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Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 24
Every post I can't believe this is still going on, and yet, here we are :D
One more detail from the 1769 version of the will:
11. I am bequeathing to my sister, the Queen of Sweden, one of my golden boxes valued at 10,000 thalers, 20 buckets of Hungarian wine and a painting of Pesne in the Sanssouci Palace, which I received from Algarotti.
Of course I got curious, so I looked it up and it's apparently this one (in colour), with the inscription Unter dem Kissen [Under the Pillow]— Ant. Pesne fecit 1706.
Oesterreicher says "A charming peasant girl in the window with her head resting on her right arm. Light and shadow have a splendid effect in this painting, the painter represented bare [bloße] nature. [He sure did.] *
* The Count Algarotti bequeathed this painting to His Majesty the King.
Fritz also mentions that Algarotti offered him a Pesne painting in his last letter to Algarotti, which I assume was this one, so they had talked about it before and I'm not entirely sure if it was a formal last will thing from Algarotti or just coincided with his death.
Nevertheless, I have questions! Did Algarotti think that Fritz would simply like to have a Pesne painting or was the motif relevant innuendo? The inscription? And why on earth did Fritz bequeath it to Ulrike - did she come across it during a visit and she and Fritz talked about it? Inside joke? Does she have a connection to Algarotti at all or is it just the fact that Pesne painted it? It's not like Fritz didn't have hundreds of other paintings to give, so why this one?
11. I am bequeathing to my sister, the Queen of Sweden, one of my golden boxes valued at 10,000 thalers, 20 buckets of Hungarian wine and a painting of Pesne in the Sanssouci Palace, which I received from Algarotti.
Of course I got curious, so I looked it up and it's apparently this one (in colour), with the inscription Unter dem Kissen [Under the Pillow]— Ant. Pesne fecit 1706.
Oesterreicher says "A charming peasant girl in the window with her head resting on her right arm. Light and shadow have a splendid effect in this painting, the painter represented bare [bloße] nature. [He sure did.] *
* The Count Algarotti bequeathed this painting to His Majesty the King.
Fritz also mentions that Algarotti offered him a Pesne painting in his last letter to Algarotti, which I assume was this one, so they had talked about it before and I'm not entirely sure if it was a formal last will thing from Algarotti or just coincided with his death.
Nevertheless, I have questions! Did Algarotti think that Fritz would simply like to have a Pesne painting or was the motif relevant innuendo? The inscription? And why on earth did Fritz bequeath it to Ulrike - did she come across it during a visit and she and Fritz talked about it? Inside joke? Does she have a connection to Algarotti at all or is it just the fact that Pesne painted it? It's not like Fritz didn't have hundreds of other paintings to give, so why this one?
I've been rereading the Suhm letters since ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
felis turned up a professional translation. I had hoped to get through the entire volume by now, but I didn't sleep well all week, so I'm about halfway through. These are my mostly trivial notes so far.
1) Fritz, early in the correspondence, thanking Suhm for the Wolff translation, writes:
[My] soul, feeling it owes to you only, after God, its existence...
Which immediately struck me as parallel to the Duhan letter where he writes:
I owe you more, finally, than the author of my days:
He gave me life in his young love;
But he who teaches me, whose reason enlightens me,
He is my nurturer, and my only father.
So, FW gets credit for giving Fritz life, Duhan his mind, and Suhm his soul. <33
2) A footnote by the helpful editor tells me:
Suhm had previously written to the prince, telling him he amused himself by sawing wood, in his moments of recreation.
(Many of Suhm's letters weren't printed, apparently, sigh.)
Sawing wood! This I confess I had not expected.
Fritz has brought it up twice so far.
In the first time, Fritz reported that he's been getting more exercise at the advice of his doctor, but not to fear--he's giving up sleep so as to have more time to read! Why horseback riding? Well...
I was near becoming one of your sect, and to have set about sawing wood, but the fine weather made me determine otherwise.
*g*
Then, when Suhm tries to convince Fritz not to give up sleep (he does the thing that Fritz does in condolence and get-well-soon letters, which is "You must take care of your health for the sake of other people! Both because you're a prince and because people love you!", Fritz replies,
When a man knows what you do, and when a happy genius aided by treasures drawn from the study of the belles lettres, has elevated him to the point of perfection wherein I see you shine, he has full permission to saw wood and to give himself leisure. But when he only begins his course, he ought not to stop at the first step, but rather to sink down than not attain the desired end.
"Stop trying to talk me out of being a workaholic!" Fritz concludes.
FW: My son hates everything which includes effort and work.
Us: *facepalm*
Anyway, I now have this lovely mental image of Suhm sawing wood and Fritz considering it!
3) Another editor's footnote tells me that FW started a commission to look into Wolff as early as 1736, and that he was proclaimed innocent. Do we know if this is true? I ask because we had tentatively concluded that FW started reading Wolff in late 1739 after Fritz had encouraged AW to read Wolff, and maybe AW convinced FW that Wolff was worth reading.
4) Fritz refers to "morality" (French 'morale') in a context that makes it clear that it refers to Stoicism in the face of misfortunes. He's comforting Suhm over the latter's financial misfortunes that are forcing him to look for a job (the horror!)--this is right before he gets the St. Petersburg posting--and after giving some Stoic advice, writes,
How easy, my dear Diaphane, it is to give this precept, and how difficult to follow it! I know that a heart preyed upon by chagrin in the bitterness of its grief, is little flexible to the remonstrances of morality.
This is relevant to our interpretation of the line in the mystery affliction letter to Camas that goes, "I beg you to take part in [my troubles], and not to preach to me either a morality beyond my reach, or a heroism which renders me insensitive to the events of life."
I'm increasingly sure that's just a parallel construction, and "morality" refers to Stoic philosophy.
5) I had encountered two explanations for "Diaphane" so far: wordplay on Durchlaucht ("Illustrious", a title given to German princes), according to Hamilton, and Suhm's open-heartedness, according to MacDonogh. I'd been wondering if they had an 18th century origin, and I now see that both of these speculations are included in the same footnote by this one editor.
I still stand by my interpretation, which is backed by Fritz drawing effectively the same comparison, of the sun breaking through his dark moods, about Keyserlingk!
6) Finally, whoever scanned this pdf decided, apparently deliberately, to scan several pages out of order. This is super annoying, and I might fix it in our library copy someday. WTF, scanner.
And that's all I have for now. :)
felis turned up a professional translation. I had hoped to get through the entire volume by now, but I didn't sleep well all week, so I'm about halfway through. These are my mostly trivial notes so far.1) Fritz, early in the correspondence, thanking Suhm for the Wolff translation, writes:
[My] soul, feeling it owes to you only, after God, its existence...
Which immediately struck me as parallel to the Duhan letter where he writes:
I owe you more, finally, than the author of my days:
He gave me life in his young love;
But he who teaches me, whose reason enlightens me,
He is my nurturer, and my only father.
So, FW gets credit for giving Fritz life, Duhan his mind, and Suhm his soul. <33
2) A footnote by the helpful editor tells me:
Suhm had previously written to the prince, telling him he amused himself by sawing wood, in his moments of recreation.
(Many of Suhm's letters weren't printed, apparently, sigh.)
Sawing wood! This I confess I had not expected.
Fritz has brought it up twice so far.
In the first time, Fritz reported that he's been getting more exercise at the advice of his doctor, but not to fear--he's giving up sleep so as to have more time to read! Why horseback riding? Well...
I was near becoming one of your sect, and to have set about sawing wood, but the fine weather made me determine otherwise.
*g*
Then, when Suhm tries to convince Fritz not to give up sleep (he does the thing that Fritz does in condolence and get-well-soon letters, which is "You must take care of your health for the sake of other people! Both because you're a prince and because people love you!", Fritz replies,
When a man knows what you do, and when a happy genius aided by treasures drawn from the study of the belles lettres, has elevated him to the point of perfection wherein I see you shine, he has full permission to saw wood and to give himself leisure. But when he only begins his course, he ought not to stop at the first step, but rather to sink down than not attain the desired end.
"Stop trying to talk me out of being a workaholic!" Fritz concludes.
FW: My son hates everything which includes effort and work.
Us: *facepalm*
Anyway, I now have this lovely mental image of Suhm sawing wood and Fritz considering it!
3) Another editor's footnote tells me that FW started a commission to look into Wolff as early as 1736, and that he was proclaimed innocent. Do we know if this is true? I ask because we had tentatively concluded that FW started reading Wolff in late 1739 after Fritz had encouraged AW to read Wolff, and maybe AW convinced FW that Wolff was worth reading.
4) Fritz refers to "morality" (French 'morale') in a context that makes it clear that it refers to Stoicism in the face of misfortunes. He's comforting Suhm over the latter's financial misfortunes that are forcing him to look for a job (the horror!)--this is right before he gets the St. Petersburg posting--and after giving some Stoic advice, writes,
How easy, my dear Diaphane, it is to give this precept, and how difficult to follow it! I know that a heart preyed upon by chagrin in the bitterness of its grief, is little flexible to the remonstrances of morality.
This is relevant to our interpretation of the line in the mystery affliction letter to Camas that goes, "I beg you to take part in [my troubles], and not to preach to me either a morality beyond my reach, or a heroism which renders me insensitive to the events of life."
I'm increasingly sure that's just a parallel construction, and "morality" refers to Stoic philosophy.
5) I had encountered two explanations for "Diaphane" so far: wordplay on Durchlaucht ("Illustrious", a title given to German princes), according to Hamilton, and Suhm's open-heartedness, according to MacDonogh. I'd been wondering if they had an 18th century origin, and I now see that both of these speculations are included in the same footnote by this one editor.
I still stand by my interpretation, which is backed by Fritz drawing effectively the same comparison, of the sun breaking through his dark moods, about Keyserlingk!
6) Finally, whoever scanned this pdf decided, apparently deliberately, to scan several pages out of order. This is super annoying, and I might fix it in our library copy someday. WTF, scanner.
And that's all I have for now. :)
Sawing wood! This I confess I had not expected.
As hobbies go, this is certainly an excentric one, to be sure. Well, at least presumably the sawed wood is used for heating?
"Stop trying to talk me out of being a workaholic!" Fritz concludes.
FW: My son hates everything which includes effort and work.
Us: *facepalm*
No kidding.
Another editor's footnote tells me that FW started a commission to look into Wolff as early as 1736, and that he was proclaimed innocent. Do we know if this is true?
As Stabi offers the ordering of up to six volumes of books via mail, I will soon find out, I presume.
