.
I can't promise I'll recover my ability to write it in time to still be interested in writing it, but hey, just outlining things is fun.
And if Voltaire can avoid gloating too much, which, err....
Yeah, I dunno. Maybe after, like, the fifth time or so?
Yeah, on his own maybe, but the problem is going to be that Fritz won't take this lying down. If we really want to get them together (even temporarily), maybe the prospect of losing Fritz (in whatever sense) moves Voltaire's "can't live with you, can't live without you" pendulum over to "can't live without you," and inspires Voltaire to a declaration of love that softens the gloating? Enough for them to decide to try again? That would be pretty typical behavior for this kind of addictively dysfunctional relationship.
Well, then you will like the fic I'm currently plotting and hoping to write. :D My stated aim is to fix as many things as possible. I've been thinking I need a historical consultant to hash out ideas with...maybe I should join the
selenak bandwagon and start doing plot outlines here. I can't promise I'll recover my ability to write it in time to still be interested in writing it, but hey, just outlining things is fun.
And if Voltaire can avoid gloating too much, which, err....
Yeah, I dunno. Maybe after, like, the fifth time or so?
Yeah, on his own maybe, but the problem is going to be that Fritz won't take this lying down. If we really want to get them together (even temporarily), maybe the prospect of losing Fritz (in whatever sense) moves Voltaire's "can't live with you, can't live without you" pendulum over to "can't live without you," and inspires Voltaire to a declaration of love that softens the gloating? Enough for them to decide to try again? That would be pretty typical behavior for this kind of addictively dysfunctional relationship.
Okay, cancelled Leipzig book fair meets library time this week means I finish the retirement volume of Lehndorff. BTW, Schmidt-Lötzen never managed another, but the estimable Ms Ziebura has edited Lehndorff's 1799 diary.
So, when last we heard of our retired Chamberlain at the start of 1783, he'd been taken by the Marchese di Lucchesini, and so was Fritz, whose mood and health has improved to no end. It also put him into a fraternal mood, for:
18. Januar 1783: The King celebrates the birthday of Prince Heinrich through a big feast using the golden table wear. He himself has put on the Order of the Black Eagle and sends a box ornamented with diamonds made of Chrysopras, which costs at least 10 000 Taler, as a gift to his royal highness, together with a charming letter. The letter says, among other things: I wanted to throw you a ball, but neither you nor myself are up to dancing anymore. The Prince agrees with this, but the public would have very much liked to dance.
(cahn, the order of the Black Eagle was the highest that Prussia had to offer. Upon being saved by his fanboy, Fritz gave it to Peter, but being a pragmatist, he gave it to Catherine as well once Peter had met his demise at the hands of her minions. Hohenzollern princes got that medal pinned on them before they could deserve it, as kids, which is why you see Crown Prince Fritz wear it in Der Thronfolger and on portraits, for example.)
Prince Heinrich sends me a message to tell me that he’s alone and hopes I would spend the evening with him. I had a migraine through the entire day, so I get dressed only at 6 pm and am on my way to the Prince. We are midway through a most beautiful conversation when the door opens, and the Prince of Prussia enters. With the greatest amiability he says that he didn’t want to miss out of the pleasure to spend such a meaningful day with his royal highness.
Oh fortune why did it happen thus! one is tempted to say. But Lehndorff is loyally fond of his Crown Prince Jr. as well and so bids him welcome. Meanwhile, Fritz is still remarkably mellow:
January 20th: Our Carnival is coming to an end, and the King leaves well and content. The Master of the Horses Schwerin, who plays a kind of court jester to the King, tells him: „You‘ve behaved pretty well this winter; everyone is content with you.“. It is true that his majesty hasn‘t indulged in as many sarcasms this time as he used to. However, I am quite sure we owe this solely to the Marchese di Luchesini, who is always near him and knows how to captivate him through witty conversation. The men who used to surround the King were lacking in wit; their conversation was only gossip revolving around people the King didn’t even know.
During the party Prince Ferdinand throws on the occasion of Prince Heinrich’s birthday, Luchesini told me: „If one can’t do any good, one should at least try to prevent evil, and if one believes that the daily news could cause damage, one has to talk about Greece or Egypt, especially when dealing with a prince who is receptive to such subjects.
Speaking of fraternal feelings: Ulrike is dead, Gustav keeps pissing off his nobility, and Heinrich is in a rare mood about the Swedish relations. The Duke of Södermanland is Charles, the second son who first used Mom to spread the word about Gustav's heir's illegitimacy and then blamed her when Gustav called him out on this.
I often talk with Prince Heinrich about the late Queen of Sweden, his sister, of all the grief she has had in her life, and especially of the terrible quarrel with her son, the current King of Sweden, which has eventually led to her death. The Prince is very bitter about the King and against the King’s brother, the Duke of Södermanland. As often as he talks about this subject, he is unforgiving. He often has had long arguments with Count Hordt, who takes the King’s party. It is indisputable that the late Queen of Sweden had extraordinarily much esprit, but she was very despotic, too, and passionate, and these two qualities have been her misfortune.
ETA: re Heinrich taking Ulrike‘s part - not surprising considering the combination of dead sibling who died heartbroken and sent away by despotic monarch. Otoh, it is interesting that Lehndorff is able to see the situation as more complex than that. / ETA.
Lehndorff's conversation with Heinrich on this subject leads him into musing about the Hohenzollern clan in totem. He's travelled a long road from the young man who was all "our princes are the best and all the others should be like them":
The main flaw of our royal family is jealousy. Their highnesesses are, it has to be admitted, jealous of everything, especially of the people who are devoted to one of them. This goes so far that the King hates those who love his brothers, and his brothers hate those who enjoy his majesty’s favour. Which creates a bad situation for us mere mortals. I can sing a song; I have had some experiences in this regard.
I‘ve heard a story which is hardly believable. The Abbé Prades had been banished by his majesty, but with a light sentence, to Glogau. The reason for his disgrace has been declared to be the fact that he‘d been a confidant of the Prince of Prussia during the time when the later after the misfortune of Zittau had been in disgrace with the King. Thus he’s spent 24 years in exile, when near the end of his life a clerical position got available which had been promised to him during the time when he’d still been enjoying the King’s favour. Now he’s written to his majesty and asked for the position. The answer was, according to rumor, that he should rather approach the manes of those whose favour he had courted. To carry such a grudge for twentyfour years is incomprehensible to me.
(Our editor keeps reminding us that de Prades so was a traitor and his being banished had nothing to do with AW. I believe him, but otoh I'm not entirely sure that supposed Fritz quote was made up from thin air, because "the manes" is a Roman mythology allusion which does sound like Fritz.
Main topics of the day in the spring of 1783 for conversation are the Austro-Russian alliance (everyone's worried) and the Miller Arnold business from last year. Mildred already summarized it briefly elsehwere: in short, Fritz overruled his own judges, twice, on the matter of the Miller Arnold, which got him a reputation of standing up for the little man against the bureaucrats and nobles, except that the "honest miller" wasn't so honest after all, and historians pretty much agree the judges were in the right, and Fritz in the wrong. Lehndorff's sympathies are entirely NOT with the Miller, as in this story, which provides us with some Fritz quotes in German (our editor as well as the spelling point out Lehndorff here switches from French to German in the original manuscript):
Februar to March 1783: One afternoon I spend with the great chancellor Fürst who‘d lost his office. What he tells me of his story raises my hair. When the famous Miller Arnold brought his suit to the King, the later commanded the Großkanzler and the three Gerichtsräte to him. He began to dictate the judgment himself. When he confused the tribunal with the Kammergericht, the chancellor wanted to point this out to him. Then his majesty yelled: „Halt er das Maul!“ (Shut up!) and shortly afterwards, pointing to the door, „Marsch, ich habe seinen Posten schon vergeben“ - „out, I’ve already given his office to someone else!“ And the three councillors were brought to the Kalandshof, the prison for villains and thieves.
That's what we call populism these days, Fritz. Meanwhile, Lehndorff is far more sceptical towards another bit of gossip:
(..) Something else occupies the public. There are rumors that the King will celebrate his golden wedding anniversary. Which certainly won’t happen.
Spoiler: it did not. Although the court painter actually did a golden anniversary painting for which neither of the two marrieds posed. Poor painted EC has to hold a fertlity symbol in her hand, too. On to more fun subjects, to wit: it's time for Lehndorff's annual Rheinsberg visit:
March 16th: I leave for Rheinsberg in the most despicable weather and find the Prince alone with young Tauentzien. I still experience five pleasant weeks there. When Tauentzien leaves, I am completely alone with my Prince. He‘s never more charming than when he‘s able to talk about all kind of subjects without having to restrain himself, and then he talks with a fire, a clarity and a logic that one is dazzled. The morning, I spend in my room with reading. At 10, the Prince comes, and we chat. Then I get dressed in order to lunch with his Royal Highness. After lunch, we drive through the countryside. At 4 pm I’m back at home and read, till the Prince calls me at 6. Then I enter his gallery, which he calls his atelier, where he sits down behind his painting and I sit down behind mine. Toussaint reads out loud the journeys to India. Around 10 pm, we sit down for supper, and we never part before midnight. When the weather is nice, I walk a lot through the lovely gardens of Rheinsberg. (...)
Sounds lovely. However, you might remember who lives nearby?
On our way back,l we stop for a moment at Meseberg. This beautiful estate which the Prince has bought for 150 000 and given to Kaphengst as a present has been nearly run down completely by the creature already. I still marvel at this favour. Never have there been two men less fitting with each other than the Prince and Kaphengst. The former, all mind, passion and fire, loves a debauched, ignorant man who only loves women and gambling. When they are together, they bore each other. And still of all the men who‘ve enjoyed his favour, this one has evoked the most passion from him, and if the good Prince weren‘t in debts himself now, he‘d probably give as much to Kaphengst as he‘s already given him. I have so often pondered the human mind; my own stands still eavery time when I see he won‘t be led to reason. From now on, life at Rheinsberg isn‘t as cozy anymore, despite the Prince being doubly as kind to me. I often see him sad, and that grieves me. (...) Finally, I receive a letter and a messenger from my niece Schlieben with the news that her husband is in a very bad way. This causes me to return to Berlin. .
Lehndorff hears bad things in Berlin about the health and nature of Schlieben the no good husband of his niece, no big surprise there, who after some weeks of lingering on dies. Even Lehndorff finds it hard to be sorry about this. Otoh, he does feel sorry for one of Catherine's lovers whom he met just two years earlier:
May 1783: The famous Orlov has died in madness. He had owed everything to fortune. High favour has changed him from a small lieutenant to the Emperor of Russia and to the lord over all the riches of that country. I knew him. He was never happier than when drinking his beer together with the citizens of Königsberg. And he had to die with a disturbed mind!
In October, young Tauentzien, son of the Fritzian general of the same name, part of Heinrich's circle and about to finally topple Kaphengst there, causes a big scandal by getting one Fräulein von Marschall pregnant and hadtily marrying her without parental consent. Fräulein von Marschall is a lady-in-waiting to Mina, so everyone is upset - her parents, his parents, Mina and Heinrich. By December, however, Lehndorff writes:
I must report a noble action on the part of my splendid Prince Heinrich. He adopts the cause of Tauentzien and his young wife’s, arranges their reconciliation with General Tauentzien and provides the young couple both in Berlin and in Spandau with a free apartment and food, and with an equipage of their own.“
Next, we get a glimpse of Prussian recruiting practices in peace time many years after FW's death:
December 1783: I am in great distress because suddenly my carpenter gets drafted to the army. He’s five feet seven inches; consequently, it would be only a favour on the General‘s side that could allow me to free him. For now, I’m sending him to Königsberg, but give him a letter for General Anhalt. The later is indeed kind enough to return my carpenter to me.
Good for the carpenter, I guess. Lehndorff’s mother-in-law dies in March 1784 unexpectedly (a stroke and a very quick death), and since as opposed to his first mother-in-law, he liked this one, he's sad. Hers is not the only unexpected death:
On the occasion of my mother-in-law‘s death, I receive a lot of condolence letters, among them one by our dear Prince of Prussia, who shows again what an excellent heart he has. Prince Heinrich writes: „Your mother-in-law has taken everyone‘s respect with her in her grave. Her passing has been a quick and easy one. However, I have had to witness a painful dying.“ For Fräulein Marschall, whose surprising quick marriage to Tauentzien a few months ago I have noted down, has given birth and died nine days later in the most terrible torment. The Prince had provided her with rooms in his palace, and she believed herself the happiest of mortals, adored her husband and was adored by him. Now she had to die in her 20th year of life.
So, when last we heard of our retired Chamberlain at the start of 1783, he'd been taken by the Marchese di Lucchesini, and so was Fritz, whose mood and health has improved to no end. It also put him into a fraternal mood, for:
18. Januar 1783: The King celebrates the birthday of Prince Heinrich through a big feast using the golden table wear. He himself has put on the Order of the Black Eagle and sends a box ornamented with diamonds made of Chrysopras, which costs at least 10 000 Taler, as a gift to his royal highness, together with a charming letter. The letter says, among other things: I wanted to throw you a ball, but neither you nor myself are up to dancing anymore. The Prince agrees with this, but the public would have very much liked to dance.
(
cahn, the order of the Black Eagle was the highest that Prussia had to offer. Upon being saved by his fanboy, Fritz gave it to Peter, but being a pragmatist, he gave it to Catherine as well once Peter had met his demise at the hands of her minions. Hohenzollern princes got that medal pinned on them before they could deserve it, as kids, which is why you see Crown Prince Fritz wear it in Der Thronfolger and on portraits, for example.) Prince Heinrich sends me a message to tell me that he’s alone and hopes I would spend the evening with him. I had a migraine through the entire day, so I get dressed only at 6 pm and am on my way to the Prince. We are midway through a most beautiful conversation when the door opens, and the Prince of Prussia enters. With the greatest amiability he says that he didn’t want to miss out of the pleasure to spend such a meaningful day with his royal highness.
