When Fritzmania became a thing in England during and after the Seven Years' War, it was very common to put up his portrait on the signboards over the doors of inns/taverns (CHW was sadly locked up, then dead, and unable to climb on chairs to kiss them) and name the inn "King of Prussia." This practice spread to the American colonies.
And so it is that there is, to this day, a town called King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It's mostly famous today for its giant mall, but it's named after the 18th-century inn, which used to have a signboard with Fritz's picture hanging in front. Keep in mind that many Germans settled in Pennsylvania; hence the ethnic group and language called "Pennsylvania Dutch" are not Dutch but "Deutsch."
Because of reasons, I happened to find myself on the Wikipedia page for King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. And what should I find but this excerpt from a 1778 diary entry of a German soldier (who was fighting on the British side in the Revolution):
I must also comment that the King of Prussia has a house in Philadelphia and therefore is a citizen and enjoys the rights of citizenship. This house is built of wood and is supposed to have been put together and built in East Friesland, brought from there to England and on a ship to Philadelphia, where it was put up in one night. It is called in their language a "Tavern," in German an inn or pub ("Gast- oder Wirtshaus"), which bears a signboard showing the King of Prussia.
Now, if you trust the rest of the Wikipedia page, the inn was built by local Welsh Quakers in 1719, so I would take this with a grain of salt. But I was deeply entertained by Fritz enjoying the rights of citizenship in Pennsylvania! selenak, weren't you going to set an opera in Pennsylvania?
As for the name of the inn, Wikipedia reports:
A map created by William Parker, an American Loyalist, listed the inn as "Berry's" in 1777, but a local petition in 1786 identified it as the "King of Prussia". It was possibly renamed to entice German soldiers fighting in the American Revolution to remain in this area.
I am also sad that I did not snap a picture of this inn (still standing, slightly relocated, repurposed, no remaining picture of Fritz) when I had the chance. I've always known about King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, but I didn't know *where* in this rather large state it might be located. What I didn't realize is that it borders on Valley Forge.
So when Royal Patron and I were wandering around Valley Forge checking out Washington's headquarters and such in 2018, we were about 5 km from the King of Prussia inn! And less than 1 km from the town limits. Had I but known!
Nifty! I knew Pennsylvania was musical AU material. :) (Speaking of AUs: In the where Heinrich accepts the King of the USA job, I'm not sure whether Fritz keeps that citizenship, but okay, he's dead by then.)
It was possibly renamed to entice German soldiers fighting in the American Revolution to remain in this area.
Hm, wouldn't that depend on which side they were fighting on? Also from which German state they're from? Granted, Fritzmania was pretty popular in non Prussian German states, too, after the 7 Years War, independently from whether or not the people were pro Prussia as well (see Goethe's "we were all Fritzians, but what was Prussia to me?" about his youthful fandom), but, well, Saxons would have been the exception of the rule.
Bavarians: We were also less than keen on Fritz! Würtembergians: Named-after-Fritz Schiller provides our lack of enthusiam for being sold to the US to fight in order to finance Carl Eugen's life style with powerful literary testimony. Not sure how we'd feel about a Fritz reminder one way or the other, but Carl Eugen was educated at Fritz' court, so... Hessians: We provide a ghost story! Also princesses to be married off in unhappy marriages with Prussians, but that's beside the point.
Speaking of AUs: In the where Heinrich accepts the King of the USA job, I'm not sure whether Fritz keeps that citizenship, but okay, he's dead by then.
After I posted this comment, I remembered the Heinrich AU and laughed!
Hm, wouldn't that depend on which side they were fighting on? Also from which German state they're from?
Of course! But there were Germans on both sides of the war, and the most famous Prussian to any modern-day American is von Steuben! I remember having to learn about him something like 5 separate years in school, whereas we learned about Fritz 0 times. Maybe some tax-dodger back then had decided that von Steuben was cool and therefore we need to keep some Prussians and other Fritzians around, idk.
I have no idea whether this speculative reason for the renaming is true, and neither does Wikipedia. I have no idea whether the diarist who apparently doesn't know when the inn was founded (assuming Wikipedia's account can be trusted, though it does sound more plausible) is even right about the citizenship thing as a technicality! But it's definitely funny, and should be included in any AU where Heinrich becomes King of America. ;)
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timeasmymeasure
Citizen of Pennsylvania
Date: 2021-02-06 10:49 pm (UTC)A little background first.