As hobbies go, this is certainly an excentric one, to be sure. Well, at least presumably the sawed wood is used for heating?
"Stop trying to talk me out of being a workaholic!" Fritz concludes.
FW: My son hates everything which includes effort and work.
Us: *facepalm*
No kidding.
Another editor's footnote tells me that FW started a commission to look into Wolff as early as 1736, and that he was proclaimed innocent. Do we know if this is true?
As Stabi offers the ordering of up to six volumes of books via mail, I will soon find out, I presume.
Fascinating detail! Also, that's actually a beautiful painting, and strikingly different from official portraits Pesne did of the royal family. This is a painting I really like.
did she come across it during a visit?
Not unless Algarotti gave it to Fritz before 1744, when Ulrike got married and moved to Sweden. At this point, Sanssouci didn't exist yet, but Fritz could of course have hung the picture elsewhere. The 1771 visit to Brandenburg was Ulrike's first after her marriage, so she can't have seen the painting in Sanssouci at the point when Fritz is making this will. If she knows it, she must have seen it before 1744 in Potsdam and Berlin. Now, since Pesne lived in Brandenburg since F1 hired him as court painter - and was among the people FW didn't fire (he just cut the salary Pesne was receiving by half) -, this wouldn't be that difficult. Ulrike was portrayed by Pesne as were her siblings, after all. (There is a portrait of her hanging in Rheinsberg today.) Maybe, just maybe, instead of Pesne coming to her rooms, she was allowed to visit his studio and pose there, which means she could have seen the painting there?
Alas, though, dates argue against it. Pesne was appointed court painter by F1 in 1711; this painting hails from 1706. At which point young Pesne was living in....Venice. Where Algarotti is from. Which would explain why Algarotti owns a painting of the Prussian court painter to give to Fritz that the royal family doesn't own already. (Meaning young Pesne probably sold the painting back then to some Venetian noble and Algarotti, who could have seen it in Palazzo X, aquired it there.
As to why this painting of a peasant girl with cleavage, well, as my Aged Parent noted, there is no lack of female half nudes or nudes at Sanssouci anyway, enough to make him question Fritz' sexuality again. And it is a beautiful painting. I think it's probably no more complicated than Algarotti knowing Fritz would like such a good Pesne.
As to why Fritz should think Ulrike would like it, well, see above. The only way she could have known it was if she'd seen it before 1744, which could be the case if Pesne didn't sell it while in Venice but kept it and brought it with him to Berlin. Which is also possible, though in that case I question why Algarotti owned it before Fritz did.
did she come across it during a visit?
Not unless Algarotti gave it to Fritz before 1744, when Ulrike got married and moved to Sweden. At this point, Sanssouci didn't exist yet, but Fritz could of course have hung the picture elsewhere. The 1771 visit to Brandenburg was Ulrike's first after her marriage, so she can't have seen the painting in Sanssouci at the point when Fritz is making this will. If she knows it, she must have seen it before 1744 in Potsdam and Berlin. Now, since Pesne lived in Brandenburg since F1 hired him as court painter - and was among the people FW didn't fire (he just cut the salary Pesne was receiving by half) -, this wouldn't be that difficult. Ulrike was portrayed by Pesne as were her siblings, after all. (There is a portrait of her hanging in Rheinsberg today.) Maybe, just maybe, instead of Pesne coming to her rooms, she was allowed to visit his studio and pose there, which means she could have seen the painting there?
Alas, though, dates argue against it. Pesne was appointed court painter by F1 in 1711; this painting hails from 1706. At which point young Pesne was living in....Venice. Where Algarotti is from. Which would explain why Algarotti owns a painting of the Prussian court painter to give to Fritz that the royal family doesn't own already. (Meaning young Pesne probably sold the painting back then to some Venetian noble and Algarotti, who could have seen it in Palazzo X, aquired it there.
As to why this painting of a peasant girl with cleavage, well, as my Aged Parent noted, there is no lack of female half nudes or nudes at Sanssouci anyway, enough to make him question Fritz' sexuality again. And it is a beautiful painting. I think it's probably no more complicated than Algarotti knowing Fritz would like such a good Pesne.
As to why Fritz should think Ulrike would like it, well, see above. The only way she could have known it was if she'd seen it before 1744, which could be the case if Pesne didn't sell it while in Venice but kept it and brought it with him to Berlin. Which is also possible, though in that case I question why Algarotti owned it before Fritz did.
Edited 2021-03-01 07:33 (UTC)
La Mettrie: oh, I take Nicolai's rendition of what is undoubtedly D'Argens take on the relationship with Fritz with a huuuuge pint of salt, for, as Trier puts it in the chronicle of D'Argens life: 7. Februar: Ankunft La Mettries in Berlin. Anfänglich ist das Verhältnis zwischen dem Autor des Homme machine und d'Argens sehr innig, wie Darget berichtet, kühlt später aber stark ab.. More also here, where it's mentioned that D'Argens wrote anti-La Mettrie publications nearly until his (D'Argens') death.
Singe: yes, that was a typo.
But also, still fascinated that she got to be the exception to the rule.
As a multilingual scholar and ex dancer (the portrait of whose sister by Pesne was hanging in Fritz' rooms at Sanssouci), she was perhaps exceptional enough for Fritz to mentally qualify her as another honorary male, the way he did Wilhelmine. Also D'Argens sounds lovely about her in a letter to Fritz: "For a scholar, it is not a little thing to have a good wife. Since three years, I would have died or gone mad ten times if I hadn't had the fortune to win mine." (written in 1762) (I also find it interesting that EC, whom you wouldn't think to be fond of either Fritz' free-thinking friends or their ex commoner ex ballet dancer wives, sounds as warmly in her reply to the Marquise's condolence letter. It bears repeating: I have always, my dear Marquise, distinguished your late husband as a a very estimable man, and above all by his attachment to the late King, my husband of glorious memory whose death plunges me into the most severe pain. Rest assured that I am very sensitive to the sympathy that you show and I will always be delighted that, having fulfilled all your duties towards your husband, you are rewarded by all the possible happiness. These are the feelings that I will always have for you.
Your good Queen: Elisabeth.
It's also a striking contrast to what Nicolai reports about Quintus Icilius' marriage. There, Fritz behaved as usual if someone from his circle wanted to marry (i.e. badly) and finally and grudgingly granted his permission for Quintus Icilius to marry in a striking switch from their usual French correspondence to German. He then proceeded to ignore the existence of Mrs. Quintus Icilius.
Singe: yes, that was a typo.
But also, still fascinated that she got to be the exception to the rule.
As a multilingual scholar and ex dancer (the portrait of whose sister by Pesne was hanging in Fritz' rooms at Sanssouci), she was perhaps exceptional enough for Fritz to mentally qualify her as another honorary male, the way he did Wilhelmine. Also D'Argens sounds lovely about her in a letter to Fritz: "For a scholar, it is not a little thing to have a good wife. Since three years, I would have died or gone mad ten times if I hadn't had the fortune to win mine." (written in 1762) (I also find it interesting that EC, whom you wouldn't think to be fond of either Fritz' free-thinking friends or their ex commoner ex ballet dancer wives, sounds as warmly in her reply to the Marquise's condolence letter. It bears repeating: I have always, my dear Marquise, distinguished your late husband as a a very estimable man, and above all by his attachment to the late King, my husband of glorious memory whose death plunges me into the most severe pain. Rest assured that I am very sensitive to the sympathy that you show and I will always be delighted that, having fulfilled all your duties towards your husband, you are rewarded by all the possible happiness. These are the feelings that I will always have for you.
Your good Queen: Elisabeth.
It's also a striking contrast to what Nicolai reports about Quintus Icilius' marriage. There, Fritz behaved as usual if someone from his circle wanted to marry (i.e. badly) and finally and grudgingly granted his permission for Quintus Icilius to marry in a striking switch from their usual French correspondence to German. He then proceeded to ignore the existence of Mrs. Quintus Icilius.
Seven? I thought it was five to six hours! Hence all the coffee. Never mind eight or nine. This is changing everything. What happened to 3 am in the summer, 4 am in the winter?
In addition to Fritz going back to sleep, I think it's simply old age. Of course he had more energy and stamina (as well als stronger coffee intake) when younger. Don't forget, everyone observed that the 7 Years War rapidly aged him, and Schöning never knew him before.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I knew you'd be happy about the confirmed mustard and anti sleep marathon. :) Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
As I love crossreferences, remember this diary entry by Lehndorff from January 1778:
The health of the King remains a matter of concern. He is often feverish. On the day after Prince Heinrich’s birthday party, an odd accident happened to the King. When he got undressed, people put his waistcoat and everything else pulled off him near the fireplace. The clothing caught fire, and everything was in flames. But since he only has incompetent footmen around himself, the fire remained unnoticed, and it could have spread, if not for another footman who thankfully woke up and quenched the fire. The King is very angry that his tobacco box, several important papers and especially his spectacles did get burned. To indicate the state of wardrobe of this great man, I shall note that on the next day, he did not have an overcoat to wear; they had to send a messenger on horseback to Potsdam in order to get him such a piece of clothing.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
And speaking of Lehndorff's diary entries, a day of the life as Heinrich's guest at Rheinsberg in 1783, which says something about Heinrich's own schedule, looks like this:
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.
Now granted, Heinrich is a gentleman of leisure because he can't be anything else (he's left the army after his most recent fallout with Fritz over the Bavarian war, and there is no other job for a Prussian prince in Fritzian Prussia), and Lehndorff is retired. But both the differences and similarities are still striking.
In addition to Fritz going back to sleep, I think it's simply old age. Of course he had more energy and stamina (as well als stronger coffee intake) when younger. Don't forget, everyone observed that the 7 Years War rapidly aged him, and Schöning never knew him before.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I knew you'd be happy about the confirmed mustard and anti sleep marathon. :) Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
As I love crossreferences, remember this diary entry by Lehndorff from January 1778:
The health of the King remains a matter of concern. He is often feverish. On the day after Prince Heinrich’s birthday party, an odd accident happened to the King. When he got undressed, people put his waistcoat and everything else pulled off him near the fireplace. The clothing caught fire, and everything was in flames. But since he only has incompetent footmen around himself, the fire remained unnoticed, and it could have spread, if not for another footman who thankfully woke up and quenched the fire. The King is very angry that his tobacco box, several important papers and especially his spectacles did get burned. To indicate the state of wardrobe of this great man, I shall note that on the next day, he did not have an overcoat to wear; they had to send a messenger on horseback to Potsdam in order to get him such a piece of clothing.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
And speaking of Lehndorff's diary entries, a day of the life as Heinrich's guest at Rheinsberg in 1783, which says something about Heinrich's own schedule, looks like this:
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.