Oh fortune why did it happen thus! one is tempted to say. But Lehndorff is loyally fond of his Crown Prince Jr. as well and so bids him welcome. Meanwhile, Fritz is still remarkably mellow:
January 20th: Our Carnival is coming to an end, and the King leaves well and content. The Master of the Horses Schwerin, who plays a kind of court jester to the King, tells him: „You‘ve behaved pretty well this winter; everyone is content with you.“. It is true that his majesty hasn‘t indulged in as many sarcasms this time as he used to. However, I am quite sure we owe this solely to the Marchese di Luchesini, who is always near him and knows how to captivate him through witty conversation. The men who used to surround the King were lacking in wit; their conversation was only gossip revolving around people the King didn’t even know.
During the party Prince Ferdinand throws on the occasion of Prince Heinrich’s birthday, Luchesini told me: „If one can’t do any good, one should at least try to prevent evil, and if one believes that the daily news could cause damage, one has to talk about Greece or Egypt, especially when dealing with a prince who is receptive to such subjects.
Speaking of fraternal feelings: Ulrike is dead, Gustav keeps pissing off his nobility, and Heinrich is in a rare mood about the Swedish relations. The Duke of Södermanland is Charles, the second son who first used Mom to spread the word about Gustav's heir's illegitimacy and then blamed her when Gustav called him out on this.
I often talk with Prince Heinrich about the late Queen of Sweden, his sister, of all the grief she has had in her life, and especially of the terrible quarrel with her son, the current King of Sweden, which has eventually led to her death. The Prince is very bitter about the King and against the King’s brother, the Duke of Södermanland. As often as he talks about this subject, he is unforgiving. He often has had long arguments with Count Hordt, who takes the King’s party. It is indisputable that the late Queen of Sweden had extraordinarily much esprit, but she was very despotic, too, and passionate, and these two qualities have been her misfortune.
ETA: re Heinrich taking Ulrike‘s part - not surprising considering the combination of dead sibling who died heartbroken and sent away by despotic monarch. Otoh, it is interesting that Lehndorff is able to see the situation as more complex than that. / ETA.
Lehndorff's conversation with Heinrich on this subject leads him into musing about the Hohenzollern clan in totem. He's travelled a long road from the young man who was all "our princes are the best and all the others should be like them":
The main flaw of our royal family is jealousy. Their highnesesses are, it has to be admitted, jealous of everything, especially of the people who are devoted to one of them. This goes so far that the King hates those who love his brothers, and his brothers hate those who enjoy his majesty’s favour. Which creates a bad situation for us mere mortals. I can sing a song; I have had some experiences in this regard.
I‘ve heard a story which is hardly believable. The Abbé Prades had been banished by his majesty, but with a light sentence, to Glogau. The reason for his disgrace has been declared to be the fact that he‘d been a confidant of the Prince of Prussia during the time when the later after the misfortune of Zittau had been in disgrace with the King. Thus he’s spent 24 years in exile, when near the end of his life a clerical position got available which had been promised to him during the time when he’d still been enjoying the King’s favour. Now he’s written to his majesty and asked for the position. The answer was, according to rumor, that he should rather approach the manes of those whose favour he had courted. To carry such a grudge for twentyfour years is incomprehensible to me.
(Our editor keeps reminding us that de Prades so was a traitor and his being banished had nothing to do with AW. I believe him, but otoh I'm not entirely sure that supposed Fritz quote was made up from thin air, because "the manes" is a Roman mythology allusion which does sound like Fritz.
Main topics of the day in the spring of 1783 for conversation are the Austro-Russian alliance (everyone's worried) and the Miller Arnold business from last year. Mildred already summarized it briefly elsehwere: in short, Fritz overruled his own judges, twice, on the matter of the Miller Arnold, which got him a reputation of standing up for the little man against the bureaucrats and nobles, except that the "honest miller" wasn't so honest after all, and historians pretty much agree the judges were in the right, and Fritz in the wrong. Lehndorff's sympathies are entirely NOT with the Miller, as in this story, which provides us with some Fritz quotes in German (our editor as well as the spelling point out Lehndorff here switches from French to German in the original manuscript):
Februar to March 1783: One afternoon I spend with the great chancellor Fürst who‘d lost his office. What he tells me of his story raises my hair. When the famous Miller Arnold brought his suit to the King, the later commanded the Großkanzler and the three Gerichtsräte to him. He began to dictate the judgment himself. When he confused the tribunal with the Kammergericht, the chancellor wanted to point this out to him. Then his majesty yelled: „Halt er das Maul!“ (Shut up!) and shortly afterwards, pointing to the door, „Marsch, ich habe seinen Posten schon vergeben“ - „out, I’ve already given his office to someone else!“ And the three councillors were brought to the Kalandshof, the prison for villains and thieves.
That's what we call populism these days, Fritz. Meanwhile, Lehndorff is far more sceptical towards another bit of gossip:
(..) Something else occupies the public. There are rumors that the King will celebrate his golden wedding anniversary. Which certainly won’t happen.
Spoiler: it did not. Although the court painter actually did a golden anniversary painting for which neither of the two marrieds posed. Poor painted EC has to hold a fertlity symbol in her hand, too. On to more fun subjects, to wit: it's time for Lehndorff's annual Rheinsberg visit:
March 16th: I leave for Rheinsberg in the most despicable weather and find the Prince alone with young Tauentzien. I still experience five pleasant weeks there. When Tauentzien leaves, I am completely alone with my Prince. He‘s never more charming than when he‘s able to talk about all kind of subjects without having to restrain himself, and then he talks with a fire, a clarity and a logic that one is dazzled. The morning, I spend in my room with reading. At 10, the Prince comes, and we chat. Then I get dressed in order to lunch with his Royal Highness. After lunch, we drive through the countryside. At 4 pm I’m back at home and read, till the Prince calls me at 6. Then I enter his gallery, which he calls his atelier, where he sits down behind his painting and I sit down behind mine. Toussaint reads out loud the journeys to India. Around 10 pm, we sit down for supper, and we never part before midnight. When the weather is nice, I walk a lot through the lovely gardens of Rheinsberg. (...)
Sounds lovely. However, you might remember who lives nearby?
On our way back,l we stop for a moment at Meseberg. This beautiful estate which the Prince has bought for 150 000 and given to Kaphengst as a present has been nearly run down completely by the creature already. I still marvel at this favour. Never have there been two men less fitting with each other than the Prince and Kaphengst. The former, all mind, passion and fire, loves a debauched, ignorant man who only loves women and gambling. When they are together, they bore each other. And still of all the men who‘ve enjoyed his favour, this one has evoked the most passion from him, and if the good Prince weren‘t in debts himself now, he‘d probably give as much to Kaphengst as he‘s already given him. I have so often pondered the human mind; my own stands still eavery time when I see he won‘t be led to reason. From now on, life at Rheinsberg isn‘t as cozy anymore, despite the Prince being doubly as kind to me. I often see him sad, and that grieves me. (...) Finally, I receive a letter and a messenger from my niece Schlieben with the news that her husband is in a very bad way. This causes me to return to Berlin. .
Lehndorff hears bad things in Berlin about the health and nature of Schlieben the no good husband of his niece, no big surprise there, who after some weeks of lingering on dies. Even Lehndorff finds it hard to be sorry about this. Otoh, he does feel sorry for one of Catherine's lovers whom he met just two years earlier:
May 1783: The famous Orlov has died in madness. He had owed everything to fortune. High favour has changed him from a small lieutenant to the Emperor of Russia and to the lord over all the riches of that country. I knew him. He was never happier than when drinking his beer together with the citizens of Königsberg. And he had to die with a disturbed mind!
In October, young Tauentzien, son of the Fritzian general of the same name, part of Heinrich's circle and about to finally topple Kaphengst there, causes a big scandal by getting one Fräulein von Marschall pregnant and hadtily marrying her without parental consent. Fräulein von Marschall is a lady-in-waiting to Mina, so everyone is upset - her parents, his parents, Mina and Heinrich. By December, however, Lehndorff writes:
I must report a noble action on the part of my splendid Prince Heinrich. He adopts the cause of Tauentzien and his young wife’s, arranges their reconciliation with General Tauentzien and provides the young couple both in Berlin and in Spandau with a free apartment and food, and with an equipage of their own.“
Next, we get a glimpse of Prussian recruiting practices in peace time many years after FW's death:
December 1783: I am in great distress because suddenly my carpenter gets drafted to the army. He’s five feet seven inches; consequently, it would be only a favour on the General‘s side that could allow me to free him. For now, I’m sending him to Königsberg, but give him a letter for General Anhalt. The later is indeed kind enough to return my carpenter to me.
Good for the carpenter, I guess. Lehndorff’s mother-in-law dies in March 1784 unexpectedly (a stroke and a very quick death), and since as opposed to his first mother-in-law, he liked this one, he's sad. Hers is not the only unexpected death:
On the occasion of my mother-in-law‘s death, I receive a lot of condolence letters, among them one by our dear Prince of Prussia, who shows again what an excellent heart he has. Prince Heinrich writes: „Your mother-in-law has taken everyone‘s respect with her in her grave. Her passing has been a quick and easy one. However, I have had to witness a painful dying.“ For Fräulein Marschall, whose surprising quick marriage to Tauentzien a few months ago I have noted down, has given birth and died nine days later in the most terrible torment. The Prince had provided her with rooms in his palace, and she believed herself the happiest of mortals, adored her husband and was adored by him. Now she had to die in her 20th year of life.
Edited 2020-03-13 03:46 (UTC)
Lehndorff is still chewing on the Miller Arnold matter and reveals to posterity that Heinrich didn't sit that one out:
April: one writes to me from Berlin that Casot, Bastiani and Luchesini form the King‘s company. The former two are old acquaintances, the last a man of much wit. In this moment, I remember a beautiful action on Prince Heinrich‘s part. When the King has fired Großkanzler Fürst from his position and had ordered Minister Zedlitz to investigate the trial around the Miller Arnold again, people were afraid that Herr v. Zedlitz out of sycophancy would pronounce his judgment according to the wishes of the monarch. But Prince Heinrich stepped towards him and said emphatically: „Sir, now is the time to show mankind you’re a man of honor! If you are afraid to lose your salary, don’t be, I will continue to pay it from now on.“ And thus it came to be that Zedlitz told the monarch that the judgment against the Miller had been fair.
And then it's time for another Rheinsberg visit. Lehndorff's opening paragraph to this one is so lovely and so very him that I'll put it on the end of this post, and you'll see why. Heinrich entertains French visitors, and what should they have brought with them but a copy of Voltaire’s memoirs. Fun times for everyone!
When the Prince after tea has left his guests at the gambling tables, I withdraw with him, Count Podewils and Ludwig Wreech into his room where he reads to us the secret history which Voltaire has written about our King. The anecdotes the Prince adds to his readings are even more interesting than the history itself, which is already interesting in a very high degree. The days are much too short for all my dear Prince has to offer in pleasantries, despite the fact we rarely go to bed before 1 pm.
Look, Lehndorff, if Heinrich can outtrash talk Voltaire‘s trashy tell all, it‘s really irresponsible of you not to write those damn anecdotes down! Never mind Heinrich's commentary on Fritz' account of the 7 Years War, we want Heinrich's commentary on Voltaire's memoirs! Seriously. In other news, Heinrich reading Voltaire's memoirs out loud to Lehndorff has to be the most Hohenzollern experience ever. You can not make these people up.
According to Lehndorff, Heinrich got Fritz‘ permission to finally go to Paris for the first time because Gustav has threatened to visit Berlin again, and Fritz wants to avoid a Heinrich/Gustav clash. Be that as it may: Lehndorff‘s Prince is off to Paris!
August of 1784: I receive a delightful letter from Prince Heinrich, from Geneva. If I wanted to, I could travel to Paris at once, where the Prince is headed to, and where he promises me an apartment and all kind of delights. Surely I would have many of those, since people there will certainly try to honor the Prince in all kind of ways, and I would have my share in these honors. But if I consider I would have to leave my family behind which needs me right now, especially my oldest son, I have to decline, obeying to reason. It is hard for me to make this sacrifice, but the fulfiilment of duty, too, has its satisfaction, and in missing there is reward.
It's good that you remember you're a family man and want to be a responsible dad, Lehndorff, we love you for it. Also, it gives you the opportunity to share some tea with Frau von Katte at Ferdinand's, which is interesting because I had dimly recalled someone - wiki? Fontane? - claims she died in the late 1770s. But here she is, alive and having tea with Lehndorff in 1784.
While Heinrich is having a great time in Hohenzollern dream country, aka Paris, young Tauentzien is back in Prussia, but only temporarily. Time for a Lehndorff pen portrait of the new guy! Complete with pen portrait of the old guy.
September 1784: „In the morning, I‘m visited by Tauentzien, who has gone with Prince Heinrich as far as Dijon, and then has returned for the manoeuvres. He‘s on his way back to Paris to Prince Heinrich, and will be returning here after two months. He is a pretty boy, barely twenty four years of age, but who has already had all kind of adventures. A year ago, he married against the will of the King and his parents a young Fräulein von Marschall, who had become pregnant by him. No sooner was the affair settled did she give birth and died. Four years ago, he already had become a father during his stay in Dresden, through a lady in waiting to the Prince Electress of Saxony, which is why Prince Heinrich had removed him from that post. Currently, he’s trying to marry the sole daughter of the famous Monsieur Necker, the richest heiress of Europe. (Mes amies, this is Germaine De Stael, famous writer and wit, and no, Tauentzien does not score there.) This is one of his main reasons for returning to Paris. Considering his pretty face and his vivacity, I understand he’s taken the position with Prince Heinrich which the infamous Kaphengst used to have, who hasn’t been as high in the Prince’s favour since he has abused it. Hardly ever has a man pushed fortune which had almost thrown itself at him so badly away as Kaphengst did. He was an insignificant ensign with the Green Husars, then he was ordered to Prince Heinrich, to command the fifteen Hussars who formed the Rheinsberg guard. The honor to dine at the Prince’s table hadn’t been his yet. However, his beautiful face and his vivacious nature attracted the Prince’s attention, and since at that time Kalkreuth fell into disfavour, Kaphengst got the position as ordonance of the Prince and thus the greatest influence on him. He received an estate for 150 000 Taler as a present and had the Prince’s house, stable and cellar - which he used a lot - at his disposal, and his purse. It is clear that this man has cost his royal highness incredible sums. He caused his lord immense distress through a lot countless stupidities and foolish pranks. And still the later tried to cover all up, regardless on how this put a bad light on his own reputation. Despite all this, Kaphengst has ruined himself in body and soul, now socializes only with scum anymore, and is at a point where he loses his entire possessions. He is a telling example of where a debauched life can lead to. In other circumstances, one has to say, he might have become a gentleman and a good officer. The overabundance of favour and lack of strictness has spoiled him.