When Fritzmania became a thing in England during and after the Seven Years' War, it was very common to put up his portrait on the signboards over the doors of inns/taverns (CHW was sadly locked up, then dead, and unable to climb on chairs to kiss them) and name the inn "King of Prussia." This practice spread to the American colonies.
And so it is that there is, to this day, a town called King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It's mostly famous today for its giant mall, but it's named after the 18th-century inn, which used to have a signboard with Fritz's picture hanging in front. Keep in mind that many Germans settled in Pennsylvania; hence the ethnic group and language called "Pennsylvania Dutch" are not Dutch but "Deutsch."
Because of reasons, I happened to find myself on the Wikipedia page for King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. And what should I find but this excerpt from a 1778 diary entry of a German soldier (who was fighting on the British side in the Revolution):
I must also comment that the King of Prussia has a house in Philadelphia and therefore is a citizen and enjoys the rights of citizenship. This house is built of wood and is supposed to have been put together and built in East Friesland, brought from there to England and on a ship to Philadelphia, where it was put up in one night. It is called in their language a "Tavern," in German an inn or pub ("Gast- oder Wirtshaus"), which bears a signboard showing the King of Prussia.
Now, if you trust the rest of the Wikipedia page, the inn was built by local Welsh Quakers in 1719, so I would take this with a grain of salt. But I was deeply entertained by Fritz enjoying the rights of citizenship in Pennsylvania!
As for the name of the inn, Wikipedia reports:
A map created by William Parker, an American Loyalist, listed the inn as "Berry's" in 1777, but a local petition in 1786 identified it as the "King of Prussia". It was possibly renamed to entice German soldiers fighting in the American Revolution to remain in this area.
I am also sad that I did not snap a picture of this inn (still standing, slightly relocated, repurposed, no remaining picture of Fritz) when I had the chance. I've always known about King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, but I didn't know *where* in this rather large state it might be located. What I didn't realize is that it borders on Valley Forge.
So when Royal Patron and I were wandering around Valley Forge checking out Washington's headquarters and such in 2018, we were about 5 km from the King of Prussia inn! And less than 1 km from the town limits. Had I but known!
Re: Citizen of Pennsylvania
Date: 2021-02-07 11:16 am (UTC)It was possibly renamed to entice German soldiers fighting in the American Revolution to remain in this area.
Hm, wouldn't that depend on which side they were fighting on? Also from which German state they're from? Granted, Fritzmania was pretty popular in non Prussian German states, too, after the 7 Years War, independently from whether or not the people were pro Prussia as well (see Goethe's "we were all Fritzians, but what was Prussia to me?" about his youthful fandom), but, well, Saxons would have been the exception of the rule.
Bavarians: We were also less than keen on Fritz!
Würtembergians: Named-after-Fritz Schiller provides our lack of enthusiam for being sold to the US to fight in order to finance Carl Eugen's life style with powerful literary testimony. Not sure how we'd feel about a Fritz reminder one way or the other, but Carl Eugen was educated at Fritz' court, so...
Hessians: We provide a ghost story! Also princesses to be married off in unhappy marriages with Prussians, but that's beside the point.
Re: Citizen of Pennsylvania
Date: 2021-02-07 02:29 pm (UTC)After I posted this comment, I remembered the Heinrich AU and laughed!
Hm, wouldn't that depend on which side they were fighting on? Also from which German state they're from?
Of course! But there were Germans on both sides of the war, and the most famous Prussian to any modern-day American is von Steuben! I remember having to learn about him something like 5 separate years in school, whereas we learned about Fritz 0 times. Maybe some tax-dodger back then had decided that von Steuben was cool and therefore we need to keep some Prussians and other Fritzians around, idk.
I have no idea whether this speculative reason for the renaming is true, and neither does Wikipedia. I have no idea whether the diarist who apparently doesn't know when the inn was founded (assuming Wikipedia's account can be trusted, though it does sound more plausible) is even right about the citizenship thing as a technicality! But it's definitely funny, and should be included in any AU where Heinrich becomes King of America. ;)