Now granted, Heinrich is a gentleman of leisure because he can't be anything else (he's left the army after his most recent fallout with Fritz over the Bavarian war, and there is no other job for a Prussian prince in Fritzian Prussia), and Lehndorff is retired. But both the differences and similarities are still striking.
if you treat the army as a deposit for people you want to punish, you're not making it look attractive and honorable
This is a good point, Fritz!
The irony is that Fritz, according to Schöning as well as everyone else, at this point of his life really truly loved the army and would not hear a bad word about it. Remember the explosion at Borcke (FW2's governor) for muttering some peace approving statements?
Ha, Catt! :P
LOL. Yes, it's very clear Catt was seeing what he wanted to see, if he didn't rewrite Fritz deliberately.
But yes, given what I'd read about Fritz dressing himself and not wanting to be seen in the nude (Fritz, you're just giving Zimmermann ideas!)
So he did. Fritz' freakish-for-his-time insistence of not letting the staff see him au naturell is Zimmerman's exhibit A) bit of evidence for his "must have had a broken/malformed penis" theory.
not like having your servants light the fire and wake you up, which is *everyone*, even "I dress myself and want privacy for relieving myself* weirdo Fritz
Minor nitpick: according to the biographies I read for my Yuletide story, Catherine did, in fact, like to light her fireplace herself in the morning. Though she did get woken up by her servants, six o'clock sharp every morning (via knocking), no matter the festivities in the night.
Poor, underappreciated F1.
Seriously though, why did Fritz have it in for Gramps? I mean, this is a consistent obsessive trait; Voltaire remarks on it in his letters 1750s letters, and as the statements he quotes from Fritz there are almost identical to what Schöning reports decades later, and Lucchesini, I'm assuming a "Reasons why Grandpa sucked!" rant was one of the regular events. And it's not like he had memories of the man himself, what with F1 dying while he was still a baby. I mean, sure, all the money spending offers enough room for critique, but you don't see Fritz having a go at, say, August the Strong for the same reason, when compared to August's money spending F1 was actually small scale. Still, just about the only time Fritz brings up Grandpa without ranting about how much he sucked is in the interrogation protocols when he points out the precedent of a Prince of Prussia leaving the country without royal permission (and FW heatedly replies that that was different because future F1 was afraid he'd get poisoned by his stepmother).
So, my current theories:
a) Projection theory I: Fritz was very aware FW was afraid Fritz would become F1 reborn, between their shared love for the arts, fashionable, comfortable clothing and fascination with all things French. He therefore blamed Grandpa for having caused a mindset in Dad for which he, Fritz, then paid the price. This of course he couldn't say, and thus he rants about what a sucky King F1 was instead.
b) Projection theory II: Fritz did see the similarities and did some more projecting. All those accusations of pride and vanity and wannabe Louis XIV are in fact self loathing.
c) Projection theory III: As Schöning (and Mitchell, and Catt) report, Fritz even when bringing up FW's temper and parenting was always careful to praise him more than to critique him, and to venerate him. After the letters to Wilhelmine from the 1730s, there is no more testified Fritz statement that's unmoderated hostility towards FW. Which doesn't mean those emotions were gone. But he can't vent them anymore. So he directs all the anger at his parents at Grandpa, who is a safe target since venerating him isn't necessary to uphold the Prussian mentality, on the contrary, you can use him as a bad example.
Fasting: My point here was that you don't eat chocolate while fasting. No meat, yes, and it's true that fish, cheese, milk etc. are all okay, but chocolate during lent is a no go. That's what you eat at Easter! (In egg form, these days though of course not then. *g*)
This is a good point, Fritz!
The irony is that Fritz, according to Schöning as well as everyone else, at this point of his life really truly loved the army and would not hear a bad word about it. Remember the explosion at Borcke (FW2's governor) for muttering some peace approving statements?
Ha, Catt! :P
LOL. Yes, it's very clear Catt was seeing what he wanted to see, if he didn't rewrite Fritz deliberately.
But yes, given what I'd read about Fritz dressing himself and not wanting to be seen in the nude (Fritz, you're just giving Zimmermann ideas!)
So he did. Fritz' freakish-for-his-time insistence of not letting the staff see him au naturell is Zimmerman's exhibit A) bit of evidence for his "must have had a broken/malformed penis" theory.
not like having your servants light the fire and wake you up, which is *everyone*, even "I dress myself and want privacy for relieving myself* weirdo Fritz
Minor nitpick: according to the biographies I read for my Yuletide story, Catherine did, in fact, like to light her fireplace herself in the morning. Though she did get woken up by her servants, six o'clock sharp every morning (via knocking), no matter the festivities in the night.
Poor, underappreciated F1.
Seriously though, why did Fritz have it in for Gramps? I mean, this is a consistent obsessive trait; Voltaire remarks on it in his letters 1750s letters, and as the statements he quotes from Fritz there are almost identical to what Schöning reports decades later, and Lucchesini, I'm assuming a "Reasons why Grandpa sucked!" rant was one of the regular events. And it's not like he had memories of the man himself, what with F1 dying while he was still a baby. I mean, sure, all the money spending offers enough room for critique, but you don't see Fritz having a go at, say, August the Strong for the same reason, when compared to August's money spending F1 was actually small scale. Still, just about the only time Fritz brings up Grandpa without ranting about how much he sucked is in the interrogation protocols when he points out the precedent of a Prince of Prussia leaving the country without royal permission (and FW heatedly replies that that was different because future F1 was afraid he'd get poisoned by his stepmother).
So, my current theories:
a) Projection theory I: Fritz was very aware FW was afraid Fritz would become F1 reborn, between their shared love for the arts, fashionable, comfortable clothing and fascination with all things French. He therefore blamed Grandpa for having caused a mindset in Dad for which he, Fritz, then paid the price. This of course he couldn't say, and thus he rants about what a sucky King F1 was instead.
b) Projection theory II: Fritz did see the similarities and did some more projecting. All those accusations of pride and vanity and wannabe Louis XIV are in fact self loathing.
c) Projection theory III: As Schöning (and Mitchell, and Catt) report, Fritz even when bringing up FW's temper and parenting was always careful to praise him more than to critique him, and to venerate him. After the letters to Wilhelmine from the 1730s, there is no more testified Fritz statement that's unmoderated hostility towards FW. Which doesn't mean those emotions were gone. But he can't vent them anymore. So he directs all the anger at his parents at Grandpa, who is a safe target since venerating him isn't necessary to uphold the Prussian mentality, on the contrary, you can use him as a bad example.
Fasting: My point here was that you don't eat chocolate while fasting. No meat, yes, and it's true that fish, cheese, milk etc. are all okay, but chocolate during lent is a no go. That's what you eat at Easter! (In egg form, these days though of course not then. *g*)
This is the tv version of a 19th century play; the original title of the play was “Zopf und Schwert”, “Tail and Sword”, the title of the tv movie is is “The Prussian Marriage”, “Die Preußische Heirat”. There are several interesting things about it, to which historical fidelity definitely doesn’t belong. The director was the great Helmut Käutner, who is responsible for several deserved German classics, some of the best 20th century Germanmovies; I can only assume he was short of cash and needed the money in this case. The playwright was Karl Gutzkow, who was one of the rebellious 19th century Prussian folk ending up in exile. He had a very strict ultra religious Prussian Dad and a nervous breakdown from which he recuperated in Bayreuth, so I could see how he would empathize with Wilhelmine. Unfortunately, his empathy doesn’t express itself by writing her as a character with traits beyond “ingenue love interest”. And the story itself is, err, basically the Disney movie we joked about. Here’s a summary for you. Excuse the Terminator jokes, but I couldn’t resist.
Opening scene: cheerful court with dancing people and a fellow playing the flute, who is of course...
John Connor Crown Prince Fritz: BayreuthFriedrich, since you have to leave my exile court at Rheinsberg, here’s your mission: go back in time, save my sister by providing her with books and a French teacher I’m sending her. Also, here’s a miniature portrait of her owned by me. If you show her this, she’ll know she can trust you.
BayreuthFriedrich: Go back in time?
Fritz: Since we’re in Rheinsberg. The rest of the play is clearly meant to be set in 1731.
BayreuthFriedrich: Mission accepted!
Wusterhausen or PotsdamPalace, the film isn’t clear: Potsdam Giants are loudly exercising. Just a few, because a tv budget can’t finance more, and also this was made in the 1971, at which point no one West German was allowed to shoot in GDR territory, so who knows where they filmed.
Sonsine (a young woman): You bastards, do you have to do this so loudly this early in the morning? This wakes up the princess.
Potsdam Giant leader: That’s the point of the King’s orders. We’re supposed to wake her up because she’s been a bad Fritz supporting girl.
Wilhelmine: God, I’m depressed. I can barely use what little French I know to write to Fritz that I can’t accept this French teacher, or Dad will punish me even more.
(She really says “mein bißchen Französisch”)
Sonsine: Courage! Also, talk to your brother’s messenger, he’s hot.
BayreuthFriedrich: Sarah Connor, I mean, Wilhelmine, come with me if you want to live! For starters, accept the French teacher your brother sends you.
Wilhelmine: Let me give you my daily schedule organized by Dad so you see I have little time for French lessons, despite dearly needing and wanting them. If I meet strange men without his permission, it’ll be Küstrin time for me, too.
BayreuthFriedrich: I can’t believe a beautiful princess like you gets treated this way! Take heart, meet the secret French teacher.
Wilhelmine: ...Okay. *returns to her room; they had this conversation in the stairways*
BayreuthFriedrich: I’m in love!
Servant: You’re also summoned to the Queen.
SD: I’m talking with a weird accent that’s supposed to the the Hannover habit of pronouncing “spitz” and “stein” “s-pitz” and “s-tein” instead of “schpitz” and “schtein”, which is what the rest of Germany does. So, who are you again? Right, the Prince of Ansbach, or some other Franconian hell hole.
BayreuthFriedrich: Your daughter Friederike is already married to the Margrave of Ansbach.
SD: Not in this play and movie, she’s not. So, Ansbach Guy, is it true my darling son sent you?
BayreuthFriedrich: Yes; he even calls me Frederic, because we have the same first name, and he wants me to....
SD: ...help me marry my daughter to the Prince of Wales, undoubtedly. You’ve done the Grand Tour, so you must have some useful connections. Get on it! *dismisses him*
BayreuthFriedrich: That was weird. Off to see the King next.