So much for Kaphengst. This is indeed the year in which Heinrich ends relation for good (after having to sell his paintings to Catherine to cover Kaphengst's debts one last time).
October 1784, this is interesting, de Catt is still listed as one of Fritz’ lectors by Lehndorff who evidently hasn't heard about the firing back in Steinort, or during his occasional trips: „With pleasure, I hear the Abbé Denina talk, who is a scholar of the first rank. He tells us that the King now has four readers, de Catt, the Abbé du Val, who has lately arrived from Paris, and the son of a tailor from Berlin.“ And Luchesini, one might add.
October 29th : Lehndorff becomes a Liselotte fan: For eight days, I read day and night extremely interesting writings of the Duchess de Orleans about the government of her brother-in-law, King Louis XIV, as well as the memoirs of one Count Christoph Dohna about the government of the Great Prince Elector and of King Friedrich I.
Lehndorff spots Voltaire‘s memoirs translated into German in the bookshops and that does shock him, as opposed to hearing them read to him out loud by Heinrich. „It is amazing how much liberty is enjoyed in our country by writers and bookshop owners if such works can be sold in public!“
I'll say. Mind you, not for much longer. Once Fritz is dead, those memoirs so get on the Prussian index and aren't reprinted in Germany again until the 20th century.
Late November: „Finally, Prince Heinrich leaves Paris. To the Prince de Condé, he said: „All my life, I longed to go to France, and for the rest of my days, I shall long to go back there.“ The Queen of France, who has treated him somewhat coldly, did not have public opinion on her side. The affection which was shown to him grew rather from day to day, and even the Queen at last grew more amiable and said as a farewell: „Your departure is our loss.“. The Prince has seen a lot and has always followed the advice of Grimm, a respectable man, who enjoys the Czarina of Russia’s favour.
The Queen is of course Marie Antoinette, loyal daughter to dead MT, who saw Heinrich's visit as a sneak Prussian attack to woo France back from the alliance with Austria. (She wasn't totally wrong in that the letters between Fritz and Heinrich showed that he was supposed to try if he could, but they didn't really expect it, and mainly this was indeed a fun visit.)
November 28th: I go to the Dorotheenkirche to hear M. Sonnier preach. On that occasion, I see the monuments of Mitchell and the Count Verelsts. These were men who played an important role in their day, and now no one talks of them anymore.
But Mitchell's reports live on, Lehndorff, we promise.
December 2nd: I had the great joy of seeing Ludwig Wreech enter. He is well, and has made it through the journey to France and back in one piece. He has left the Prince in Brandenburg in order to come here straight away. His Royal Highness has gone to Potsdam, and has been received by his Majesty with love and distinction. He had sent him his horses and his pages, he rushed into the Prince’s room in order to greet him, in short, he has left nothing out in order to receive him in splendour. He also has gifted him with two pounds of Spanish tobacco and remarked that he’d like to contribute to the Prince’s travelling expenses but that he couldn’t right now, his treasure being exhausted.
December 5th Lehndorff’s own reunion with Heinrich goes well, too, and then he has a moment of Schadenfreude when spotting a certain someone:
„In the antechamber I see a personality which illustrates the changeability of all earthly matters to me. It is Kaphengst (...) His health is gone, he has lost his position, and is in the greatest embarrasment. The Prince’s embarassment towards him is even larger. At heart, he still has some fondness for him, but he knows that he has done all for him that he could do, and now sees that he hasn’t managed to make this man happy or reasonable. He had given him the beautiful estate of Meseberg, in the belief of having given him an assured basis of living, and in the hope to enjoy his grateful favourite’s happiness when visiting him now and then. All of this has found a bad ending. He took whores and showed various desires disliked by the Prince, and so these two have tormented themselves through fifteen years. I had seen all of this coming, but I kept my mouth shut, and now this favourite, who outshone all others, who had made everyone wait in the antechambre while he locked himself up with the Prince doesn’t know what to do with himself. (...)
„My dear Prince’s entourage isn’t really satisfied by the visit to France. They claim that the King has been too thrifty. This had annoyed Herr von Knesebeck so much that he left Paris before the prince did. One can see once again how hard it is to make everyone happy. I must say, there’s hardly another prince who is so considerate towards his entourage, and there are still so many displeased and grasping people around him. As for me, I love him for his personality, and I am never happier than when I am with him.“
Lehndorff spends the December with his family in Berlin and with Heinrich. Heinrich reads to him - no more Voltaire, stories of Florian, a dramatist and fable write, and btw, this consistent of the decades reading out loud by Heinrich is another trait shared with the Firstborn. With the December of 1784, this volume, which doesn't have a register, ends, but not this writing-up, because as promised, I'll finish with a Lehndorff entry from June that same year, which this man, now in his 60s, who fell in love with Heinrich as far as I can tell from the tone of his entries on him during late 1751 and through 1752, writes thusly:
June 1784: From there, I hurry home, change my clothing and jump, after I had talked for a moment with my wife and her visitor, into the post carriage. In order to avoid the heat, I drive through the entire night and arrive on the 6th in the evening at Rheinsberg. I always experience a particular sensation whenever I get close to this charming place, when I think of the fact that in an hour, in half an hour, in a quarter of an hour I shall see Prince Heinrich again, who when it comes down to it has been for as long as I can remember the Prince whom I love best. I had all reason to be satisfied with his greeting. I cannot adequately render the emotion that moves inside me, but I am his, utterly and completely. (Ich bin auf jeden Fall ganz sein eigen.)
April: one writes to me from Berlin that Casot, Bastiani and Luchesini form the King‘s company. The former two are old acquaintances, the last a man of much wit. In this moment, I remember a beautiful action on Prince Heinrich‘s part. When the King has fired Großkanzler Fürst from his position and had ordered Minister Zedlitz to investigate the trial around the Miller Arnold again, people were afraid that Herr v. Zedlitz out of sycophancy would pronounce his judgment according to the wishes of the monarch. But Prince Heinrich stepped towards him and said emphatically: „Sir, now is the time to show mankind you’re a man of honor! If you are afraid to lose your salary, don’t be, I will continue to pay it from now on.“ And thus it came to be that Zedlitz told the monarch that the judgment against the Miller had been fair.
And then it's time for another Rheinsberg visit. Lehndorff's opening paragraph to this one is so lovely and so very him that I'll put it on the end of this post, and you'll see why. Heinrich entertains French visitors, and what should they have brought with them but a copy of Voltaire’s memoirs. Fun times for everyone!
When the Prince after tea has left his guests at the gambling tables, I withdraw with him, Count Podewils and Ludwig Wreech into his room where he reads to us the secret history which Voltaire has written about our King. The anecdotes the Prince adds to his readings are even more interesting than the history itself, which is already interesting in a very high degree. The days are much too short for all my dear Prince has to offer in pleasantries, despite the fact we rarely go to bed before 1 pm.
Look, Lehndorff, if Heinrich can outtrash talk Voltaire‘s trashy tell all, it‘s really irresponsible of you not to write those damn anecdotes down! Never mind Heinrich's commentary on Fritz' account of the 7 Years War, we want Heinrich's commentary on Voltaire's memoirs! Seriously. In other news, Heinrich reading Voltaire's memoirs out loud to Lehndorff has to be the most Hohenzollern experience ever. You can not make these people up.
According to Lehndorff, Heinrich got Fritz‘ permission to finally go to Paris for the first time because Gustav has threatened to visit Berlin again, and Fritz wants to avoid a Heinrich/Gustav clash. Be that as it may: Lehndorff‘s Prince is off to Paris!
August of 1784: I receive a delightful letter from Prince Heinrich, from Geneva. If I wanted to, I could travel to Paris at once, where the Prince is headed to, and where he promises me an apartment and all kind of delights. Surely I would have many of those, since people there will certainly try to honor the Prince in all kind of ways, and I would have my share in these honors. But if I consider I would have to leave my family behind which needs me right now, especially my oldest son, I have to decline, obeying to reason. It is hard for me to make this sacrifice, but the fulfiilment of duty, too, has its satisfaction, and in missing there is reward.
It's good that you remember you're a family man and want to be a responsible dad, Lehndorff, we love you for it. Also, it gives you the opportunity to share some tea with Frau von Katte at Ferdinand's, which is interesting because I had dimly recalled someone - wiki? Fontane? - claims she died in the late 1770s. But here she is, alive and having tea with Lehndorff in 1784.
While Heinrich is having a great time in Hohenzollern dream country, aka Paris, young Tauentzien is back in Prussia, but only temporarily. Time for a Lehndorff pen portrait of the new guy! Complete with pen portrait of the old guy.
September 1784: „In the morning, I‘m visited by Tauentzien, who has gone with Prince Heinrich as far as Dijon, and then has returned for the manoeuvres. He‘s on his way back to Paris to Prince Heinrich, and will be returning here after two months. He is a pretty boy, barely twenty four years of age, but who has already had all kind of adventures. A year ago, he married against the will of the King and his parents a young Fräulein von Marschall, who had become pregnant by him. No sooner was the affair settled did she give birth and died. Four years ago, he already had become a father during his stay in Dresden, through a lady in waiting to the Prince Electress of Saxony, which is why Prince Heinrich had removed him from that post. Currently, he’s trying to marry the sole daughter of the famous Monsieur Necker, the richest heiress of Europe. (Mes amies, this is Germaine De Stael, famous writer and wit, and no, Tauentzien does not score there.) This is one of his main reasons for returning to Paris. Considering his pretty face and his vivacity, I understand he’s taken the position with Prince Heinrich which the infamous Kaphengst used to have, who hasn’t been as high in the Prince’s favour since he has abused it. Hardly ever has a man pushed fortune which had almost thrown itself at him so badly away as Kaphengst did. He was an insignificant ensign with the Green Husars, then he was ordered to Prince Heinrich, to command the fifteen Hussars who formed the Rheinsberg guard. The honor to dine at the Prince’s table hadn’t been his yet. However, his beautiful face and his vivacious nature attracted the Prince’s attention, and since at that time Kalkreuth fell into disfavour, Kaphengst got the position as ordonance of the Prince and thus the greatest influence on him. He received an estate for 150 000 Taler as a present and had the Prince’s house, stable and cellar - which he used a lot - at his disposal, and his purse. It is clear that this man has cost his royal highness incredible sums. He caused his lord immense distress through a lot countless stupidities and foolish pranks. And still the later tried to cover all up, regardless on how this put a bad light on his own reputation. Despite all this, Kaphengst has ruined himself in body and soul, now socializes only with scum anymore, and is at a point where he loses his entire possessions. He is a telling example of where a debauched life can lead to. In other circumstances, one has to say, he might have become a gentleman and a good officer. The overabundance of favour and lack of strictness has spoiled him.
So much for Kaphengst. This is indeed the year in which Heinrich ends relation for good (after having to sell his paintings to Catherine to cover Kaphengst's debts one last time).
October 1784, this is interesting, de Catt is still listed as one of Fritz’ lectors by Lehndorff who evidently hasn't heard about the firing back in Steinort, or during his occasional trips: „With pleasure, I hear the Abbé Denina talk, who is a scholar of the first rank. He tells us that the King now has four readers, de Catt, the Abbé du Val, who has lately arrived from Paris, and the son of a tailor from Berlin.“ And Luchesini, one might add.
October 29th : Lehndorff becomes a Liselotte fan: For eight days, I read day and night extremely interesting writings of the Duchess de Orleans about the government of her brother-in-law, King Louis XIV, as well as the memoirs of one Count Christoph Dohna about the government of the Great Prince Elector and of King Friedrich I.
Lehndorff spots Voltaire‘s memoirs translated into German in the bookshops and that does shock him, as opposed to hearing them read to him out loud by Heinrich. „It is amazing how much liberty is enjoyed in our country by writers and bookshop owners if such works can be sold in public!“
I'll say. Mind you, not for much longer. Once Fritz is dead, those memoirs so get on the Prussian index and aren't reprinted in Germany again until the 20th century.
Late November: „Finally, Prince Heinrich leaves Paris. To the Prince de Condé, he said: „All my life, I longed to go to France, and for the rest of my days, I shall long to go back there.“ The Queen of France, who has treated him somewhat coldly, did not have public opinion on her side. The affection which was shown to him grew rather from day to day, and even the Queen at last grew more amiable and said as a farewell: „Your departure is our loss.“. The Prince has seen a lot and has always followed the advice of Grimm, a respectable man, who enjoys the Czarina of Russia’s favour.
The Queen is of course Marie Antoinette, loyal daughter to dead MT, who saw Heinrich's visit as a sneak Prussian attack to woo France back from the alliance with Austria. (She wasn't totally wrong in that the letters between Fritz and Heinrich showed that he was supposed to try if he could, but they didn't really expect it, and mainly this was indeed a fun visit.)
November 28th: I go to the Dorotheenkirche to hear M. Sonnier preach. On that occasion, I see the monuments of Mitchell and the Count Verelsts. These were men who played an important role in their day, and now no one talks of them anymore.
But Mitchell's reports live on, Lehndorff, we promise.
