Yeah, I gather that didn't make it into the Hans Heinrich biographical monograph you picked up at Wust.
Nope. Would have blown quite a hole into his theory.
*g*
mostly this points to him struggling to reconcile the loyalty he feels he ows his sovereign with being a grieving father who thinks his son, while deserving some punishment (I think Hans Heinrich would have been okay with some years in prison - well, ashamed, but okay in terms of considering it just), was taken from him by this man, and not higher justice.
Your plan for the AU in which he and Hans Herrmann have a heart to heart later in life looks more plausible than ever.
Agreed on Hans Heinrich's likely psychology here. And because he doesn't agree with Hans Hermann's decision, and because he doesn't have the sense of pain and outrage at his loss to counterbalance his conviction that Hans Hermann was in the wrong, the heart-to-heart is a deathbed forgiveness secene and not a "Well done, son." But it's enough for Hans Hermann, who, due to Hans Heinrich not seeing him for 10 years and not wanting to commit certain things to mail, has been wondering just *how* angry his father was with him.
What helps reconcile Hans Heinrich and certain other family members is that while it was certainly disloyalty, no one believes it was cowardice, especially not once the full story of Katte's heroic role protecting Fritz during the escape gets out. And now he's got a royal pardon from AW, so it's all good, they can reconcile and part on good father-son terms.
Absolutely. And that's why I'm majorly sideeying those editors and historians who are complaining about her being a bad daughter, or hysterical, and that poor FW was the one to be pitied, with his wife and two oldest ganging up on him.
I'm not just side-eyeing, I'm FUMING. Those poor kids! The victim-blaming! SD was no angel, but she was definitely an abuse victim too!
It's also always important to remember that while many a contemporary thought FW was over the top with his reactions, both Fritz and Wilhelmine would still have gotten the message that it was his right to treat them this way both as monarch and as father from all sides.
Indeed.
Fritz: And as your current monarch and standing in loco parentis to my siblings and niblings, I would like to announce that I've taken this lesson to heart.
And while they hated him, they didn't, I fear, ever stop loving him as well and wanting his approval and a "Well done, you".
Yep. Totally typical for abusive families.
On a lighter note, Hervey in his memoirs has this passage of G2 ranting about how lousy sons are the worst, absolute scum, fathers are martyrs, and then he suddenly recalls his own dear old dad and adds, yes, okay, there are bad fathers and good sons as well.
LOL this is so great. Rationalization for the win!
Meanwhile, FW, only child of two parents who despite being very different from him both seem to have loved him and whose most most debatable action was a) to send him to live with his cousins for a while, and b) given him a strict Calvinist as a teacher when he was ten: Of course there are no bad fathers! Fathers should only be loved and listened to and adored! There are no exceptions!
Was this just the random Küstrin servant that FW said should come shave him and for a brief period wasn't allowed to even sleep in the same room as Fritz, but had to visit daily?
Must be, since I don't think the valet he had before, the one who also shows up in the interrogation protocols, was with him in Küstrin at any point?
Gummersbach? Not that I know of, and more to the point, he was instrumental in preventing the escape, so I wonder if he would still be "most-loved" at that point. Maybe, but until we find out it was him, I stand by my headcanon that Fritz's sympathetic jailers found him a servant who would, I don't know, help smuggle letters to Wilhelmine out.
Also, if it's someone he met at Küstrin, then they only had 4 months to become "much-loved", but also, those are circumstances under which you would very quickly latch on to someone, so... :/
I'm so glad Fredersdorf came along later that year, and FW didn't catch on.
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Re: The Braunschweig Perspective: Family Holidays
Nope. Would have blown quite a hole into his theory.
*g*
mostly this points to him struggling to reconcile the loyalty he feels he ows his sovereign with being a grieving father who thinks his son, while deserving some punishment (I think Hans Heinrich would have been okay with some years in prison - well, ashamed, but okay in terms of considering it just), was taken from him by this man, and not higher justice.
Your plan for the AU in which he and Hans Herrmann have a heart to heart later in life looks more plausible than ever.
Agreed on Hans Heinrich's likely psychology here. And because he doesn't agree with Hans Hermann's decision, and because he doesn't have the sense of pain and outrage at his loss to counterbalance his conviction that Hans Hermann was in the wrong, the heart-to-heart is a deathbed forgiveness secene and not a "Well done, son." But it's enough for Hans Hermann, who, due to Hans Heinrich not seeing him for 10 years and not wanting to commit certain things to mail, has been wondering just *how* angry his father was with him.
What helps reconcile Hans Heinrich and certain other family members is that while it was certainly disloyalty, no one believes it was cowardice, especially not once the full story of Katte's heroic role protecting Fritz during the escape gets out. And now he's got a royal pardon from AW, so it's all good, they can reconcile and part on good father-son terms.
Absolutely. And that's why I'm majorly sideeying those editors and historians who are complaining about her being a bad daughter, or hysterical, and that poor FW was the one to be pitied, with his wife and two oldest ganging up on him.
I'm not just side-eyeing, I'm FUMING. Those poor kids! The victim-blaming! SD was no angel, but she was definitely an abuse victim too!
It's also always important to remember that while many a contemporary thought FW was over the top with his reactions, both Fritz and Wilhelmine would still have gotten the message that it was his right to treat them this way both as monarch and as father from all sides.
Indeed.
Fritz: And as your current monarch and standing in loco parentis to my siblings and niblings, I would like to announce that I've taken this lesson to heart.
And while they hated him, they didn't, I fear, ever stop loving him as well and wanting his approval and a "Well done, you".
Yep. Totally typical for abusive families.
On a lighter note, Hervey in his memoirs has this passage of G2 ranting about how lousy sons are the worst, absolute scum, fathers are martyrs, and then he suddenly recalls his own dear old dad and adds, yes, okay, there are bad fathers and good sons as well.
LOL this is so great. Rationalization for the win!
Meanwhile, FW, only child of two parents who despite being very different from him both seem to have loved him and whose most most debatable action was a) to send him to live with his cousins for a while, and b) given him a strict Calvinist as a teacher when he was ten: Of course there are no bad fathers! Fathers should only be loved and listened to and adored! There are no exceptions!
THERAPY FOR EVERYONE
Re: The Braunschweig Perspective: Family Holidays
Must be, since I don't think the valet he had before, the one who also shows up in the interrogation protocols, was with him in Küstrin at any point?
Gummersbach? Not that I know of, and more to the point, he was instrumental in preventing the escape, so I wonder if he would still be "most-loved" at that point. Maybe, but until we find out it was him, I stand by my headcanon that Fritz's sympathetic jailers found him a servant who would, I don't know, help smuggle letters to Wilhelmine out.
Also, if it's someone he met at Küstrin, then they only had 4 months to become "much-loved", but also, those are circumstances under which you would very quickly latch on to someone, so... :/
I'm so glad Fredersdorf came along later that year, and FW didn't catch on.