FW: *inspects tall fellows*
FW: *is played by Carl Raddatz, tall himself, former matinee idol, which even with a bit of a fat suit is a problem*
FW: *inspects his younger kids, who are standing straight like the Potsdam Giants, checks out whether they have clean nails and well combed hair*
Younger Kids: *are the wrong gender and age, i.e. two of the three boys are nearly identically old and the oldest, while all the girls are younger than the boys, and three of the girls are smaller than the youngest boy*
Grumbkow & Seckendorf: We’re the incredibly dumb evil stooges of this play. The clever evil schemer is someone else, to wit:
FW’s valet Eversmann: Me! I’m in league with G & S, and we’ve heard rumors about a British diplomat approaching. This means we need a countermove.
G, S, E: Sire, Archduke Leopold the future Emperor is asking for your daughter’s hand!
selenak: WHO?
FW: Hm.
FW: *receives BayreuthFriedrich*
FW: Not impressed with the fact you’ve been making the Grand Tour for years while your little principality is practically broke and your father keeps building palaces, young man. Still, you probably learned how to throw a party for nobles during your travels. I’m putting you in charge of the festivities. Throw an engagement party for Wilhelmine and... the Prince of Wales, I guess.
“Lord” Henry (!) Hotham: *arrives*
Hotham: I’m the other smart schemer in this play, the good one. Hey, isn’t that BayreuthFriedrich, whom I know from his Grand Tour?
BayreuthFriedrich: Henry! Long time no see. Woe is me. I’m in love with Wilhelmine, whose marriage to Fritz of Wales you’re supposed to negotiate, and even if that falls through, she’ll be married to the future Emperor Leopold.
selenak: WHO?
Hotham: Cheer up, let the master plan. Fact is: there’s one point in the English marriage offer that FW is bound to balk at if I emphasize it properly, to wit, that he’ll allow English exports into Prussia again. If he says no, your hour will come.
G, S, E: Your Majesty, we’ve heard there’s a French teacher in town, sent by Crown Prince Fritz to Wilhelmine, brought here by that Bayreuth fellow.
FW: WHAT. I hate all things French. Arrest the guy and kick him out of the country.
G, S, E: Which one?
FW: The French teacher. The Bayreuth prince leaves as well, but unarrested.
Wilhelmine: *gets French lesson from Frenchman clearly imitating the “Princess Catherine learns English” scene from “Henry V*
Potsdam Giants: Arrest French teacher, throw him out of the country
Wilhelmine: Woe!
BayreuthFriedrich: Let me be your replacement French teacher!
Wilhelmine: Okay?
BayreuthFriedrich: I LOVE YOU.
Wilhelmine: ...This is only our second meeting, but I love you, too.
Evermann: Oh, hi, BayreuthFriedrich. You’re unmasked as a smuggler of Fritz letters and French contraband. You’re also supposed to leave the country.
BayreuthFriedrich: OMG WHAT SHALL I DOOOO! HENRY!!!!
Hotham: Never fear, I’m on the case.
Wilhelmine, FW, SD, Hotham: *meet*
Hotham: reads out the marriage contract clauses
SD: *is indignant about the little dowry Wilhelmine gets*
Hotham: We’re cool with the little dowry, but we’d like you to import our stuff again.
FW: Never. I need to support our local trade. The marriage ist through.
Hotham: Well, that’s inconvenient, since the Prince of Wales is already in town.
SD: Yay!
FW: Not officially receiving him, but if he puts on a white domino (cloak), he won’t get arrested. Also, the marriage is still a no go.
BayreuthFriedrich, hearing about this: Henry, I don’t understand. Whose side are you on?
Hotham: Yours, of course. Listen, get yourself a Prussian uniform and a white domino, and all will be cool. Fritz of Wales is hunting boars in Scotland, don’t worry about him. This is all part of my cunning plan.
Potsdam Giants: *march in front of Wilhelmine’s room, deliver the message she’s supposed to stay put, learn passages of the bible by heart and knit socks for the children from the Berlin orphanage as punishment for the secret Fritz correspondence*
Sonsine: Hang on, one of you soldiers just gave me the eye. This has potential.
*flirts with Potsdam Giant*
Potsdam Giant Eckhof: I’m actually the son of actors who wanted to be an actor myself when I was forcibly recruited. I also play instruments.
Sonsine: Excellent. Play for us now, we have all of Fritz’ instruments hidden in Wilhelmine’s wardrobe.
Eckhof: Well, I can’t play the flute, but the violin will do.
Eckhof: *plays violin while Wilhelmine and Sonsine dance*
FW: *arrives unexpectedly, sees one of his Potsdam Giants play the violin while his daughter dances with her lady in waiting*
FW: What. Eckhof, you’re fired from the regiment. Clearly, you need punishment. Therefore, I order you to join the theatre troupe currently visiting Berlin as penance, thus signalling I’m good at heart and know what’s going on.
Eckhof: Yay! You’re the best, Sire. *exits Eckhof*
Sonsine: *exits at a signal from FW*
FW: So you’re hiding Fritz’ instruments and still go behind my back. Why don’t you children love me when I do everything for you! I wanted my family to prove that royal families can be just like burgher families, and you two keep counteracting me.
Wilhelmine: Sire...
FW: You used to call me Dad.
Wilhelmine: I still love you. But can’t I marry for love?
FW: No.
*exit FW*
Hotham: I’m here to officially take my leave, Sire. Despite efforts from minor evil stooge Grumbkow here, I shall now demonstrate how a true schemer plots. No hard feelings, FW, I’m about to return to Blighty, but I have a farewell present for you. I know this good looking tall young man who really really wants to join your army.
FW: Huh. I think I misjudged you. That’s a thoughtful farewell gift, which I’ll accept.
Hotham: I’ll introduce him to you later. Also, see, we Brits are all about the clubs. And I’ve heard the best club that ever clubbed meets in this very building, smoking, drinking beer and talking about all subjects, headed by the coolest host ever. There’s nothing I’d like more than get an invite for one evening.
FW: Wow, I really like you. Okay, you’re invited.
Eversmann, in an attempt to counterscheme: Sire, shall we roast him? We always need one fellow to mock anyway.
FW: Nah, I like him to much, but I have an idea whom to roast. Okay, Eversmann, if BayreuthFritz is still in Berlin, he is invited, too. We’ll make him our object of fun for the evening!
*later that evening*
*Tobbacco Parliament*: assembles, with Hotham and BayreuthFritz as guests
Hotham: Remember, this is your one chance
BayreuthFriedrich: *delivers zinger after zinger against Grumbkow, Seckendorf and Eversmann, impressing FW*
FW: Okay, young man, ultimate test: Pretend you’re holding an obituary on me
BayreuthFriedrich: *takes all his courage* Dear assembly, we’re here to mourn FW, great administrator and reformer and lousy Dad. We all know about the unfortunate affair with the Crown Prince, no need to say more. And not content with that, FW also wants to force his daughter into marriage, never wants asking her what her heart wants! The irony: I do think he loves his family. But he’s poisoned his relationships with them all by himself. So he’ll die respected but not loved, and then the young eagle, the rising sun will ascend and we’ll all root for him! Fritz Fuck Yeah!”
Hotham: *for god’s sake, pretend to be drunk*
BayreuthFriedrich: *pretends to be drunk*
FW: Ooooookay. When you sober up, young man, let people tell you you and I drank together.
*still later that evening*
SD: Party time, ladies! I’m hourly expecting the visit of my nephew the Prince of Wales and of my daughter whom I’ve broken out of her imprisonment by following Hotham’s advice and lending her a white domino to wear.
*someone knocks at the door*
Piano player: *starts to play British national anthem which as far as I know wasn’t yet the national anthem then, “God save the King”*
SD: His highness, the Prince of Wales.
FW: *enters in white domino*
FW: Aha! So this is what you’re up to behind my back, Fieke!
*someone knocks at the door*
SD: Yes, and you can’t stop me! At last, here he is, his highness the Prince of Wales.
Piano: Plays anthem
Wilhelmine: *enters wearing a white domino*
FW: WTF?
*someone knocks at the door*
SD: Okay, that’s gotta be him now. My future son in law.
Piano: Plays British anthem
Hotham and BayreuthFriedrich: *enter, wearing white dominos*
FW: WTF?
Hotham: Let me introduce your new recruit to you, Sire. *takes off white domino from BayreuthFriedrich, showing he wears a Prussian uniform underneath*
FW: Hmmm. A German prince, eager to serve as a simple soldier in one of my regiments, was brave towards me, roasted the guys wanting to roast him... what say you, daughter?
Wilhelmine: I LOVE HIM!
FW: Okay, Fieke, I think we should let these two marry.
SD: ....Only if I get to say the size of her dowry, you miser.
Hotham: Happy ending!
Now, aside from everything else: presumably the one publication Gutzkow must have read when doing research for this are Wilhelmine's memoirs. Can you imagine reading them and coming up with this plot?
Opening scene: cheerful court with dancing people and a fellow playing the flute, who is of course...
BayreuthFriedrich: Go back in time?
Fritz: Since we’re in Rheinsberg. The rest of the play is clearly meant to be set in 1731.
BayreuthFriedrich: Mission accepted!
Wusterhausen or PotsdamPalace, the film isn’t clear: Potsdam Giants are loudly exercising. Just a few, because a tv budget can’t finance more, and also this was made in the 1971, at which point no one West German was allowed to shoot in GDR territory, so who knows where they filmed.
Sonsine (a young woman): You bastards, do you have to do this so loudly this early in the morning? This wakes up the princess.
Potsdam Giant leader: That’s the point of the King’s orders. We’re supposed to wake her up because she’s been a bad Fritz supporting girl.
Wilhelmine: God, I’m depressed. I can barely use what little French I know to write to Fritz that I can’t accept this French teacher, or Dad will punish me even more.
(She really says “mein bißchen Französisch”)
Sonsine: Courage! Also, talk to your brother’s messenger, he’s hot.
BayreuthFriedrich: Sarah Connor, I mean, Wilhelmine, come with me if you want to live! For starters, accept the French teacher your brother sends you.
Wilhelmine: Let me give you my daily schedule organized by Dad so you see I have little time for French lessons, despite dearly needing and wanting them. If I meet strange men without his permission, it’ll be Küstrin time for me, too.
BayreuthFriedrich: I can’t believe a beautiful princess like you gets treated this way! Take heart, meet the secret French teacher.
Wilhelmine: ...Okay. *returns to her room; they had this conversation in the stairways*
BayreuthFriedrich: I’m in love!
Servant: You’re also summoned to the Queen.