December 2nd: I had the great joy of seeing Ludwig Wreech enter. He is well, and has made it through the journey to France and back in one piece. He has left the Prince in Brandenburg in order to come here straight away. His Royal Highness has gone to Potsdam, and has been received by his Majesty with love and distinction. He had sent him his horses and his pages, he rushed into the Prince’s room in order to greet him, in short, he has left nothing out in order to receive him in splendour. He also has gifted him with two pounds of Spanish tobacco and remarked that he’d like to contribute to the Prince’s travelling expenses but that he couldn’t right now, his treasure being exhausted.
December 5th Lehndorff’s own reunion with Heinrich goes well, too, and then he has a moment of Schadenfreude when spotting a certain someone:
„In the antechamber I see a personality which illustrates the changeability of all earthly matters to me. It is Kaphengst (...) His health is gone, he has lost his position, and is in the greatest embarrasment. The Prince’s embarassment towards him is even larger. At heart, he still has some fondness for him, but he knows that he has done all for him that he could do, and now sees that he hasn’t managed to make this man happy or reasonable. He had given him the beautiful estate of Meseberg, in the belief of having given him an assured basis of living, and in the hope to enjoy his grateful favourite’s happiness when visiting him now and then. All of this has found a bad ending. He took whores and showed various desires disliked by the Prince, and so these two have tormented themselves through fifteen years. I had seen all of this coming, but I kept my mouth shut, and now this favourite, who outshone all others, who had made everyone wait in the antechambre while he locked himself up with the Prince doesn’t know what to do with himself. (...)
„My dear Prince’s entourage isn’t really satisfied by the visit to France. They claim that the King has been too thrifty. This had annoyed Herr von Knesebeck so much that he left Paris before the prince did. One can see once again how hard it is to make everyone happy. I must say, there’s hardly another prince who is so considerate towards his entourage, and there are still so many displeased and grasping people around him. As for me, I love him for his personality, and I am never happier than when I am with him.“
Lehndorff spends the December with his family in Berlin and with Heinrich. Heinrich reads to him - no more Voltaire, stories of Florian, a dramatist and fable write, and btw, this consistent of the decades reading out loud by Heinrich is another trait shared with the Firstborn. With the December of 1784, this volume, which doesn't have a register, ends, but not this writing-up, because as promised, I'll finish with a Lehndorff entry from June that same year, which this man, now in his 60s, who fell in love with Heinrich as far as I can tell from the tone of his entries on him during late 1751 and through 1752, writes thusly:
June 1784: From there, I hurry home, change my clothing and jump, after I had talked for a moment with my wife and her visitor, into the post carriage. In order to avoid the heat, I drive through the entire night and arrive on the 6th in the evening at Rheinsberg. I always experience a particular sensation whenever I get close to this charming place, when I think of the fact that in an hour, in half an hour, in a quarter of an hour I shall see Prince Heinrich again, who when it comes down to it has been for as long as I can remember the Prince whom I love best. I had all reason to be satisfied with his greeting. I cannot adequately render the emotion that moves inside me, but I am his, utterly and completely. (Ich bin auf jeden Fall ganz sein eigen.)
Edited 2020-03-13 03:57 (UTC)
Grumbkow wrote this for Seckendorff directly after it happened, on August 15th. Date reminder: this was not only FW's birthday but exactly a year since father and son had last seen each other. Wlhelmine also names August 15th as the day when she learned about the escape attempt at the ball at Monbijou. Language observation: Grumbkow writes in German, and an old fasihioned, more baroque than roccoco German at that. Also, as I've mentioned before, it's fascinating that FW keeps switching between "Du" and the two more formal adresses - the third person singular "er" or the second person "Ihr" when adressing Fritz, sometimes within the same sentence, which tells you something about his volatille mood. Sadly, there's no way I can reproduce this in English.
As soon as his royal majesty turned towards the Crown Prince, the later threw himself at his feet. After his royal majesty had ordered him to rise, his royal majesty said with a very serious face:
"You will know how to recall what has happened one year ago, and how shamefully you have behaved, and what a godless plan you have pursued. As I have had you with me since childhood, and thus I have known you well, I did everything in the world, in good and in bad matters, to make you an honest man, and as I had already suspected your evil intent, I have treated you in the most harsh and rudest manner while we were at the Saxon camp, in the hope that you would reflect, adopt a different behavior, confess your faults to me and ask for forgiveness. But it has all been in vain, and you only became more stubborn. When a young man dirties himself in courting, starts debouched fights and similar actions, one can still forgive this as the faults of youth. But intentionally behave cowardly and do similar disgusting things, that is unforgivable. You believed that you would get away with your muleheadedness, but listen, my boy, and if you were 60 or 70 years old, you won't tell me what to do! And if I have managed to live my life so far against everyone, I shan't lack means to bring you to heel.
Haven't I tried honestly with you on all occasions, as when I learned of your debts the last time? Haven't I admonished you in a paternal fashion that you should tell me everything, I would pay it all, as long as you told me the truth; whereupon you told me that other than the already named sum, you were only owing 200 taler more, which I did pay and made my peace with you. Afterwards, it was discovered that you were owing several thousands of Talers more, and since you knew that you would never be able to pay this back, it was if you had stolen it, and that's without considering how the French scum, Montoieu and Ferrant, have screwed you over."
His royal majesty furtherly declared that nothing had hurt him more than the fact he hadn't been trusted by the prince, when his majesty had done all for the aggrandizement of the House of Brandenburg, the army and the finances eventually only for him, for his benefit, if only he showed himself worthy. HIs majesty had to declare that his majesty had done everything to win the friendship of the Crown Prince, but it had all been in vain. At this point, the Crown Prince threw himself full of remorse at his father's feet again. His royal majesty asked him afterwards whether his intention hadn't been to go to England. As he replied in the positive, his royal majesty returned: "Now listen well to the consequences! Your mother would have suffered the greatest misfortune as I would naturally have suspected her of having known all about it; your sister I'd have shut away at a place where she could not have seen either sun or moon for the rest of her life. I'd have gone with my army to Hannover and would have burned down everything, even if I had had to sacrifice my life, land and people in order to do it. See, these would have been the fruit of your thoughtless and godless behaviour. And though I had intended to employ you in various war and civilian offices, how could you show yourself to my officers and other servants after this action? The only thing which can repair this would be if you begged for your blood to be disregarded in order to make up for this mistake."
Whereupon the Crown Prince threw himself at his majesty's feet and begged to be confronted with the harshest tests, and he would suffer through anything to win his majesty's grace and esteem back. Upon which his royal majesty asked: "Did you seduce Katte, or did Katte seduce you?" Whereupon the Crown Prince replied without hesitation: "I seduced him", to which his royal majesty returned: "I am pleased that you finally speak the truth for a change."
His majesty went on to ask how he liked the life in Küstrin? Whether he still had an aversion to Wusterhausen and to wearing the Sterbekittel ?("Death jacket" was what Fritz had called a Prussian uniform, which had enraged FW) It could be that the company of the King wasn't good enough for him; it was true, he, the King, had no French manners, he couldn't produce bonmots in the manner of the petit maitres, which he considered as the greatest scoundrels. He was a German prince and would live and die as a German prince. But now the Prince should say what he had won with his caprices and opiniated heart, as he had hated all which the King had loved, and when he, the King, had prized someone, the Prince had put him down. When an officer had been arrested, he (the prince) had commiserated with him and had taken his part. His true friends and all who had meant well with him, he'd hated and slandered, while he'd caressed those who had flattered him and encouraged him in his evil intentions. Now he saw the fruit of such behavior, for since a long time in Prussia and in Berlin no one had asked about him or cared whether or not he was still of this world, and if not some fellow or the other had come from Küstrin reporting that he was playing with balloons there or wore French hair pieces, no one would know whether he was still alive or dead.
Afterwards, his majesty adressed his religious principles aand demonstrated in the tersest way which horrible consequences came from the absolute decree of naming God as the origin of sin, and that Christ hadn't died for all men. Whereupon the Crown Prince swore up and down that he now entirely agreed with his majesty's Christian and orthodox opinion.
Whereupon his majesty admonished him paternally and tenderly that if godless people spoke against his duties against God and his fatherland in his vicinity, he should fall on his knees and beg Jesus Christ with all his heart to get rid of such evil plans iwth the help of the Holy Spirit, and to lead him on better ways. And if this prayer came from the heart, Jesus, who wanted to save all men, would not leave him unheard; whereupon his royal majesty in the hope of further improvement forgave him the past completely. The Crown Prince heard this with the greatest inner agitation, kissed the King's feet, and shed many tears.
As soon as his royal majesty turned towards the Crown Prince, the later threw himself at his feet. After his royal majesty had ordered him to rise, his royal majesty said with a very serious face:
"You will know how to recall what has happened one year ago, and how shamefully you have behaved, and what a godless plan you have pursued. As I have had you with me since childhood, and thus I have known you well, I did everything in the world, in good and in bad matters, to make you an honest man, and as I had already suspected your evil intent, I have treated you in the most harsh and rudest manner while we were at the Saxon camp, in the hope that you would reflect, adopt a different behavior, confess your faults to me and ask for forgiveness. But it has all been in vain, and you only became more stubborn. When a young man dirties himself in courting, starts debouched fights and similar actions, one can still forgive this as the faults of youth. But intentionally behave cowardly and do similar disgusting things, that is unforgivable. You believed that you would get away with your muleheadedness, but listen, my boy, and if you were 60 or 70 years old, you won't tell me what to do! And if I have managed to live my life so far against everyone, I shan't lack means to bring you to heel.
Haven't I tried honestly with you on all occasions, as when I learned of your debts the last time? Haven't I admonished you in a paternal fashion that you should tell me everything, I would pay it all, as long as you told me the truth; whereupon you told me that other than the already named sum, you were only owing 200 taler more, which I did pay and made my peace with you. Afterwards, it was discovered that you were owing several thousands of Talers more, and since you knew that you would never be able to pay this back, it was if you had stolen it, and that's without considering how the French scum, Montoieu and Ferrant, have screwed you over."
His royal majesty furtherly declared that nothing had hurt him more than the fact he hadn't been trusted by the prince, when his majesty had done all for the aggrandizement of the House of Brandenburg, the army and the finances eventually only for him, for his benefit, if only he showed himself worthy. HIs majesty had to declare that his majesty had done everything to win the friendship of the Crown Prince, but it had all been in vain. At this point, the Crown Prince threw himself full of remorse at his father's feet again. His royal majesty asked him afterwards whether his intention hadn't been to go to England. As he replied in the positive, his royal majesty returned: "Now listen well to the consequences! Your mother would have suffered the greatest misfortune as I would naturally have suspected her of having known all about it; your sister I'd have shut away at a place where she could not have seen either sun or moon for the rest of her life. I'd have gone with my army to Hannover and would have burned down everything, even if I had had to sacrifice my life, land and people in order to do it. See, these would have been the fruit of your thoughtless and godless behaviour. And though I had intended to employ you in various war and civilian offices, how could you show yourself to my officers and other servants after this action? The only thing which can repair this would be if you begged for your blood to be disregarded in order to make up for this mistake."
Whereupon the Crown Prince threw himself at his majesty's feet and begged to be confronted with the harshest tests, and he would suffer through anything to win his majesty's grace and esteem back. Upon which his royal majesty asked: "Did you seduce Katte, or did Katte seduce you?" Whereupon the Crown Prince replied without hesitation: "I seduced him", to which his royal majesty returned: "I am pleased that you finally speak the truth for a change."
His majesty went on to ask how he liked the life in Küstrin? Whether he still had an aversion to Wusterhausen and to wearing the Sterbekittel ?("Death jacket" was what Fritz had called a Prussian uniform, which had enraged FW) It could be that the company of the King wasn't good enough for him; it was true, he, the King, had no French manners, he couldn't produce bonmots in the manner of the petit maitres, which he considered as the greatest scoundrels. He was a German prince and would live and die as a German prince. But now the Prince should say what he had won with his caprices and opiniated heart, as he had hated all which the King had loved, and when he, the King, had prized someone, the Prince had put him down. When an officer had been arrested, he (the prince) had commiserated with him and had taken his part. His true friends and all who had meant well with him, he'd hated and slandered, while he'd caressed those who had flattered him and encouraged him in his evil intentions. Now he saw the fruit of such behavior, for since a long time in Prussia and in Berlin no one had asked about him or cared whether or not he was still of this world, and if not some fellow or the other had come from Küstrin reporting that he was playing with balloons there or wore French hair pieces, no one would know whether he was still alive or dead.
Afterwards, his majesty adressed his religious principles aand demonstrated in the tersest way which horrible consequences came from the absolute decree of naming God as the origin of sin, and that Christ hadn't died for all men. Whereupon the Crown Prince swore up and down that he now entirely agreed with his majesty's Christian and orthodox opinion.
Whereupon his majesty admonished him paternally and tenderly that if godless people spoke against his duties against God and his fatherland in his vicinity, he should fall on his knees and beg Jesus Christ with all his heart to get rid of such evil plans iwth the help of the Holy Spirit, and to lead him on better ways. And if this prayer came from the heart, Jesus, who wanted to save all men, would not leave him unheard; whereupon his royal majesty in the hope of further improvement forgave him the past completely. The Crown Prince heard this with the greatest inner agitation, kissed the King's feet, and shed many tears.
In haste: I am reading all of this and loving it. (It is also a great distraction from the thing that is taking up all my time right now, which is trying to figure out various cancellations, etc.)
I *promise* more later, but I had to comment on this:
I cannot adequately render the emotion that moves inside me, but I am his, utterly and completely.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh Lehndorff, you are the most adorably smitten guy ever, we should all be as lucky to be as adorably and passionately in love as you after thirty years <333333333
I *promise* more later, but I had to comment on this:
I cannot adequately render the emotion that moves inside me, but I am his, utterly and completely.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh Lehndorff, you are the most adorably smitten guy ever, we should all be as lucky to be as adorably and passionately in love as you after thirty years <333333333
but the estimable Ms Ziebura has edited Lehndorff's 1799 diary.
