Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 21

[cahn]

Much slower because of world-events/Life-in-general/Yuletide/holidays, but still going!

End of Yuletide signups:
4 requests for Frederician RPF :D :D 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 2 offers (I hope we did not scare you off, third offer!)

Comments

Re: More on von der Groeben...

[felis]

any chance it might have been a potato?

It did cross my mind! Depends on how much he knew about potatoes at that point I guess, given that he calls it a "local fruit" and doesn't seem to have a name for it. That he introduced it seems to be more legend than fact, later efforts to popularize its cultivation notwithstanding. Wiki tells me that one of the first places where potatoes were grown in the 17th century was in Bavaria, and also that Fritz' great-grandfather already grew potatoes as ornamental plants in Berlin. Which doesn't mean Fritz encountered them later of course, or that he would make the connection between plant and "fruit" at that point.

since Fritz is with the army when writing this, and his father is paranoid again, FW might have decided to have his mail read once more

I initially tought it unlikely because he writes very openly to Wilhelmine during that time, but thinking about it, he probably had a much safer way to send letters to her than back to Berlin (he even mentions her messengers in his letters). The other reason was indeed all the swearing, which was one of the things FW named as something to prevent in his 1718 instructions, although compared to other things it seems low on the list on offenses.