SD: I’m talking with a weird accent that’s supposed to the the Hannover habit of pronouncing “spitz” and “stein” “s-pitz” and “s-tein” instead of “schpitz” and “schtein”, which is what the rest of Germany does. So, who are you again? Right, the Prince of Ansbach, or some other Franconian hell hole.
BayreuthFriedrich: Your daughter Friederike is already married to the Margrave of Ansbach.
SD: Not in this play and movie, she’s not. So, Ansbach Guy, is it true my darling son sent you?
BayreuthFriedrich: Yes; he even calls me Frederic, because we have the same first name, and he wants me to....
SD: ...help me marry my daughter to the Prince of Wales, undoubtedly. You’ve done the Grand Tour, so you must have some useful connections. Get on it! *dismisses him*
BayreuthFriedrich: That was weird. Off to see the King next.
FW: *inspects tall fellows*
FW: *is played by Carl Raddatz, tall himself, former matinee idol, which even with a bit of a fat suit is a problem*
FW: *inspects his younger kids, who are standing straight like the Potsdam Giants, checks out whether they have clean nails and well combed hair*
Younger Kids: *are the wrong gender and age, i.e. two of the three boys are nearly identically old and the oldest, while all the girls are younger than the boys, and three of the girls are smaller than the youngest boy*
Grumbkow & Seckendorf: We’re the incredibly dumb evil stooges of this play. The clever evil schemer is someone else, to wit:
FW’s valet Eversmann: Me! I’m in league with G & S, and we’ve heard rumors about a British diplomat approaching. This means we need a countermove.
G, S, E: Sire, Archduke Leopold the future Emperor is asking for your daughter’s hand!
selenak: WHO?FW: Hm.
FW: *receives BayreuthFriedrich*
FW: Not impressed with the fact you’ve been making the Grand Tour for years while your little principality is practically broke and your father keeps building palaces, young man. Still, you probably learned how to throw a party for nobles during your travels. I’m putting you in charge of the festivities. Throw an engagement party for Wilhelmine and... the Prince of Wales, I guess.
“Lord” Henry (!) Hotham: *arrives*
Hotham: I’m the other smart schemer in this play, the good one. Hey, isn’t that BayreuthFriedrich, whom I know from his Grand Tour?
BayreuthFriedrich: Henry! Long time no see. Woe is me. I’m in love with Wilhelmine, whose marriage to Fritz of Wales you’re supposed to negotiate, and even if that falls through, she’ll be married to the future Emperor Leopold.
selenak: WHO?Hotham: Cheer up, let the master plan. Fact is: there’s one point in the English marriage offer that FW is bound to balk at if I emphasize it properly, to wit, that he’ll allow English exports into Prussia again. If he says no, your hour will come.
G, S, E: Your Majesty, we’ve heard there’s a French teacher in town, sent by Crown Prince Fritz to Wilhelmine, brought here by that Bayreuth fellow.
FW: WHAT. I hate all things French. Arrest the guy and kick him out of the country.
G, S, E: Which one?
FW: The French teacher. The Bayreuth prince leaves as well, but unarrested.
Wilhelmine: *gets French lesson from Frenchman clearly imitating the “Princess Catherine learns English” scene from “Henry V*
Potsdam Giants: Arrest French teacher, throw him out of the country
Wilhelmine: Woe!
BayreuthFriedrich: Let me be your replacement French teacher!
Wilhelmine: Okay?
BayreuthFriedrich: I LOVE YOU.
Wilhelmine: ...This is only our second meeting, but I love you, too.
Evermann: Oh, hi, BayreuthFriedrich. You’re unmasked as a smuggler of Fritz letters and French contraband. You’re also supposed to leave the country.
BayreuthFriedrich: OMG WHAT SHALL I DOOOO! HENRY!!!!
Hotham: Never fear, I’m on the case.
Wilhelmine, FW, SD, Hotham: *meet*
Hotham: reads out the marriage contract clauses
SD: *is indignant about the little dowry Wilhelmine gets*
Hotham: We’re cool with the little dowry, but we’d like you to import our stuff again.
FW: Never. I need to support our local trade. The marriage ist through.
Hotham: Well, that’s inconvenient, since the Prince of Wales is already in town.
SD: Yay!
FW: Not officially receiving him, but if he puts on a white domino (cloak), he won’t get arrested. Also, the marriage is still a no go.
BayreuthFriedrich, hearing about this: Henry, I don’t understand. Whose side are you on?
Hotham: Yours, of course. Listen, get yourself a Prussian uniform and a white domino, and all will be cool. Fritz of Wales is hunting boars in Scotland, don’t worry about him. This is all part of my cunning plan.
Potsdam Giants: *march in front of Wilhelmine’s room, deliver the message she’s supposed to stay put, learn passages of the bible by heart and knit socks for the children from the Berlin orphanage as punishment for the secret Fritz correspondence*
Sonsine: Hang on, one of you soldiers just gave me the eye. This has potential.
*flirts with Potsdam Giant*
Potsdam Giant Eckhof: I’m actually the son of actors who wanted to be an actor myself when I was forcibly recruited. I also play instruments.
Sonsine: Excellent. Play for us now, we have all of Fritz’ instruments hidden in Wilhelmine’s wardrobe.
Eckhof: Well, I can’t play the flute, but the violin will do.
Eckhof: *plays violin while Wilhelmine and Sonsine dance*
FW: *arrives unexpectedly, sees one of his Potsdam Giants play the violin while his daughter dances with her lady in waiting*
FW: What. Eckhof, you’re fired from the regiment. Clearly, you need punishment. Therefore, I order you to join the theatre troupe currently visiting Berlin as penance, thus signalling I’m good at heart and know what’s going on.
Eckhof: Yay! You’re the best, Sire. *exits Eckhof*
Sonsine: *exits at a signal from FW*
FW: So you’re hiding Fritz’ instruments and still go behind my back. Why don’t you children love me when I do everything for you! I wanted my family to prove that royal families can be just like burgher families, and you two keep counteracting me.
Wilhelmine: Sire...
FW: You used to call me Dad.
Wilhelmine: I still love you. But can’t I marry for love?
FW: No.
*exit FW*
Hotham: I’m here to officially take my leave, Sire. Despite efforts from minor evil stooge Grumbkow here, I shall now demonstrate how a true schemer plots. No hard feelings, FW, I’m about to return to Blighty, but I have a farewell present for you. I know this good looking tall young man who really really wants to join your army.
FW: Huh. I think I misjudged you. That’s a thoughtful farewell gift, which I’ll accept.
Hotham: I’ll introduce him to you later. Also, see, we Brits are all about the clubs. And I’ve heard the best club that ever clubbed meets in this very building, smoking, drinking beer and talking about all subjects, headed by the coolest host ever. There’s nothing I’d like more than get an invite for one evening.
FW: Wow, I really like you. Okay, you’re invited.
Eversmann, in an attempt to counterscheme: Sire, shall we roast him? We always need one fellow to mock anyway.
FW: Nah, I like him to much, but I have an idea whom to roast. Okay, Eversmann, if BayreuthFritz is still in Berlin, he is invited, too. We’ll make him our object of fun for the evening!
*later that evening*
*Tobbacco Parliament*: assembles, with Hotham and BayreuthFritz as guests
Hotham: Remember, this is your one chance
BayreuthFriedrich: *delivers zinger after zinger against Grumbkow, Seckendorf and Eversmann, impressing FW*
FW: Okay, young man, ultimate test: Pretend you’re holding an obituary on me
BayreuthFriedrich: *takes all his courage* Dear assembly, we’re here to mourn FW, great administrator and reformer and lousy Dad. We all know about the unfortunate affair with the Crown Prince, no need to say more. And not content with that, FW also wants to force his daughter into marriage, never wants asking her what her heart wants! The irony: I do think he loves his family. But he’s poisoned his relationships with them all by himself. So he’ll die respected but not loved, and then the young eagle, the rising sun will ascend and we’ll all root for him! Fritz Fuck Yeah!”
Hotham: *for god’s sake, pretend to be drunk*
BayreuthFriedrich: *pretends to be drunk*
FW: Ooooookay. When you sober up, young man, let people tell you you and I drank together.
*still later that evening*
SD: Party time, ladies! I’m hourly expecting the visit of my nephew the Prince of Wales and of my daughter whom I’ve broken out of her imprisonment by following Hotham’s advice and lending her a white domino to wear.
*someone knocks at the door*
Piano player: *starts to play British national anthem which as far as I know wasn’t yet the national anthem then, “God save the King”*
SD: His highness, the Prince of Wales.
FW: *enters in white domino*
FW: Aha! So this is what you’re up to behind my back, Fieke!
*someone knocks at the door*
SD: Yes, and you can’t stop me! At last, here he is, his highness the Prince of Wales.
Piano: Plays anthem
Wilhelmine: *enters wearing a white domino*
FW: WTF?
*someone knocks at the door*
SD: Okay, that’s gotta be him now. My future son in law.
Piano: Plays British anthem
Hotham and BayreuthFriedrich: *enter, wearing white dominos*
FW: WTF?
Hotham: Let me introduce your new recruit to you, Sire. *takes off white domino from BayreuthFriedrich, showing he wears a Prussian uniform underneath*
FW: Hmmm. A German prince, eager to serve as a simple soldier in one of my regiments, was brave towards me, roasted the guys wanting to roast him... what say you, daughter?
Wilhelmine: I LOVE HIM!
FW: Okay, Fieke, I think we should let these two marry.
SD: ....Only if I get to say the size of her dowry, you miser.
Hotham: Happy ending!
Now, aside from everything else: presumably the one publication Gutzkow must have read when doing research for this are Wilhelmine's memoirs. Can you imagine reading them and coming up with this plot?
Ohh, nice, thank you for the chronology! I assume that Fritz got the painting in 1764, when he mentions it in his letter / Algarotti died, but I didn't make the connection that Ulrike couldn't have seen in between then and 1769! Huh.
So
a) she didn't know it at all - which still begs the question why that one, because Fritz must have owned lots of other Pesne paintings if he wanted to give her one for what I'd assume is nostalgia's sake, and also, nobody else got a painting in the second will (Wilhelmine got two in the first one, a Rubens and a Van Dyck). I might have said that he was simply looking at it while writing the will, but he wrote in January again, so definitely not.
or
b) Pesne did have it with him in Berlin and she (they) knew it from back then. By the way, thanks for pointing out the Venice connection, I'd have missed that. Like you, I'm leaning towards Pesne not having it with him in Berlin, because of the date of the painting and the Algarotti connection.