She really is a treasure :D I wonder if she's going to edit them all? (How many more of them are there?)
Upon being saved by his fanboy, Fritz gave it to Peter, but being a pragmatist, he gave it to Catherine as well once Peter had met his demise at the hands of her minions.
HAHAHAHA oh Fritz, never stop being pragmatic.
But Lehndorff is loyally fond of his Crown Prince Jr. as well
Aww, of course he is, the sweetie.
Otoh, it is interesting that Lehndorff is able to see the situation as more complex than that.
*nods* Lehndorff is so perceptive! (I get on his case, especially in the earlier journals, for being unselfaware, but he's also really quite perceptive and sometimes I forget that.)
I can sing a song; I have had some experiences in this regard.
Aw Lehndorff, you have at that.
To carry such a grudge for twentyfour years is incomprehensible to me.
I can totally see that it's incomprehensible to him, he's so nice <3
Poor painted EC has to hold a fertlity symbol in her hand, too.
Oh, poor EC :(
However, you might remember who lives nearby?
AHAHAHA, I wouldn't have, only the way you phrased it I immediately leaped to the correct conclusion :D
For Fräulein Marschall, whose surprising quick marriage to Tauentzien a few months ago I have noted down
Oh no! Truly it sucked to be a woman in the 18th C. :(
She really is a treasure :D I wonder if she's going to edit them all? (How many more of them are there?)
Upon being saved by his fanboy, Fritz gave it to Peter, but being a pragmatist, he gave it to Catherine as well once Peter had met his demise at the hands of her minions.
HAHAHAHA oh Fritz, never stop being pragmatic.
But Lehndorff is loyally fond of his Crown Prince Jr. as well
Aww, of course he is, the sweetie.
Otoh, it is interesting that Lehndorff is able to see the situation as more complex than that.
*nods* Lehndorff is so perceptive! (I get on his case, especially in the earlier journals, for being unselfaware, but he's also really quite perceptive and sometimes I forget that.)
I can sing a song; I have had some experiences in this regard.
Aw Lehndorff, you have at that.
To carry such a grudge for twentyfour years is incomprehensible to me.
I can totally see that it's incomprehensible to him, he's so nice <3
Poor painted EC has to hold a fertlity symbol in her hand, too.
Oh, poor EC :(
However, you might remember who lives nearby?
AHAHAHA, I wouldn't have, only the way you phrased it I immediately leaped to the correct conclusion :D
For Fräulein Marschall, whose surprising quick marriage to Tauentzien a few months ago I have noted down
Oh no! Truly it sucked to be a woman in the 18th C. :(
we want Heinrich's commentary on Voltaire's memoirs!
Yes we do!! Lehndorff, why are you letting us down like this? :)
It's good that you remember you're a family man and want to be a responsible dad, Lehndorff, we love you for it.
<3
He is a pretty boy, barely twenty four years of age, but who has already had all kind of adventures.
Welp, yeah, sounds like he has been having a good time :P So after all these, er, adventures, he became one of Heinrich's lovers? What happened to him after that?
and even the Queen at last grew more amiable and said as a farewell: „Your departure is our loss.“
So this story, along with your commentary to let me know what was going on and what the deal with Heinrich and Fritz was, is just charming.
It is Kaphengst
LOLOLOLOL Lehndorff, I can see what you are focused on
has been for as long as I can remember the Prince whom I love best.
I commented on this before, but oh Lehndorff, you are such a sweetie. It makes me happy to know with what fidelity and constancy he has loved his Heinrich <33333
Yes we do!! Lehndorff, why are you letting us down like this? :)
It's good that you remember you're a family man and want to be a responsible dad, Lehndorff, we love you for it.
<3
He is a pretty boy, barely twenty four years of age, but who has already had all kind of adventures.
Welp, yeah, sounds like he has been having a good time :P So after all these, er, adventures, he became one of Heinrich's lovers? What happened to him after that?
and even the Queen at last grew more amiable and said as a farewell: „Your departure is our loss.“
So this story, along with your commentary to let me know what was going on and what the deal with Heinrich and Fritz was, is just charming.
It is Kaphengst
LOLOLOLOL Lehndorff, I can see what you are focused on
has been for as long as I can remember the Prince whom I love best.
I commented on this before, but oh Lehndorff, you are such a sweetie. It makes me happy to know with what fidelity and constancy he has loved his Heinrich <33333
Oh my GOD.
I always forget how utterly awful FW is because my brain keeps thinking, no one could *really* be that awful, right? Right?? And FW is like, no, I really AM that awful.
and as I had already suspected your evil intent, I have treated you in the most harsh and rudest manner while we were at the Saxon camp, in the hope that you would reflect, adopt a different behavior, confess your faults to me and ask for forgiveness.
*facepalm* I mean... that sure does sound like FW, all right. Both awful and MAKING NO SENSE.
But intentionally behave cowardly and do similar disgusting things, that is unforgivable.
So by this does he mean Katte? Or what?
Afterwards, it was discovered that you were owing several thousands of Talers more
I don't think I know about this either? (Or at least I don't remember.)
Now he saw the fruit of such behavior,
*headdesk* FW!!
Afterwards, his majesty adressed his religious principles aand demonstrated in the tersest way which horrible consequences came from the absolute decree of naming God as the origin of sin, and that Christ hadn't died for all men. Whereupon the Crown Prince swore up and down that he now entirely agreed with his majesty's Christian and orthodox opinion.
1. Man, FW's dad really did a number on him re: predestination, didn't he.
2. arrrrrrrgh, omg.
I'm not sure whether I'm glad or not to have seen this! No, I'm kidding, I'm glad, of course. But wow that was something else.
I always forget how utterly awful FW is because my brain keeps thinking, no one could *really* be that awful, right? Right?? And FW is like, no, I really AM that awful.
and as I had already suspected your evil intent, I have treated you in the most harsh and rudest manner while we were at the Saxon camp, in the hope that you would reflect, adopt a different behavior, confess your faults to me and ask for forgiveness.
*facepalm* I mean... that sure does sound like FW, all right. Both awful and MAKING NO SENSE.
But intentionally behave cowardly and do similar disgusting things, that is unforgivable.
So by this does he mean Katte? Or what?
Afterwards, it was discovered that you were owing several thousands of Talers more
I don't think I know about this either? (Or at least I don't remember.)
Now he saw the fruit of such behavior,
*headdesk* FW!!
Afterwards, his majesty adressed his religious principles aand demonstrated in the tersest way which horrible consequences came from the absolute decree of naming God as the origin of sin, and that Christ hadn't died for all men. Whereupon the Crown Prince swore up and down that he now entirely agreed with his majesty's Christian and orthodox opinion.
1. Man, FW's dad really did a number on him re: predestination, didn't he.
2. arrrrrrrgh, omg.
I'm not sure whether I'm glad or not to have seen this! No, I'm kidding, I'm glad, of course. But wow that was something else.
Told you it was a harrowing document!
*facepalm* I mean... that sure does sound like FW, all right. Both awful and MAKING NO SENSE.
Indeed. "I treated you extra awful in front of everyone so you should confide in me and improve your behaviour!" is...very special FW logic.
But intentionally behave cowardly and do similar disgusting things, that is unforgivable.
So by this does he mean Katte? Or what?
At a guess, he means desertion. Katte, even if FW suspects them of having had sex, falls under debauched behavior, just about forgivable as a youthful flaw if properly repentant. But the army is the holiest of institutions, a deserter from it is a coward, hence, unforgivable. (Fast forward to Fritz' reaction when AW asks for permission to return to Berlin: What, you want to flee, while we fight to keep the state for you and your family? You want to set an example to cowards of the army, who may say: We are only asking for what the Prince of Prussia has obtained? Blush to the bottom of your soul the proposals you make to me; you speak of your honor: it lay in leading the army well and not to lose four battaillons, your magazine and your baggage in one stroke. I willl not entrust you another commando again for as long as I live. (...) But you may remain with the army I lead without your honor being impuned by this. You can, of course, do whatever you want, but you must know that I will deny you as my brother and family if you don't follow the demands of honor, the only one fitting for a Crown Prince! Mind you, that was during war time. Which it was not in 1730. But speak of doing a number on people through the generations...)
Fritz' money debts: I don't think we explicitly brought it up, no, but that was indeed a thing, and one of the reasons why FW was so pissed off in Zeithain already. After the flight attempt and Fritz' arrest, he ordered all of Fritz' books that could be found sold anonymously, which covered some of the debts, and paid for the rest. Here you can see where FW's paranoia comes from, for a change, when you recall that his father's Prussia had been bled dry in terms of money to finance the baroque life style of the King and court, and he, FW, had worked 24/7 to create a stable budget and economy again. Being afraid that a son in debts which he refuses to admit to would just turn out to be F1 reborn and reduce FW's life work to non existence was understandable in this context. However, what FW was incapable of acknowledging was that some of what Fritz had wanted the money for - education, the arts, books - were hardly something any other father, noble or citizen, would have begrudged their child, and that by his own behavior he had made it impossible for his son to trust him.
(The enforced crash course in economics he had Fritz take in Küstrin had the hoped for results in that Fritz, as a monarch, started out if anything even thriftier than FW...except for the arts. See also Barbarina, as Voltaire snarked, getting a higher salary than a Prussian cabinet minister.)
Predestition as a life long FW horror: yup. (F1: Look, he was getting into fights, refused to learn anything but maths and even once threatened his teacher! We had to do something!)
Re: the "no one cares if you life or die, your so called friends have all forgotten you" - as mentioned elsewhere, FW had ordered to tell this to Fritz in the autumn of 1730 already, there with the special addendum that even his mother didn't care. Now while I'm pretty sure Fritz saw through it in the autumn of 1730, I hope he stll saw through it in the summer of 1731, but I'm not entirely sure. Because life long distrust in humanity ensued. And when he did let people in, he micromanaged them.
*facepalm* I mean... that sure does sound like FW, all right. Both awful and MAKING NO SENSE.
Indeed. "I treated you extra awful in front of everyone so you should confide in me and improve your behaviour!" is...very special FW logic.
But intentionally behave cowardly and do similar disgusting things, that is unforgivable.
So by this does he mean Katte? Or what?
At a guess, he means desertion. Katte, even if FW suspects them of having had sex, falls under debauched behavior, just about forgivable as a youthful flaw if properly repentant. But the army is the holiest of institutions, a deserter from it is a coward, hence, unforgivable. (Fast forward to Fritz' reaction when AW asks for permission to return to Berlin: What, you want to flee, while we fight to keep the state for you and your family? You want to set an example to cowards of the army, who may say: We are only asking for what the Prince of Prussia has obtained? Blush to the bottom of your soul the proposals you make to me; you speak of your honor: it lay in leading the army well and not to lose four battaillons, your magazine and your baggage in one stroke. I willl not entrust you another commando again for as long as I live. (...) But you may remain with the army I lead without your honor being impuned by this. You can, of course, do whatever you want, but you must know that I will deny you as my brother and family if you don't follow the demands of honor, the only one fitting for a Crown Prince! Mind you, that was during war time. Which it was not in 1730. But speak of doing a number on people through the generations...)
Fritz' money debts: I don't think we explicitly brought it up, no, but that was indeed a thing, and one of the reasons why FW was so pissed off in Zeithain already. After the flight attempt and Fritz' arrest, he ordered all of Fritz' books that could be found sold anonymously, which covered some of the debts, and paid for the rest. Here you can see where FW's paranoia comes from, for a change, when you recall that his father's Prussia had been bled dry in terms of money to finance the baroque life style of the King and court, and he, FW, had worked 24/7 to create a stable budget and economy again. Being afraid that a son in debts which he refuses to admit to would just turn out to be F1 reborn and reduce FW's life work to non existence was understandable in this context. However, what FW was incapable of acknowledging was that some of what Fritz had wanted the money for - education, the arts, books - were hardly something any other father, noble or citizen, would have begrudged their child, and that by his own behavior he had made it impossible for his son to trust him.
(The enforced crash course in economics he had Fritz take in Küstrin had the hoped for results in that Fritz, as a monarch, started out if anything even thriftier than FW...except for the arts. See also Barbarina, as Voltaire snarked, getting a higher salary than a Prussian cabinet minister.)
Predestition as a life long FW horror: yup. (F1: Look, he was getting into fights, refused to learn anything but maths and even once threatened his teacher! We had to do something!)
Re: the "no one cares if you life or die, your so called friends have all forgotten you" - as mentioned elsewhere, FW had ordered to tell this to Fritz in the autumn of 1730 already, there with the special addendum that even his mother didn't care. Now while I'm pretty sure Fritz saw through it in the autumn of 1730, I hope he stll saw through it in the summer of 1731, but I'm not entirely sure. Because life long distrust in humanity ensued. And when he did let people in, he micromanaged them.
She really is a treasure :D I wonder if she's going to edit them all? (How many more of them are there?)
That's pretty much it as far as still existant manuscripts are concerned if the Leipzig archive index is anything to go by, plus some "diary notes on lose papers" for 1785. What I wish she'd translate and edit are Heinrich's and Ferdinand's letters to Lehndorff. Since they're all contained in one subsection, among with other people's letters, I take it that of the ca. 800 letters by Heinrich to Lehndorff which Schmidt-Lödtzen talks about in his 1907 preface as being in the family archive, not that many are left, sadly, but still, apparantly some survived 1945!
Lehndorff being gracious about Crown Prince Jr. interrupting his evening a deux with Heinrich: if you want to be cynical in a Fritzian way, of course this is the future King we're talking about, but at this point Lehndorff has long buried any career ambitions and is retired, so I do believe it's just that he's fond of young FW2, both because it's AW's kid and for the man's (no longer a boy at this point but a man of 30) own sake. His diary is pretty consistent about this from the first time kid FW shows up in it.
To carry such a grudge for twentyfour years is incomprehensible to me.
I can totally see that it's incomprehensible to him, he's so nice <3
Various family members of the du Rosey clan and the Katte clan: Ahem. Ahem.
