Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 19

[cahn]

Yuletide nominations:

18th Century CE Federician RPF
Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Voltaire
Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Anna Amalie von Preußen | Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787)
Catherine II of Russia
Hans Hermann von Katte
Peter Karl Christoph von Keith
Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf
August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758)

Circle of Voltaire RPF
Emilie du Chatelet
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (Madame de Pompadour)
John Hervey (1696-1743)
Marie Louise Mignot Denis
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Francesco Algarotti

Comments

Re: Friedrich: Triumph und Tragödie

[selenak]

You're welcome. I figured you might, given your difficulties with watching films.

Incidentally, the "death shroud" quote gets an entire song of its own, with Fritz singing "no Sterbekittel for me!" just before his final big pre escape attempt clash with FW. Agreed that this was a counter reaction to FW ramming the military down his throat and likely would not have happened with a lightside FW. (Much like his attitude towards German as a language.)

(I do severely question whether Fritz puts together an army from scratch if raised by Grandpa F1 instead of lightside FW.)

That is indeed a far less likely outcome. Along with Fritz putting himself through an austerity program along with the country in order to turn it from broke to prospering. Yes, he cultivated a modest public life style himself later post 7 Years War in rl, wearing only uniforms, but that didn't stop him building palaces with Silesian marble and paying for statues and orchestras. Seriously, both the hero worshipping and the decontructing historians I've read agree that in this sense, without FW, you do not get Frederick the Great or Prussia as a serious European power instead of a so-so German principality, full stop.

I wish to note that of all the depictions of Katte's execution I've seen, the only one (Thronfolger) where they felt the need to include the historically accurate detail of Katte removing his shirt was the only one where the actor had pecs that needed to be shown off.

The actor got shirtless in his sex scenes as young Peter the Great in that other 80s tv series about an 18th century monarch, too, and it's a nice view, is what it is. :) BTW, to be fair, there's an obvious reason why they didn't do that with Katte in the musical, and also why his head is covered, and he doesn't speak. The Katte actor is on stage with a mike so often (in full Gens d'Armes uniform) as a ghost that I assume they used a stuntman for the execution scene, otherwise he'd have to get back into his coat and put his mikrophone on in seconds.

Well, then, what even is the point of this, says the Fritz/Katte shipper.

You get a hug and a playful kiss earlier, but yeah. A musical heavily featuring the crown prince years without a Fritz/Katte duet is missing the obvious.