Speaking of, this is what Fritz writes in June 1764: I am very much obliged to you for the part which you take in what concerns me, and for the painting by Pesne which you offer me. I am waiting to know the price to tell you where you can have it delivered. Not sure if he did pay money or got it as a gift in the end (Oesterreicher and Volz both say it was bequeathed to him), and what Algarotti said in his offer (his own letter isn't at Trier).
ETA: By the way, Oesterreicher totally agrees with you: ohnstreitig eines der schönsten Gemälde von Pesne. :) (And he speculates that it almost looks like Pesne might have been in love with the girl.)
So
a) she didn't know it at all - which still begs the question why that one, because Fritz must have owned lots of other Pesne paintings if he wanted to give her one for what I'd assume is nostalgia's sake, and also, nobody else got a painting in the second will (Wilhelmine got two in the first one, a Rubens and a Van Dyck). I might have said that he was simply looking at it while writing the will, but he wrote in January again, so definitely not.
or
b) Pesne did have it with him in Berlin and she (they) knew it from back then. By the way, thanks for pointing out the Venice connection, I'd have missed that. Like you, I'm leaning towards Pesne not having it with him in Berlin, because of the date of the painting and the Algarotti connection.
Speaking of, this is what Fritz writes in June 1764: I am very much obliged to you for the part which you take in what concerns me, and for the painting by Pesne which you offer me. I am waiting to know the price to tell you where you can have it delivered. Not sure if he did pay money or got it as a gift in the end (Oesterreicher and Volz both say it was bequeathed to him), and what Algarotti said in his offer (his own letter isn't at Trier).
ETA: By the way, Oesterreicher totally agrees with you: ohnstreitig eines der schönsten Gemälde von Pesne. :) (And he speculates that it almost looks like Pesne might have been in love with the girl.)
Edited 2021-03-01 12:35 (UTC)
Anyway, I now have this lovely mental image of Suhm sawing wood and Fritz considering it!
This is very endearing. :D And I love the playfulness of the whole thing.
Another editor's footnote tells me that FW started a commission to look into Wolff as early as 1736, and that he was proclaimed innocent. Do we know if this is true?
I read something like this in the Manteuffel book preview, yes, and quick googling gives me lots of other mentions for it, too. So there was definitely a commission in 1736 (consisting of Reinbeck, Noltenius, and Cocceji, among others), which proclaimed Wolff innocent, which is also why Manteuffel could start his Societé des Alethophiles in 1736. Apparently FW even issued a "now stop fighting" order for the Lange vs. the Wolff camps in September. He probably still didn't start reading Wolff until 1739, though, and the first offer to return seems to have been from 1739, too.
This is very endearing. :D And I love the playfulness of the whole thing.
Another editor's footnote tells me that FW started a commission to look into Wolff as early as 1736, and that he was proclaimed innocent. Do we know if this is true?
I read something like this in the Manteuffel book preview, yes, and quick googling gives me lots of other mentions for it, too. So there was definitely a commission in 1736 (consisting of Reinbeck, Noltenius, and Cocceji, among others), which proclaimed Wolff innocent, which is also why Manteuffel could start his Societé des Alethophiles in 1736. Apparently FW even issued a "now stop fighting" order for the Lange vs. the Wolff camps in September. He probably still didn't start reading Wolff until 1739, though, and the first offer to return seems to have been from 1739, too.
nobody else got a painting in the second will
No one else in 1769 is the Queen of Sweden who is thinking loudly about a coup again and has to be talked out of it so Russia doesn't invade and Prussia by virtue of its alliance with Russia also has to invade. I can't prove it, but Fritz does have motive to sweettalk Ulrike that year. If it were two years later, when her son is King and Ulrike has lost all her political influence, then I would qualify it as an entirely private gesture. But not in 1769.
No one else in 1769 is the Queen of Sweden who is thinking loudly about a coup again and has to be talked out of it so Russia doesn't invade and Prussia by virtue of its alliance with Russia also has to invade. I can't prove it, but Fritz does have motive to sweettalk Ulrike that year. If it were two years later, when her son is King and Ulrike has lost all her political influence, then I would qualify it as an entirely private gesture. But not in 1769.
Re: Die Preußische Heirat, or Hohenzollern: The RomCom
mildred_of_midgard
2021-03-01 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
*goggles*
*boggles*
I have SO MANY questions!
But the most important one is LEOPOLD WHO??
cahn, Leopold was the name of MT's dad's dad, who was emperor in the latter half of the 17th century (d. 1705). His two sons were Joseph and Charles (MT's dad). Joseph and Charles had only daughters (hence the War of the Austrian Succession).
Oh, Wikipedia tells me he had a son named Archduke Leopold, WHO DIED IN INFANCY IN 1684. (Oh, and each of Joseph and Charles had one Leopold, WHO DIED IN INFANCY.)
I don't even have time to touch the rest of the mind-boggling decisions. But thank you for allowing us to enjoy them! That was quite...something.
*boggles*
I have SO MANY questions!
But the most important one is LEOPOLD WHO??
cahn, Leopold was the name of MT's dad's dad, who was emperor in the latter half of the 17th century (d. 1705). His two sons were Joseph and Charles (MT's dad). Joseph and Charles had only daughters (hence the War of the Austrian Succession).Oh, Wikipedia tells me he had a son named Archduke Leopold, WHO DIED IN INFANCY IN 1684. (Oh, and each of Joseph and Charles had one Leopold, WHO DIED IN INFANCY.)
I don't even have time to touch the rest of the mind-boggling decisions. But thank you for allowing us to enjoy them! That was quite...something.
Edited 2021-03-01 20:56 (UTC)
Re: Schöning: Old Fritz: Not Your Dream Boss (Unless You're Dog)
mildred_of_midgard
2021-03-01 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Minor nitpick: according to the biographies I read for my Yuletide story, Catherine did, in fact, like to light her fireplace herself in the morning. Though she did get woken up by her servants, six o'clock sharp every morning (via knocking), no matter the festivities in the night.
Fair! Now that you remind me of this, I do remember you telling us this. But 1) your corpse not being found until later in the morning/day because you didn't get up on your own is more of a modern phenomenon than one you'd expect from a monarch with servants, 2) I knew that Fritz specifically was woken up by his servants, so slight plot hole there that can only be handwaved by claiming that Glasow lied.
Seriously though, why did Fritz have it in for Gramps?
Current theory? That I came up with last night and was planning to share, then found that you had come up with several similar theories? ;) (Although not this precise one.)
My theory is that Fritz spent his entire childhood being told, and with everyone else being told, that because he liked the same things Grandpa liked, he would turn into the Worst King Ever. Then he turned out to be a king who likes the same things Grandpa liked! But because he also imprinted on Dad's values of 1) army, 2) money, 3) work, he feels very very defensive about spending money on palaces and artists and such, and has to make sure everyone knows that HE is not going to run HIS country into the ground, HE is the BEST KING EVER, and he proves this by agreeing that Gramps was THE WORST. "We are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT," he says. "See, Dad? Are you proud of me now? Well done, son? Maybe?"
But that doesn't mean there weren't also other elements. People often have more than one motive for whatever they're doing or thinking. I'm skeptical about your number 2, but 1 and 3 seem quite likely. I particularly like 3: frustrated venting that he can't express toward his father (Mixed feelings in this century? Not toward family you don't! Foreign intellectuals named Voltaire are fair game. :P) seems quite plausible.
Fasting: My point here was that you don't eat chocolate while fasting. No meat, yes, and it's true that fish, cheese, milk etc. are all okay, but chocolate during lent is a no go.
Really? I know that individuals who like chocolate often choose to give it up, in the same way some people give up television for Lent, but I wasn't aware that canon law had anything to say about chocolate, and I can't find any mention of it in my googling. Canon law (Catholic--other denominations are sometimes stricter) seems to define abstinence as abstaining from meat (seafood and other animal products okay), and fasting as not eating more than one meal and a couple snacks a day. Both in early modern and modern times. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Church reduced the number of days on which you're expected to abstain from meat during Lent (and allowed bishops to tweak the rules for their own flock), but I find no reference to chocolate before or after that change. It's an individual choice as far as I know.
But I'm open to counterevidence!
Fair! Now that you remind me of this, I do remember you telling us this. But 1) your corpse not being found until later in the morning/day because you didn't get up on your own is more of a modern phenomenon than one you'd expect from a monarch with servants, 2) I knew that Fritz specifically was woken up by his servants, so slight plot hole there that can only be handwaved by claiming that Glasow lied.
Seriously though, why did Fritz have it in for Gramps?
Current theory? That I came up with last night and was planning to share, then found that you had come up with several similar theories? ;) (Although not this precise one.)
My theory is that Fritz spent his entire childhood being told, and with everyone else being told, that because he liked the same things Grandpa liked, he would turn into the Worst King Ever. Then he turned out to be a king who likes the same things Grandpa liked! But because he also imprinted on Dad's values of 1) army, 2) money, 3) work, he feels very very defensive about spending money on palaces and artists and such, and has to make sure everyone knows that HE is not going to run HIS country into the ground, HE is the BEST KING EVER, and he proves this by agreeing that Gramps was THE WORST. "We are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT," he says. "See, Dad? Are you proud of me now? Well done, son? Maybe?"
But that doesn't mean there weren't also other elements. People often have more than one motive for whatever they're doing or thinking. I'm skeptical about your number 2, but 1 and 3 seem quite likely. I particularly like 3: frustrated venting that he can't express toward his father (Mixed feelings in this century? Not toward family you don't! Foreign intellectuals named Voltaire are fair game. :P) seems quite plausible.
Fasting: My point here was that you don't eat chocolate while fasting. No meat, yes, and it's true that fish, cheese, milk etc. are all okay, but chocolate during lent is a no go.
Really? I know that individuals who like chocolate often choose to give it up, in the same way some people give up television for Lent, but I wasn't aware that canon law had anything to say about chocolate, and I can't find any mention of it in my googling. Canon law (Catholic--other denominations are sometimes stricter) seems to define abstinence as abstaining from meat (seafood and other animal products okay), and fasting as not eating more than one meal and a couple snacks a day. Both in early modern and modern times. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Church reduced the number of days on which you're expected to abstain from meat during Lent (and allowed bishops to tweak the rules for their own flock), but I find no reference to chocolate before or after that change. It's an individual choice as far as I know.
But I'm open to counterevidence!
As hobbies go, this is certainly an excentric one, to be sure. Well, at least presumably the sawed wood is used for heating?
That was my first guess, yes.
As Stabi offers the ordering of up to six volumes of books via mail, I will soon find out, I presume.