Self: Look, Lehndorff presumably was nice to you as well if he had to interact with you. He just writes about his immortal grudge re: his One Who Got Away being married to Ludolf v. Katte in his diaries.
Oh no! Truly it sucked to be a woman in the 18th C. :(
Yup. To the point that I'm surprised so many survived childbirth at all. When the Duc de Croy notes about Marie Antoinette finally (after the seven years delay WHICH WAS NOT HER FAULT) giving birth to her first child, he writes that the Queen had to be bled five times during birth, and otherwise would have died. Meanwhile, I'm thinking: childbirth and five openings of the veins, wtf? Good thing MA inherited MT's iron consitution, I guess. Alas, poor young Frau von Tauentzien had no such natural defense.
That's pretty much it as far as still existant manuscripts are concerned if the Leipzig archive index is anything to go by, plus some "diary notes on lose papers" for 1785. What I wish she'd translate and edit are Heinrich's and Ferdinand's letters to Lehndorff. Since they're all contained in one subsection, among with other people's letters, I take it that of the ca. 800 letters by Heinrich to Lehndorff which Schmidt-Lödtzen talks about in his 1907 preface as being in the family archive, not that many are left, sadly, but still, apparantly some survived 1945!
Lehndorff being gracious about Crown Prince Jr. interrupting his evening a deux with Heinrich: if you want to be cynical in a Fritzian way, of course this is the future King we're talking about, but at this point Lehndorff has long buried any career ambitions and is retired, so I do believe it's just that he's fond of young FW2, both because it's AW's kid and for the man's (no longer a boy at this point but a man of 30) own sake. His diary is pretty consistent about this from the first time kid FW shows up in it.
To carry such a grudge for twentyfour years is incomprehensible to me.
I can totally see that it's incomprehensible to him, he's so nice <3
Various family members of the du Rosey clan and the Katte clan: Ahem. Ahem.
Self: Look, Lehndorff presumably was nice to you as well if he had to interact with you. He just writes about his immortal grudge re: his One Who Got Away being married to Ludolf v. Katte in his diaries.
Oh no! Truly it sucked to be a woman in the 18th C. :(
Yup. To the point that I'm surprised so many survived childbirth at all. When the Duc de Croy notes about Marie Antoinette finally (after the seven years delay WHICH WAS NOT HER FAULT) giving birth to her first child, he writes that the Queen had to be bled five times during birth, and otherwise would have died. Meanwhile, I'm thinking: childbirth and five openings of the veins, wtf? Good thing MA inherited MT's iron consitution, I guess. Alas, poor young Frau von Tauentzien had no such natural defense.
we want Heinrich's commentary on Voltaire's memoirs!
Yes we do!! Lehndorff, why are you letting us down like this? :)
Truly. I suppose his inner loyal subject prevented him from doing so, but never mind, Lehndorff, Fritz can take it! Trust us. I should add that at this point, Lehndorff does occasionally wonder who'll read his diaries once he's dead, and for whom he's writing this, and comes to the conclusion that he's writing for future generations of Lehndorffs to whom Fritz & Co. will only be legends, like the people from Louis XIV court are to him when he's reading Liselotte's letters. Perhaps he doesn't want those hypothetical future Lehndorffs and his very real actual kids (who also are bound to have a look at his diaries once he's gone) to know all Prince Heinrich has to add to Voltaire's trashy tell all about Frederick the Great?
Tauentzien: So after all these, er, adventures, he became one of Heinrich's lovers? What happened to him after that?
As Heinrich boyfriends go, he had a pretty good life. For starters, he wasn't a hopeless spendthrift, and like his father a good military man. (Dad Tauentzien the General is the Tauentzien who is included on the Rheinsberg Obelisk.) He also was very career minded. The relationship with Heinrich ended in 1791 when Tauentzien switched from Heinrich's to FW2's personal entourage. (Chronology reminder: Fritz dies in the summer of 1786. Heinrich finds out soon thereafter that FW2 while treating him as dear old Uncle Heinrich has zero intention of letting him play any political role whatsoever and completely freezes him out of government business. Anyone who still wants to advance in the ranks starts to realize this won't happen through Heinrich.) Tauentzien, who'd gone with Heinrich on all his travels through the 1780s - including the second one to Paris just before the Revolution; he was the boyfriend who thought it was funny to coach an actor in Fritz mannerisms and make Heinrich watch the play starring his brother (as mentioned here) - first became FW2s' liason officer to the Austrian army (remember, this was when Prussia and Austria teamed up for the first time to fight the French Revolutionaries in the "avenge the French Royals, let's invade" war, which btw Heinrich was against, and promptly got their backside kicked at Valmy), then FW2's envoy at Catherine's court in Russia. He then took a leave of absence; FW2 died in 1797, FW3 called Tauentzien back to the Prussian army, promoting him to Generalmajor, and as opposed to poor Wartensleben, Tauentzien managed to fight in the Prussian army against Napoleon at Jena and lose without getting blamed for it afterwards. In fairness, this was because he also managed to win on several key occasions in the 1813-1815 wars. He ended up commanding the 3rd Army and in peace time in his old age died as the distinguished Commandant of the Berlin City Garnison; he's buried there.
The child his first wife died giving birth to was a daughter and survived into old age (she died in 1859); he married again in 1787 and had four more children by his second wife, who also was more fortunate in her life expectancy - she outlived him and died in 1840.
He was the last but one of Heinrich's main lovers; after him came the French émigré count who stuck around till Heinrich's death and was described by Fontane so memorably as the last warming beam of the setting sun. (The Comte's wife lived long enough for Fontane to actually have met her and get some stories about Rheinsberg in Heinrich's time from her.)
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh Lehndorff, you are the most adorably smitten guy ever, we should all be as lucky to be as adorably and passionately in love as you after thirty years <333333333
Same! I mean, his early bedazzled entries are very enjoyable to read, too, but everyone is in such a mood when it's young love. But this is Lehndorff decades later, after he's quite clear on Heinrich's darker sides as well, and I don't just mean the tendency to fall for charismatic bastards, but Heinrich's own capacity for pettiness (ask Mina) and carrying a grudge (or, as Lehndorff puts it, "sulking with the Firstborn"). This is Lehndorff who has given up on the idea that Heinrich will ever changeand propose monogamous marriage and has managed to build a life for himself at Steinort, with the annual Berlin trip, with his family, that he's content with. And yet, he's still as passionately in love as that.
(What Heinrich felt for Lehndorff remains a mystery. Not least because no one ever published those letters. I mean, evidently, as Mildred put it, Lehndorff did not and could not push those sexual/emotional buttons in terms of powerplay. But otoh, he kept up the relationship and sought out Lehndorff's company again and again throughout the decades when there was absolutely no benefit in it for him, neither when Lehndorff was EC's chamberlain nor in the retirement years, beyond, well, Lehndorff himself. So he must have felt an attachment of whatever nature, and one that lasted through a life time, too.)
Yes we do!! Lehndorff, why are you letting us down like this? :)
Truly. I suppose his inner loyal subject prevented him from doing so, but never mind, Lehndorff, Fritz can take it! Trust us. I should add that at this point, Lehndorff does occasionally wonder who'll read his diaries once he's dead, and for whom he's writing this, and comes to the conclusion that he's writing for future generations of Lehndorffs to whom Fritz & Co. will only be legends, like the people from Louis XIV court are to him when he's reading Liselotte's letters. Perhaps he doesn't want those hypothetical future Lehndorffs and his very real actual kids (who also are bound to have a look at his diaries once he's gone) to know all Prince Heinrich has to add to Voltaire's trashy tell all about Frederick the Great?
Tauentzien: So after all these, er, adventures, he became one of Heinrich's lovers? What happened to him after that?
As Heinrich boyfriends go, he had a pretty good life. For starters, he wasn't a hopeless spendthrift, and like his father a good military man. (Dad Tauentzien the General is the Tauentzien who is included on the Rheinsberg Obelisk.) He also was very career minded. The relationship with Heinrich ended in 1791 when Tauentzien switched from Heinrich's to FW2's personal entourage. (Chronology reminder: Fritz dies in the summer of 1786. Heinrich finds out soon thereafter that FW2 while treating him as dear old Uncle Heinrich has zero intention of letting him play any political role whatsoever and completely freezes him out of government business. Anyone who still wants to advance in the ranks starts to realize this won't happen through Heinrich.) Tauentzien, who'd gone with Heinrich on all his travels through the 1780s - including the second one to Paris just before the Revolution; he was the boyfriend who thought it was funny to coach an actor in Fritz mannerisms and make Heinrich watch the play starring his brother (as mentioned here) - first became FW2s' liason officer to the Austrian army (remember, this was when Prussia and Austria teamed up for the first time to fight the French Revolutionaries in the "avenge the French Royals, let's invade" war, which btw Heinrich was against, and promptly got their backside kicked at Valmy), then FW2's envoy at Catherine's court in Russia. He then took a leave of absence; FW2 died in 1797, FW3 called Tauentzien back to the Prussian army, promoting him to Generalmajor, and as opposed to poor Wartensleben, Tauentzien managed to fight in the Prussian army against Napoleon at Jena and lose without getting blamed for it afterwards. In fairness, this was because he also managed to win on several key occasions in the 1813-1815 wars. He ended up commanding the 3rd Army and in peace time in his old age died as the distinguished Commandant of the Berlin City Garnison; he's buried there.
The child his first wife died giving birth to was a daughter and survived into old age (she died in 1859); he married again in 1787 and had four more children by his second wife, who also was more fortunate in her life expectancy - she outlived him and died in 1840.
He was the last but one of Heinrich's main lovers; after him came the French émigré count who stuck around till Heinrich's death and was described by Fontane so memorably as the last warming beam of the setting sun. (The Comte's wife lived long enough for Fontane to actually have met her and get some stories about Rheinsberg in Heinrich's time from her.)
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh Lehndorff, you are the most adorably smitten guy ever, we should all be as lucky to be as adorably and passionately in love as you after thirty years <333333333
Same! I mean, his early bedazzled entries are very enjoyable to read, too, but everyone is in such a mood when it's young love. But this is Lehndorff decades later, after he's quite clear on Heinrich's darker sides as well, and I don't just mean the tendency to fall for charismatic bastards, but Heinrich's own capacity for pettiness (ask Mina) and carrying a grudge (or, as Lehndorff puts it, "sulking with the Firstborn"). This is Lehndorff who has given up on the idea that Heinrich will ever change
(What Heinrich felt for Lehndorff remains a mystery. Not least because no one ever published those letters. I mean, evidently, as Mildred put it, Lehndorff did not and could not push those sexual/emotional buttons in terms of powerplay. But otoh, he kept up the relationship and sought out Lehndorff's company again and again throughout the decades when there was absolutely no benefit in it for him, neither when Lehndorff was EC's chamberlain nor in the retirement years, beyond, well, Lehndorff himself. So he must have felt an attachment of whatever nature, and one that lasted through a life time, too.)
So I realized I hadn't made the translation of Katte's first interrogation protocol that Mildred had asked me for a post or two ago yet. Here it is. Bear in mind: Katte was threatened by torture if he didn't confess all, and of course he knew the punishment for desertion under FW if this was what it was judged to be and wanted to live, so with that caveat, here's what he said happened:
"It has been probably now a year ago that his highness did for the first time honor me with conversation, and did so repeatedly during the Parade and the parole giving. (...)
In Cosdorf, his highness the Crown Prince had me called just after his arrival and told me I should go recruiting-" guys, I am a bit lost, "auf Werbung gehen" could mean going to woo, or going to recruit, or going to advertise, but I'm going with "recruit because when in doubt, assume a military context in Prussia - and then I should do him a favor, which he believed I wouldn't refuse him. Whereupon I replied to him that I had already registered regarding the recruitment, but as for the other, his highness had only to order, if it was within my power and I could do it, he only needed to order and I would be ready to do anything.'I do believe it of you,' he returned.
Sidenote: Fritz here as quoted by Katte uses the most formal personal address from a higher ranking to a lower ranking person, calling Katte "Er" - the literal translation would have been "I do believe it of Him". This is true for the entire document, which never once has him use the more familiar versions of "you". (No "Sie" or "Ihr", and most definitely no "Du".) Continuing with Fritz as quoted by Katte:
"'In the camp I want to talk further with you about this, just come this evening, when I'm returning from the King.' Whereupon he left me and went to dine with his highness. Here I must remind you that before I even knew I'd join the trip to Saxony, his highness the Crown Prince had told me that he wanted to pay a debt to someone he was owing something to, without, however, mentioning who that person was, and had asked me whether I could get him some money. Whereupon I promised to do all I could, and did sent him 1000 Reichstaler, which the Chamberlain Montolieu had lend to me, to Potsdam through his page. The page had met me at Zehlendorf and I had given him the money sealed in a box so he wouldn't know what was inside. (The Prince) duly received this, and wrote to me the next day through one of his servants demanding that I should get him more money after the Saxon journey, which the preserved letter will prove. When his royal highness withdrew for the night at Cosdorf, he told me, oh my God, I can't stand it anymore, my father treats me so harshly, he is always so lacking all mercy towards me, I don't know anymore what I should do.
I was surprised that he thought of this only now, and said he shouldn't be so impatient, besides, one shouldn't be alarmed by what a father said, he should just sleep over it, tomorrow everything would look different, whereupon he said good night to me and fell asleep. Some days later, three or four days after the arrival at the camp, his highness called me one evening and told me he had decided to leave, and I needed to help him in this enterprise.
I then told him that I couldn't believe him to be serious about it, and so I didn't know what to reply. But when he assured me that it was not a joke at all, that he was entirely serious, I couldn't other but tell him that I was very surprised by such thoughts, he should consider what he was planning. Leaving all other considerations aside, this would be a matter not only very difficult to do but something which the entire world would blame him for. I hoped and believed he would change his mind. (...)
The next day, his highness asked me during the exercises why I didn't believe the matter could be accomplished ; once he had horses and a headstart of several hours, he thought that he would not only be able to make a clean getaway but not to be overtaken by anyone. I replied to him that I did believe all this, but that there was the difficulty of getting horses in the first place, and then it would be important to know what plans he had, where he wanted to go to, that wanting to do something wasn't enough but that in order to be sure of a happy ending one needed to know whether the place one had chosen to be one's retreat would be capable of offering safe and sound sanctuary, and as long as he didn't give me any details in this regard, I was bound to see all his designs as empty projects, something he would like to do but would never accomplish.
When he then named France as the place of his refuge to me and assured me intently that he would be accepted with joy there, and that he would not only be offered safety but as much money as he wanted to have. I asked him to tell me on which basis he made this claim, what kind of assurances he had received and how, and discovered it was only based on assumptions because the two courts, the Prussian and the French court, were not having a good relationship right now and thus he would inevitably have credit there. (...)
I did everything in the world to decline this commission, and pointed out what the Duke if he learned of the entire affair would think of the matter, and what kind of opinion he'd hold if he found that one wanted to take his domestic servants away, especially at a time when he needed them. (...) Without furthering his highness the Prince's longing in the slightest and without making the least suggestion, I did reply to his highness that I didn't believe we'd get far with this man who as I noticed was very attached to his lord. The Prince wasn't satisfied with this and told me I should look for him again and investigate whether he couldn't be persuaded, but without talking to the page I brought again the reply that one couldn't do anything with him, that he didn't want to leave his lord, since he'd been raised in the household of the princess his sister. This his highness applauded and said that he hadn't believed this man had it in him, and now had an even higher opinion of him and wanted to have with him all the more. One afternoon, his highness the Crown Prince returned in a very bad mood from his majesty and gave the order to call me as soon as he'd entered his tent. (...)
Meanwhile the prince had called me and said that he couldn't bear it any longer, there had to be evil people who sought to put him in a bad light with his majesty. At just this day, he'd been mortified by the later; among other things, his majesty had told him that he was a coward, that he didn't have heart, and more things like that; he wanted to prove the opposite was true, and when his majesty would see that he was capable of pulling such an enterprise off, then (his majesty) would love him, and would be merciful again. He had no other design to escape his majesty's view but that he didn't want to irritate the later by his presence anymore, and no one should keep him from doing this anymore, I should and must help him, I had to promise him this.
As I didn't want to do this, I now seriously pointed out to him in how tricky and difficult circumstances he'd throw himself, how much he would irritate his majesty the king and sadden her majesty the queen, and moreover, that he didn't know yet where to go to. (...) Meanwhile, I begged him to temper his energy and to await the courier he'd mentioned to me, whereupon he revealed to me that this courier was secretary Guy Dickens, who after his return wanted to bring him definite news as to whether he should come to England or not. He wanted to talk to Count Hoym as well about a journey I should make to Leipzig incognito, which happened the next day in the pavillon, when his highness the prince came to me and told me that he'd talked to the count, it would work out, I should just go to him. However, I'd earlier gone to him already and had asked him that if his highness the crown prince would talk a journey I was to make to Leipzig, he should make as many difficulties as he possibly could. Which I asked for a second time when I approached him at the orders of the prince, with the argument that for various reasons I didn't want to make this journey, nor could I, and couldn't explain this to him any further. He promised me to do this and wanted to indicate to the prince that it wasn't so easy as he imagined it would be, and further say that when one imagined such projects one thought them easy, but when they were to be executed there were not only obstacles one hadn't considered but on most occasions, they were never accomplished at all, which was for the best, especially if they were of a kind to cause more damage and distress than use.
I told the Prince that I'd found much more difficulties with Count Hoym than I had expected to, so it couldn't happen that quickly, and if he could just talk to him himself, he'd find out the truth. Then he gave me the key to his box, I should go to his tent and take his things along with the money which I would find. Instead of doing so, I remained down there at the Pavillon until the exercises were over, and then I made myself known again and said that I couldn't succeed since I had met his servants at the tent and they had stopped me, which I accepted. (...)
He then asked me whether Count Hoym had talked to me about this, and I said yes, he'd indicated to me that his highness had many supervisors. I should ride to him straight away, he said, and ask the Count to reveal who the supervisors were and in which way they were keeping an eye on him. IN order to get away I promised to do this, but instead of going to Count Hoym, I remained in the camp with Colonel Katte - this would be his cousin, who'd later forward the letter to FW - until 8 pm, when I returned to headquarters, with some officers who'd been expecting me there in order to ride to Riesa. Meanwhile, his highness was riding away from his majesty and immediately asked me what answer Count Hoym had given. When I told him that I hadn't met the Count and that his people hadn't known where he was, his highness seemed to be displeased and said that I probably hadn't been there. When I assured him of the contrary, he pretended to believe me, and said nothing further than this, that it was my fault that he didn't get away, that he had had the best opportunity here, but that he didn't know yet whether he wouldn't dare it anyway since it was impossible for him to endure the way he was treated any longer. (...)
"It has been probably now a year ago that his highness did for the first time honor me with conversation, and did so repeatedly during the Parade and the parole giving. (...)
In Cosdorf, his highness the Crown Prince had me called just after his arrival and told me I should go recruiting-" guys, I am a bit lost, "auf Werbung gehen" could mean going to woo, or going to recruit, or going to advertise, but I'm going with "recruit because when in doubt, assume a military context in Prussia - and then I should do him a favor, which he believed I wouldn't refuse him. Whereupon I replied to him that I had already registered regarding the recruitment, but as for the other, his highness had only to order, if it was within my power and I could do it, he only needed to order and I would be ready to do anything.'I do believe it of you,' he returned.
Sidenote: Fritz here as quoted by Katte uses the most formal personal address from a higher ranking to a lower ranking person, calling Katte "Er" - the literal translation would have been "I do believe it of Him". This is true for the entire document, which never once has him use the more familiar versions of "you". (No "Sie" or "Ihr", and most definitely no "Du".) Continuing with Fritz as quoted by Katte:
"'In the camp I want to talk further with you about this, just come this evening, when I'm returning from the King.' Whereupon he left me and went to dine with his highness. Here I must remind you that before I even knew I'd join the trip to Saxony, his highness the Crown Prince had told me that he wanted to pay a debt to someone he was owing something to, without, however, mentioning who that person was, and had asked me whether I could get him some money. Whereupon I promised to do all I could, and did sent him 1000 Reichstaler, which the Chamberlain Montolieu had lend to me, to Potsdam through his page. The page had met me at Zehlendorf and I had given him the money sealed in a box so he wouldn't know what was inside. (The Prince) duly received this, and wrote to me the next day through one of his servants demanding that I should get him more money after the Saxon journey, which the preserved letter will prove. When his royal highness withdrew for the night at Cosdorf, he told me, oh my God, I can't stand it anymore, my father treats me so harshly, he is always so lacking all mercy towards me, I don't know anymore what I should do.
I was surprised that he thought of this only now, and said he shouldn't be so impatient, besides, one shouldn't be alarmed by what a father said, he should just sleep over it, tomorrow everything would look different, whereupon he said good night to me and fell asleep. Some days later, three or four days after the arrival at the camp, his highness called me one evening and told me he had decided to leave, and I needed to help him in this enterprise.
I then told him that I couldn't believe him to be serious about it, and so I didn't know what to reply. But when he assured me that it was not a joke at all, that he was entirely serious, I couldn't other but tell him that I was very surprised by such thoughts, he should consider what he was planning. Leaving all other considerations aside, this would be a matter not only very difficult to do but something which the entire world would blame him for. I hoped and believed he would change his mind. (...)
The next day, his highness asked me during the exercises why I didn't believe the matter could be accomplished ; once he had horses and a headstart of several hours, he thought that he would not only be able to make a clean getaway but not to be overtaken by anyone. I replied to him that I did believe all this, but that there was the difficulty of getting horses in the first place, and then it would be important to know what plans he had, where he wanted to go to, that wanting to do something wasn't enough but that in order to be sure of a happy ending one needed to know whether the place one had chosen to be one's retreat would be capable of offering safe and sound sanctuary, and as long as he didn't give me any details in this regard, I was bound to see all his designs as empty projects, something he would like to do but would never accomplish.
When he then named France as the place of his refuge to me and assured me intently that he would be accepted with joy there, and that he would not only be offered safety but as much money as he wanted to have. I asked him to tell me on which basis he made this claim, what kind of assurances he had received and how, and discovered it was only based on assumptions because the two courts, the Prussian and the French court, were not having a good relationship right now and thus he would inevitably have credit there. (...)
I did everything in the world to decline this commission, and pointed out what the Duke if he learned of the entire affair would think of the matter, and what kind of opinion he'd hold if he found that one wanted to take his domestic servants away, especially at a time when he needed them. (...) Without furthering his highness the Prince's longing in the slightest and without making the least suggestion, I did reply to his highness that I didn't believe we'd get far with this man who as I noticed was very attached to his lord. The Prince wasn't satisfied with this and told me I should look for him again and investigate whether he couldn't be persuaded, but without talking to the page I brought again the reply that one couldn't do anything with him, that he didn't want to leave his lord, since he'd been raised in the household of the princess his sister. This his highness applauded and said that he hadn't believed this man had it in him, and now had an even higher opinion of him and wanted to have with him all the more. One afternoon, his highness the Crown Prince returned in a very bad mood from his majesty and gave the order to call me as soon as he'd entered his tent. (...)
Meanwhile the prince had called me and said that he couldn't bear it any longer, there had to be evil people who sought to put him in a bad light with his majesty. At just this day, he'd been mortified by the later; among other things, his majesty had told him that he was a coward, that he didn't have heart, and more things like that; he wanted to prove the opposite was true, and when his majesty would see that he was capable of pulling such an enterprise off, then (his majesty) would love him, and would be merciful again. He had no other design to escape his majesty's view but that he didn't want to irritate the later by his presence anymore, and no one should keep him from doing this anymore, I should and must help him, I had to promise him this.
As I didn't want to do this, I now seriously pointed out to him in how tricky and difficult circumstances he'd throw himself, how much he would irritate his majesty the king and sadden her majesty the queen, and moreover, that he didn't know yet where to go to. (...) Meanwhile, I begged him to temper his energy and to await the courier he'd mentioned to me, whereupon he revealed to me that this courier was secretary Guy Dickens, who after his return wanted to bring him definite news as to whether he should come to England or not. He wanted to talk to Count Hoym as well about a journey I should make to Leipzig incognito, which happened the next day in the pavillon, when his highness the prince came to me and told me that he'd talked to the count, it would work out, I should just go to him. However, I'd earlier gone to him already and had asked him that if his highness the crown prince would talk a journey I was to make to Leipzig, he should make as many difficulties as he possibly could. Which I asked for a second time when I approached him at the orders of the prince, with the argument that for various reasons I didn't want to make this journey, nor could I, and couldn't explain this to him any further. He promised me to do this and wanted to indicate to the prince that it wasn't so easy as he imagined it would be, and further say that when one imagined such projects one thought them easy, but when they were to be executed there were not only obstacles one hadn't considered but on most occasions, they were never accomplished at all, which was for the best, especially if they were of a kind to cause more damage and distress than use.
I told the Prince that I'd found much more difficulties with Count Hoym than I had expected to, so it couldn't happen that quickly, and if he could just talk to him himself, he'd find out the truth. Then he gave me the key to his box, I should go to his tent and take his things along with the money which I would find. Instead of doing so, I remained down there at the Pavillon until the exercises were over, and then I made myself known again and said that I couldn't succeed since I had met his servants at the tent and they had stopped me, which I accepted. (...)
He then asked me whether Count Hoym had talked to me about this, and I said yes, he'd indicated to me that his highness had many supervisors. I should ride to him straight away, he said, and ask the Count to reveal who the supervisors were and in which way they were keeping an eye on him. IN order to get away I promised to do this, but instead of going to Count Hoym, I remained in the camp with Colonel Katte - this would be his cousin, who'd later forward the letter to FW - until 8 pm, when I returned to headquarters, with some officers who'd been expecting me there in order to ride to Riesa. Meanwhile, his highness was riding away from his majesty and immediately asked me what answer Count Hoym had given. When I told him that I hadn't met the Count and that his people hadn't known where he was, his highness seemed to be displeased and said that I probably hadn't been there. When I assured him of the contrary, he pretended to believe me, and said nothing further than this, that it was my fault that he didn't get away, that he had had the best opportunity here, but that he didn't know yet whether he wouldn't dare it anyway since it was impossible for him to endure the way he was treated any longer. (...)
I tried to scare him which I did happily succeed with, then he assured me he wouldn't think of it any longer, but that I should promise him that if matters didn't change, I would accomplish it during the journey to Ansbach; only to calm him down, I said that I believed it would be easier possible there, and that there was time enough until then, in the meantime one could think of means and ways to accomplish it. (...)
In this way, I sought to foil him in Saxony and to stop him again and again; his highness won't deny it has happened word by word as it has been written down here.
After his highness the prince's arrival in Berlin, he asked me immediately whether I had already gotten leave in in order to depart, whereupon I replied in the negative, but added that I'd received hope that I could leave soon; if you get your vacation, said the Prince, you need to leave immediately and go to Nuremberg in advance, and there I'd learn where the relais stations were, there I should wait for him with horses, he would exit the carriage, relieve himself, then jump on a horse and gallop away. (...) Meanwhile, Mr. Guy Dickens from England had returned, and his highness the prince demanded to speak to him, so I went to him, and I'd pick him up at 10 pm in order to talk to his highness the crown prince. This was accomplished in the evening, and while we walked, I told him that his highness the prince was flattering himself to get a positive reply through him from England, whereupon he answered to me: He was sorry, but his highness the prince would find himself deceived in this opinion, for the reply was of a nature that wouldn't please him at all; in short, one didn't want him there now, and he should abandon any such thoughts.
When I heard this I begged him fervently to present the matter even harder than he was already planning to do, which he did in my company, beneath the great portal, opposite the rooms of his highness the prince, and it succeeded in that the prince had to promise him with word and hand not to think about any of this anymore.