!!!! <3333
Yay!
As much as I always get a rush from acquiring a book, it's gotten to the point where it's almost more exciting when you get one, because you have the concentration and the German ability to do something with it! Thank you!
That was my first guess, yes.
As Stabi offers the ordering of up to six volumes of books via mail, I will soon find out, I presume.
!!!! <3333
Yay!
As much as I always get a rush from acquiring a book, it's gotten to the point where it's almost more exciting when you get one, because you have the concentration and the German ability to do something with it! Thank you!
This is very endearing. :D And I love the playfulness of the whole thing.
Agreed. And thank you for the Manteuffel details!
Agreed. And thank you for the Manteuffel details!
Felis, do you have non-pandemic access to a physical library that I should be including in my searches?
Sadly, no.
Just to clarify, because that was ambiguously phrased, I meant "During non-pandemic times, so hopefully sometime later this year, will you have access to a library?" and not "Do you have access to a library that's currently not closed for the pandemic?" I assume the answer to the latter is no!
Sadly, no.
Just to clarify, because that was ambiguously phrased, I meant "During non-pandemic times, so hopefully sometime later this year, will you have access to a library?" and not "Do you have access to a library that's currently not closed for the pandemic?" I assume the answer to the latter is no!
In addition to Fritz going back to sleep, I think it's simply old age.
In general, old people sleep *less* (on average), but with his worsening health, I can imagine he's running out of energy to drag himself through a non-stop workday, so yeah, he might need more sleep to keep it up.
Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Yep! I was going to mention this and say that this detail is in a fic we all know and love! <3
I thought we had that from a contemporary who toured his rooms, but not from someone who lived with him, so this is good extra confirmation either way.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
Yes, I was thinking about that anecdote. The first time you shared it, and pointed out that Fritz had footmen undressing him, I either said or thought about saying that I had always learned that Fritz undressed himself, and I assumed that the servants' job was just putting away the clothes (given his messy habits, I doubt he could be bothered). And reading it more closely, with what we learned about him recently, I still think that Fritz was undressing himself and the footmen are putting the coat away...possibly hanging it up to the fireplace to dry, because he's sweated through it. Just like his nightshirt and sheets.
undressed himself standing in front of the fireplace except for boots and pants, put his nightshirt on, dismissed his servants
So either he's letting the clothes fall by the fireplace (because it's winter and these palace rooms are freaking cold) and everyone's leaving them wherever they land, in which case it's his fault for letting the land too close (and not ordering them removed), or else he's undressing himself, the servants (who are still present, because they're not dismissed until the next step, which suggests to me that they're doing *something* after he undresses, although maybe it's just removing candles and/or lamps) are arranging the clothes by the fire to dry, and then it's their fault.
So I give it at least a 50% chance the servants are to blame, and a 100% chance that if it was Fritz's fault, they would have gotten blamed anyway. ;)
cahn, note that getting to change quickly by the fireplace is one major advantage of being a monarch who dresses and undresses yourself. You read stories about French monarchs shivering in freezing bedrooms because dressing them is a prestigious position, so it goes according to rank. So if you've already undressed and someone's about to hand you your shirt, and a higher ranked noble walks in, that courtier has to hand *them* your shirt so *they* can hand it to you, and I think it was Marie Antoinette who complained that one time, by bad luck, nobles kept entering the room in increasing order of rank right after she'd undressed, so her clothes kept getting handed to noble after noble, before anything could actually be put on *her*, so she was naked and freezing!
Like Fritz, I'll dress myself, thanks.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I hadn't caught that, because I'm familiar with meat and fish prepared à la Pompadour being a thing, so I assumed that this was just the usual name for it in Europe already in 1786. But yes, it's interesting that it's the name at Fritz's court too! (Considering he had a horse named Lord Bute, etc.)
ETA:
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
Three things.
1. This has always been my headcanon. That's why I've always raised two eyebrows when he starts talking about how women smell.
2. Why do you think he needed that perfume?! He needs "an Italian spring morning right after the rain, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, bergamot, cedrat, lime and the flowers and herbs of [Italy]" to offset all the snuff and sweat, etc.
3. Just how bad he smelled (aside from the snuff, which is a given), I think depends on how often his clothes got laundered. I read about a study a while ago that investigated the whole "People didn't bathe in history!" (disclaimer: radical oversimplification, see also public baths, and sponge baths for people who thought immersion bathing was dangerous (esp in winter)) question, and found that the odor of an unwashed human body for 30 days is orders of magnitude less bad than unlaundered clothes for 30 days, and that the difference correlated with the amount of bacteria that grew on the respective surfaces.
In conclusion: Fritz stank, but d'Argens may have stunk worse. ;) It's the 18th century! Put on your perfume and get on with it. In cities like Edinburgh (Auld Reekie), the streets are running with human waste anyway, because all those chamber pots have to be dumped somewhere!
In general, old people sleep *less* (on average), but with his worsening health, I can imagine he's running out of energy to drag himself through a non-stop workday, so yeah, he might need more sleep to keep it up.
Incidentally, I'm also satisfied about a bit of my own headcanon getting confirmation, to wit, him having the fireplace lighted in summer as well as in winter.
Yep! I was going to mention this and say that this detail is in a fic we all know and love! <3
I thought we had that from a contemporary who toured his rooms, but not from someone who lived with him, so this is good extra confirmation either way.
Note that Lehndorff - who of course isn't a Fritz intimate - assumes the footmen were doing the pulling off of Fritz' waistcoat, when Fritz probably put the clothing too close to the fire place himself when getting rid of it. And naturally, the "incompentent" servants get blamed. Sigh.
Yes, I was thinking about that anecdote. The first time you shared it, and pointed out that Fritz had footmen undressing him, I either said or thought about saying that I had always learned that Fritz undressed himself, and I assumed that the servants' job was just putting away the clothes (given his messy habits, I doubt he could be bothered). And reading it more closely, with what we learned about him recently, I still think that Fritz was undressing himself and the footmen are putting the coat away...possibly hanging it up to the fireplace to dry, because he's sweated through it. Just like his nightshirt and sheets.
undressed himself standing in front of the fireplace except for boots and pants, put his nightshirt on, dismissed his servants
So either he's letting the clothes fall by the fireplace (because it's winter and these palace rooms are freaking cold) and everyone's leaving them wherever they land, in which case it's his fault for letting the land too close (and not ordering them removed), or else he's undressing himself, the servants (who are still present, because they're not dismissed until the next step, which suggests to me that they're doing *something* after he undresses, although maybe it's just removing candles and/or lamps) are arranging the clothes by the fire to dry, and then it's their fault.
So I give it at least a 50% chance the servants are to blame, and a 100% chance that if it was Fritz's fault, they would have gotten blamed anyway. ;)
cahn, note that getting to change quickly by the fireplace is one major advantage of being a monarch who dresses and undresses yourself. You read stories about French monarchs shivering in freezing bedrooms because dressing them is a prestigious position, so it goes according to rank. So if you've already undressed and someone's about to hand you your shirt, and a higher ranked noble walks in, that courtier has to hand *them* your shirt so *they* can hand it to you, and I think it was Marie Antoinette who complained that one time, by bad luck, nobles kept entering the room in increasing order of rank right after she'd undressed, so her clothes kept getting handed to noble after noble, before anything could actually be put on *her*, so she was naked and freezing!Like Fritz, I'll dress myself, thanks.
chicken fillet à la Pompadour
Given Fritz' opinion of the Marquise, it's interesting his cook names dishes after her.
I hadn't caught that, because I'm familiar with meat and fish prepared à la Pompadour being a thing, so I assumed that this was just the usual name for it in Europe already in 1786. But yes, it's interesting that it's the name at Fritz's court too! (Considering he had a horse named Lord Bute, etc.)
ETA:
Also, if Fritz transpired so strongly that his nightshirt and sheets were soaked through every night in his old age, then, together with the tobacco and the general bad hygiene, then we can state he must have stunk pestilentially.
Three things.
1. This has always been my headcanon. That's why I've always raised two eyebrows when he starts talking about how women smell.
2. Why do you think he needed that perfume?! He needs "an Italian spring morning right after the rain, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, bergamot, cedrat, lime and the flowers and herbs of [Italy]" to offset all the snuff and sweat, etc.
3. Just how bad he smelled (aside from the snuff, which is a given), I think depends on how often his clothes got laundered. I read about a study a while ago that investigated the whole "People didn't bathe in history!" (disclaimer: radical oversimplification, see also public baths, and sponge baths for people who thought immersion bathing was dangerous (esp in winter)) question, and found that the odor of an unwashed human body for 30 days is orders of magnitude less bad than unlaundered clothes for 30 days, and that the difference correlated with the amount of bacteria that grew on the respective surfaces.
In conclusion: Fritz stank, but d'Argens may have stunk worse. ;) It's the 18th century! Put on your perfume and get on with it. In cities like Edinburgh (Auld Reekie), the streets are running with human waste anyway, because all those chamber pots have to be dumped somewhere!
Edited 2021-03-01 22:10 (UTC)
Re: Nicolai Volume 2: It's Antinous Time! (Also: FW, Music lover)
mildred_of_midgard
2021-03-01 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
(which made me realize that even the Flora statue on top of his grave makes a lot of sense in that nature context)
I hadn't made that connection, so yes! You're right! Well spotted. :)
just gave this impression of yearning to be at peace, somehow, somewhere.
I knoooow. When I found out that he not only named his palace Sanssouci but then, of his grave, said he would be sans souci when he was there, my heart broke. He wanted to, but he didn't know how.
(THERAPEEEE. THERAPEEE FOR EEEEVERYOOOOONE.)
I hadn't made that connection, so yes! You're right! Well spotted. :)
just gave this impression of yearning to be at peace, somehow, somewhere.
I knoooow. When I found out that he not only named his palace Sanssouci but then, of his grave, said he would be sans souci when he was there, my heart broke. He wanted to, but he didn't know how.
(THERAPEEEE. THERAPEEE FOR EEEEVERYOOOOONE.)
Not to mention: unlike Katte, Peter has no useful connections in England or France, he doesn't know G1's former mistress or French Count Rottembourg. Involving Peter in the active planing at all also carries the risk of the mail to and from Wesel being read.
I meant to say, Wilhelmine, when trying to talk Fritz out of escaping in her memoirs, has Fritz say:
Katt is in my interest: he is attached to me, and will follow me to the farthest corner of the globe, if I chuse. Keith will also join me.