The next day, his highness demanded to talk to Guy Dickens again, but the later excused himself, whereupon his highness complained that people only sought to stop him, he was very sorry he didn't leave in Saxony and that this had been my fault.
I couldn't stop myself from telling him that he was wrong to complain, he'd find that he'd be well advised, and I hoped he'd one day admit it. I wanted to return his things to him, but he didn't want to accept them, other than his music, which he took back. The other things, I was supposed to keep until he demanded them. The next day, which was the third or fourth before the departure from Berlin, his highness told me that his majesty had decided he wouldn't join the journey but would remain in Potsdam, and wanted to stick with the resolution not to leave. (...) Now I was certain that the entire matter was finished, and that I didn't have to do anything further, but he ordered me before his departure to remain silent and not to say a word to anyone about what he'd been planning, since he hadn't bared his soul about this to anyone else. The day after this, when his highness the prince had gone to Potsdam, I received a letter from Lt. von Ingersleben that his highness demanded I should come in the evening to Potsdam since he needed to talk to me again.
When I arrived, he talked to me in the garden between the hedges and said that his majesty had changed his mind, and that he was supposed to go on the journey after all, which meant that the coup of leaving could succeed. I urged him for all the world to abstain from this, which he had already promised he would, and that I hadn't been commanded to go recruiting yet and that it was uncertain whether I would be. (...) On the evening of his highness' departure from Potsdam his page came to me and brought a letter in addition to a saddle and music, and no other message than just that this highness had ordered him to give me both. IN the letter, he wrote to me that he hoped I would keep my word and would follow as promised: I should go to Canstadt and wait for him there. Shortly afterwards, I learned that the passports for recruiters had been edited by his majesty, and that none had been edited for me, and Colonel von Pannewitz told me that there was no hope of getting one before his majesty's return, which made me glad for this was a new opportunity for me to sabotage the prince's project. Thus, I wrote to him through an express messenger whom I sent to the Rittmeister Katte in Erlangen so that the later should forward the letter to the prince.
In this letter, I described in which way I had been prevented to undertake my journey, and said it was thus impossible for me to get to the place he'd demanded I should go to, that I had asked Colonel v. Pannewitz to give me leave to go to Magdeburg - though I had done no such thing - , but that it had been declined, and so I urgently begged him to have patience, perhaps I could make it to Cleve once he got there, and in order to reassure him further, I concluded the letter by saying that if nothing else worked, I would go without having gotten leave. I received the reply that this news was not agreeable to him and did displease him a lot but that he would be patient and would write to me again. (...)
Meanwhile, General Löwenöhr sent me word that he'd leave in some days and that I should come to him since he wanted to talk to me; when I came to him the other omorning, he asked me whether I knew the cause as to why I hadn't been given leave nor been appointed a recruiter. I returned that if he asked me such a question, I had to assume he did intend to reveal the reason to me, that I believed the reason was a suspicion that I intended to help his highness the crown prince to go away, and I could assure him this had never been my intention, despite I had let (the prince) believe several times that I would. Following this, I told him about the entire affair as I have described it here, and said that God was my witness it had never been my serious intention. It was true, I had deceived the prince, but it had been done out of a good intention, I had even put myself in possession of his things simply to make it impossible for him to go on his own; that I had a good conscience about this was proven by the fact I was calmly remaining here. I was utterly certain now that he wouldn't and couldn't do anything further, partly because he had no money and was waiting for me, and partly because Rochow and his servants were suspecting him and had order to observe him closely and see whether he was trying to escape. From this, (the General) could see clearly whether I had any bad intentions. The only thing one could blame me for was that I hadn't immediately reported this, and this had been simply because I had been so certain due to all these circumstances that this coup would not happen, and I did not want to cause unneccessary distress or trouble. If I had even had the slightest reason to fear it would happen, I would have reported it; I claim God as my witness and will live and die on my word.
Four days later, I received a letter from his highness the prince from Ansbach, which said that he was imagining living through a terrible day at Wusterhausen, and if possible, he wanted to escape this, since his majesty was showing himself less merciful day by day, and thus he wanted to try and escape near Sinzheim. Since by the time I received this letter his majesty could be near Wesel already, and since I heard through all the news that came about his majesty to Berlin nothing but that everything was well and his majesty had arrived in all places with the Crown Prince at his side, I didn't worry about it any further, and that's why I replied to her highness the Crown Princess - yes, he says in German "Kronprinzessin" für Wilhelmine - when she asked me on my conscience whether I believed her brother would leave or return, that I could now reassure her with all certainty that she would see him again as safe and sound as he had left. May God grant it, she replied, I wish it with all my heart.
The letters, next to the things in them, I've given about 14 days before my arrest into the hands of my cousin, a Katte and member of the Kurmärkische Kammer so he could give them to someone who'd put them into the Queen's hands if I should have to go on a journey, or, if his highness the Prince returned, into his hands (...)
I don't have to add anything further but to ask your royal majesty with the deepest humbleness and devotion to consider that my intention has been none other than to keep his highness the prince from his designs and to prevent them being put to work.
And as God puts mercy ahead of justice, I hope that your majesty will make my poor self an example of this as well, and will consider the intention I had in this entire matter. God is my witness that it had been nothing but to prevent what his highness the prince intended to do, and to prevent it in a way that wouldn't incense your majesty any further against him. (...)
Thus I beg again most humbly that your royal majesty will show mercy towards me.
In this way, I sought to foil him in Saxony and to stop him again and again; his highness won't deny it has happened word by word as it has been written down here.
After his highness the prince's arrival in Berlin, he asked me immediately whether I had already gotten leave in in order to depart, whereupon I replied in the negative, but added that I'd received hope that I could leave soon; if you get your vacation, said the Prince, you need to leave immediately and go to Nuremberg in advance, and there I'd learn where the relais stations were, there I should wait for him with horses, he would exit the carriage, relieve himself, then jump on a horse and gallop away. (...) Meanwhile, Mr. Guy Dickens from England had returned, and his highness the prince demanded to speak to him, so I went to him, and I'd pick him up at 10 pm in order to talk to his highness the crown prince. This was accomplished in the evening, and while we walked, I told him that his highness the prince was flattering himself to get a positive reply through him from England, whereupon he answered to me: He was sorry, but his highness the prince would find himself deceived in this opinion, for the reply was of a nature that wouldn't please him at all; in short, one didn't want him there now, and he should abandon any such thoughts.
When I heard this I begged him fervently to present the matter even harder than he was already planning to do, which he did in my company, beneath the great portal, opposite the rooms of his highness the prince, and it succeeded in that the prince had to promise him with word and hand not to think about any of this anymore.
The next day, his highness demanded to talk to Guy Dickens again, but the later excused himself, whereupon his highness complained that people only sought to stop him, he was very sorry he didn't leave in Saxony and that this had been my fault.
I couldn't stop myself from telling him that he was wrong to complain, he'd find that he'd be well advised, and I hoped he'd one day admit it. I wanted to return his things to him, but he didn't want to accept them, other than his music, which he took back. The other things, I was supposed to keep until he demanded them. The next day, which was the third or fourth before the departure from Berlin, his highness told me that his majesty had decided he wouldn't join the journey but would remain in Potsdam, and wanted to stick with the resolution not to leave. (...) Now I was certain that the entire matter was finished, and that I didn't have to do anything further, but he ordered me before his departure to remain silent and not to say a word to anyone about what he'd been planning, since he hadn't bared his soul about this to anyone else. The day after this, when his highness the prince had gone to Potsdam, I received a letter from Lt. von Ingersleben that his highness demanded I should come in the evening to Potsdam since he needed to talk to me again.
When I arrived, he talked to me in the garden between the hedges and said that his majesty had changed his mind, and that he was supposed to go on the journey after all, which meant that the coup of leaving could succeed. I urged him for all the world to abstain from this, which he had already promised he would, and that I hadn't been commanded to go recruiting yet and that it was uncertain whether I would be. (...) On the evening of his highness' departure from Potsdam his page came to me and brought a letter in addition to a saddle and music, and no other message than just that this highness had ordered him to give me both. IN the letter, he wrote to me that he hoped I would keep my word and would follow as promised: I should go to Canstadt and wait for him there. Shortly afterwards, I learned that the passports for recruiters had been edited by his majesty, and that none had been edited for me, and Colonel von Pannewitz told me that there was no hope of getting one before his majesty's return, which made me glad for this was a new opportunity for me to sabotage the prince's project. Thus, I wrote to him through an express messenger whom I sent to the Rittmeister Katte in Erlangen so that the later should forward the letter to the prince.
In this letter, I described in which way I had been prevented to undertake my journey, and said it was thus impossible for me to get to the place he'd demanded I should go to, that I had asked Colonel v. Pannewitz to give me leave to go to Magdeburg - though I had done no such thing - , but that it had been declined, and so I urgently begged him to have patience, perhaps I could make it to Cleve once he got there, and in order to reassure him further, I concluded the letter by saying that if nothing else worked, I would go without having gotten leave. I received the reply that this news was not agreeable to him and did displease him a lot but that he would be patient and would write to me again. (...)
Meanwhile, General Löwenöhr sent me word that he'd leave in some days and that I should come to him since he wanted to talk to me; when I came to him the other omorning, he asked me whether I knew the cause as to why I hadn't been given leave nor been appointed a recruiter. I returned that if he asked me such a question, I had to assume he did intend to reveal the reason to me, that I believed the reason was a suspicion that I intended to help his highness the crown prince to go away, and I could assure him this had never been my intention, despite I had let (the prince) believe several times that I would. Following this, I told him about the entire affair as I have described it here, and said that God was my witness it had never been my serious intention. It was true, I had deceived the prince, but it had been done out of a good intention, I had even put myself in possession of his things simply to make it impossible for him to go on his own; that I had a good conscience about this was proven by the fact I was calmly remaining here. I was utterly certain now that he wouldn't and couldn't do anything further, partly because he had no money and was waiting for me, and partly because Rochow and his servants were suspecting him and had order to observe him closely and see whether he was trying to escape. From this, (the General) could see clearly whether I had any bad intentions. The only thing one could blame me for was that I hadn't immediately reported this, and this had been simply because I had been so certain due to all these circumstances that this coup would not happen, and I did not want to cause unneccessary distress or trouble. If I had even had the slightest reason to fear it would happen, I would have reported it; I claim God as my witness and will live and die on my word.
Four days later, I received a letter from his highness the prince from Ansbach, which said that he was imagining living through a terrible day at Wusterhausen, and if possible, he wanted to escape this, since his majesty was showing himself less merciful day by day, and thus he wanted to try and escape near Sinzheim. Since by the time I received this letter his majesty could be near Wesel already, and since I heard through all the news that came about his majesty to Berlin nothing but that everything was well and his majesty had arrived in all places with the Crown Prince at his side, I didn't worry about it any further, and that's why I replied to her highness the Crown Princess - yes, he says in German "Kronprinzessin" für Wilhelmine - when she asked me on my conscience whether I believed her brother would leave or return, that I could now reassure her with all certainty that she would see him again as safe and sound as he had left. May God grant it, she replied, I wish it with all my heart.
The letters, next to the things in them, I've given about 14 days before my arrest into the hands of my cousin, a Katte and member of the Kurmärkische Kammer so he could give them to someone who'd put them into the Queen's hands if I should have to go on a journey, or, if his highness the Prince returned, into his hands (...)
I don't have to add anything further but to ask your royal majesty with the deepest humbleness and devotion to consider that my intention has been none other than to keep his highness the prince from his designs and to prevent them being put to work.
And as God puts mercy ahead of justice, I hope that your majesty will make my poor self an example of this as well, and will consider the intention I had in this entire matter. God is my witness that it had been nothing but to prevent what his highness the prince intended to do, and to prevent it in a way that wouldn't incense your majesty any further against him. (...)
Thus I beg again most humbly that your royal majesty will show mercy towards me.
Latest additions: Catherine the Great's memoirs in German, and Volz's Friedrich der Grosse im Spiegel seiner Zeit. Courtesy of the royal patron, who was so dedicated as to download and email the files despite possibly having coronavirus. (I did text him saying not to worry about it and just go back to bed, but next thing I knew, I had an email from him.)
I see the royal reader has been hard at work, and I have many starred emails that I hope to catch up on soonish. Medication and chronic pain are kicking my butt lately. So much so that even the K-word has lost its magic. :(
But so far, I don't have the plague, and I'm successfully ramping up the medication dosage, so the future is looking good, at least.
Cheers and best of health to everyone in the salon and their loved ones.
I see the royal reader has been hard at work, and I have many starred emails that I hope to catch up on soonish. Medication and chronic pain are kicking my butt lately. So much so that even the K-word has lost its magic. :(
But so far, I don't have the plague, and I'm successfully ramping up the medication dosage, so the future is looking good, at least.
Cheers and best of health to everyone in the salon and their loved ones.
Ahhhh, thank you! Of course, FW, it's all about the army *sigh* ...I remember you quoting that letter to AW, and it was awful even then, but thank you for bringing in the context, now it brings with it a special kind of intergenerational awfulness...
Debts: *nods* Ah, thanks, yeah, that's interesting, that on one hand (for a change, as you say) in some ways it does seem rather reasonable for FW to be upset (if maybe not that upset!)... and on the other hand, kind of not.
I can see being told "no one cares if you live or die," even if you do see through it rationally... could still do a number on your head psychologically, especially since no one is actually around to refute it (except, we hope, Wilhelmine (if the smuggling letters thing is true) -- and Fredersdorf!)
Debts: *nods* Ah, thanks, yeah, that's interesting, that on one hand (for a change, as you say) in some ways it does seem rather reasonable for FW to be upset (if maybe not that upset!)... and on the other hand, kind of not.
I can see being told "no one cares if you live or die," even if you do see through it rationally... could still do a number on your head psychologically, especially since no one is actually around to refute it (except, we hope, Wilhelmine (if the smuggling letters thing is true) -- and Fredersdorf!)
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