I've always imagined that one reason Fritz wants his boyfriends with him when he goes to England is not just becausenow they can have sex Katte has connections, but because he needs people around him he can trust. He'll be stranded in a foreign court where, family or no, everyone has their own agenda (and Parliament has a large say in things). I can't imagine he wouldn't want a trusted confidant with him, and even if he already has Katte, two trusted confidants for spying, message carrying, delegation, etc. would be even better.
But then there's this, which we've discussed: Peter probably wanted to get the fuck out of Prussia asap. There is no way he liked FW's Prussia. And, he was personal page! I imagine that was in no way a pleasant job, between the short temper and the close oversight (reading very difficult, must be done at night, very dangerous), etc. I imagine Peter was veeeery sympathetic to Fritz's desire to GTFO as long as he could go too. (I think that was another reason he jumped at the chance on August 6th.)
He seems to have enjoyed his 10 years outside of Prussia, though of course we have Formey's skewed toward the positive account. Still, the guy who wanted to be educated but wasn't, stayed up late at night reading in the Hague, spent a few years at Trinity in Dublin, hung out in learned circles in London, and then spent a lot of time in Portugal studying languages, and came back to join the Academy of Sciences, proooobably liked exile quite a bit better than being FW's page, or even being in the Prussian army in one of the least prestigious regiments.
So it's probable that Peter was the most gung-ho about the escape attempt, the only one in 1729 who wanted to go with Fritz as opposed to just help him out, and quite possibly even in 1730, the only one who Fritz could be sure *would* go, when Katte was evidently dragging his feet so much he had to be lied to.
So if I were Fritz, in July/August 1730, who'd probably spent all of 1729 talking with Peter about how great it was going to be in England together, I'd include Peter in the actual escape too. He's not only ideally situated (except for all the long-distance communication), but he's probably the only one who'll be disappointed if he doesn't get to desert with me!
This is my headcanon, and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, it seems to be close to canon that Peter was planning to go with Fritz in 1729, and it's likely that he was the only one at the time.
I'm glad you made it, Peter. <3 I'm sorry about literally everything else.
I meant to say, Wilhelmine, when trying to talk Fritz out of escaping in her memoirs, has Fritz say:
Katt is in my interest: he is attached to me, and will follow me to the farthest corner of the globe, if I chuse. Keith will also join me.
I've always imagined that one reason Fritz wants his boyfriends with him when he goes to England is not just because
But then there's this, which we've discussed: Peter probably wanted to get the fuck out of Prussia asap. There is no way he liked FW's Prussia. And, he was personal page! I imagine that was in no way a pleasant job, between the short temper and the close oversight (reading very difficult, must be done at night, very dangerous), etc. I imagine Peter was veeeery sympathetic to Fritz's desire to GTFO as long as he could go too. (I think that was another reason he jumped at the chance on August 6th.)
He seems to have enjoyed his 10 years outside of Prussia, though of course we have Formey's skewed toward the positive account. Still, the guy who wanted to be educated but wasn't, stayed up late at night reading in the Hague, spent a few years at Trinity in Dublin, hung out in learned circles in London, and then spent a lot of time in Portugal studying languages, and came back to join the Academy of Sciences, proooobably liked exile quite a bit better than being FW's page, or even being in the Prussian army in one of the least prestigious regiments.
So it's probable that Peter was the most gung-ho about the escape attempt, the only one in 1729 who wanted to go with Fritz as opposed to just help him out, and quite possibly even in 1730, the only one who Fritz could be sure *would* go, when Katte was evidently dragging his feet so much he had to be lied to.
So if I were Fritz, in July/August 1730, who'd probably spent all of 1729 talking with Peter about how great it was going to be in England together, I'd include Peter in the actual escape too. He's not only ideally situated (except for all the long-distance communication), but he's probably the only one who'll be disappointed if he doesn't get to desert with me!
This is my headcanon, and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, it seems to be close to canon that Peter was planning to go with Fritz in 1729, and it's likely that he was the only one at the time.
I'm glad you made it, Peter. <3 I'm sorry about literally everything else.
Frederick II was about 5 feet 5 inches tall.
Good to have Voltaire's number more or less confirmed! I think, given the 34 years between Voltaire's figure and the end of Fritz's life, we can account for the loss of an inch or two via spinal compression, as we've discussed. (This is more probable than the 5 inches between 5'7" and 5'2" that previously needed to be accounted for!)
Furthermore, Davidson tells me that Voltaire says he himself was 5'2" in English inches, which is 5'6" in English inches.
One, this means we now have Napoleon, Fritz, and Voltaire at pretty much exactly the same height.
Two, it makes it even more likely that Voltaire's number is reasonably precise: because if you know how tall you are, and someone else is about the same height as you, you're more likely to guess within an inch, than if someone is several inches taller or shorter than you and you're eyeballing it.
Of course, if you're mad at them and writing an anonymous pamphlet *while* employed by them, you might shave off an inch or two, but it doesn't seem like Voltaire did that. ;)
Good to have Voltaire's number more or less confirmed! I think, given the 34 years between Voltaire's figure and the end of Fritz's life, we can account for the loss of an inch or two via spinal compression, as we've discussed. (This is more probable than the 5 inches between 5'7" and 5'2" that previously needed to be accounted for!)
Furthermore, Davidson tells me that Voltaire says he himself was 5'2" in English inches, which is 5'6" in English inches.
One, this means we now have Napoleon, Fritz, and Voltaire at pretty much exactly the same height.
Two, it makes it even more likely that Voltaire's number is reasonably precise: because if you know how tall you are, and someone else is about the same height as you, you're more likely to guess within an inch, than if someone is several inches taller or shorter than you and you're eyeballing it.
Of course, if you're mad at them and writing an anonymous pamphlet *while* employed by them, you might shave off an inch or two, but it doesn't seem like Voltaire did that. ;)
I can't imagine he wouldn't want a trusted confidant with him, and even if he already has Katte, two trusted confidants for spying, message carrying, delegation, etc. would be even better.
Quite true, and I agree that Peter is likely to have been gung-ho from the start, and thus could be relied upon to go through with it. And there's this: if he doesn't desert, then, as a younger son of a not that important family, he has zero protection from an angry FW if FW should choose to hold him responsible once Fritz and Katte have made their successful escape. Which, if Peter got transfered to Wesel on suspicion because of an anonymous tip in the first place, he's almost bound to. At the very least, what happened to Spaen in rl would have happened to Peter. Probably worse, for as Spaen himself said, if Katte doesn't die, FW still is going to want a blood sacrifice.
Speaking of Spaen: I have to confess that before reading Nicolai, I didn't remember him. Though admittedly I only remembered Ingersleben because of [Bad username or unknown identity: prinzsorgenfrei"]'s tea cups art and because he got blamed for chaperoning Fritz with Doris Ritter. So, Spaen - did he exaggarate the degree of his involvement and/or friendship with pre-escape Fritz? I mean, if he got one year of Spandau anyway, he could have dealt with it better by reshaping his relatonship with the Crown Prince to one where he was an intimate friend on the same level as Katte and Keith, he just chose not to come along.
Otoh, if he really was a good friend, then we have an interesting "road not taken" for Peter, because Spaen, too, goes abroad into foreign service, only he stays abroad, and has his life and career there. Of course Peter ended up having a good life in Prussia, too, but early on, in 1741, say, before his marriage and with the difference betweeen Crown Prince Fritz and King Fritz being glaringly obvious even in absentia, there must have been times when he thought: Should have stayed in Portugal.
Of course, both of them had a fate infinitely preferable to Doris Ritter's. :(
Quite true, and I agree that Peter is likely to have been gung-ho from the start, and thus could be relied upon to go through with it. And there's this: if he doesn't desert, then, as a younger son of a not that important family, he has zero protection from an angry FW if FW should choose to hold him responsible once Fritz and Katte have made their successful escape. Which, if Peter got transfered to Wesel on suspicion because of an anonymous tip in the first place, he's almost bound to. At the very least, what happened to Spaen in rl would have happened to Peter. Probably worse, for as Spaen himself said, if Katte doesn't die, FW still is going to want a blood sacrifice.
Speaking of Spaen: I have to confess that before reading Nicolai, I didn't remember him. Though admittedly I only remembered Ingersleben because of [Bad username or unknown identity: prinzsorgenfrei"]'s tea cups art and because he got blamed for chaperoning Fritz with Doris Ritter. So, Spaen - did he exaggarate the degree of his involvement and/or friendship with pre-escape Fritz? I mean, if he got one year of Spandau anyway, he could have dealt with it better by reshaping his relatonship with the Crown Prince to one where he was an intimate friend on the same level as Katte and Keith, he just chose not to come along.
Otoh, if he really was a good friend, then we have an interesting "road not taken" for Peter, because Spaen, too, goes abroad into foreign service, only he stays abroad, and has his life and career there. Of course Peter ended up having a good life in Prussia, too, but early on, in 1741, say, before his marriage and with the difference betweeen Crown Prince Fritz and King Fritz being glaringly obvious even in absentia, there must have been times when he thought: Should have stayed in Portugal.
Of course, both of them had a fate infinitely preferable to Doris Ritter's. :(
Wasn't it just? I would love to do screenshots as well, not least because Hotham, probably to signal he's the most sophisticated character, actually wears a big black Haarbeutel. But alas it's on Amazon Prime and nowhere else, and my attempts to take pics result in copyright protecting black screen again.
LEOPOLD WHO???? was my reaction as well. I mean, there's so much other stuff. But even a mid 19th century audience, for which this was originally written, must have been aware that if there'd been an Archduke Leopold around in 1731 for Wilhelmine to potentially marry, European history would have been different. (OTOH a 1970s West German tv audience could be relied upon to have forgotten that the non existence of a male archduke was kind of a key issue.)
A bit more seriously: of course, now I wonder. FW would never have allowed his sons to convert, save for my one AU. But his by default less important daughters? If one of them gets to be Empress Consort? On the one hand, it was common enough practice for Protestant princesses if a match to a superior in rank and power beckoned - see Liselotte and MT's mother both starting out as Protestant princesses and converting in order to marry Catholic princes. And FW's own mother would have been cool with converting if old Louis XIV had married her. On the other hand: FW was the outlier among 18th century Kings. So, what do you think?
ETA: Found three pictures from the film online; sadly, none show Hotham and his Haarbeutel. Here's Carl Raddatz as FW:
Sonsine and Wilhelmine:
All the Potsdam Giants tv budget can afford:
LEOPOLD WHO???? was my reaction as well. I mean, there's so much other stuff. But even a mid 19th century audience, for which this was originally written, must have been aware that if there'd been an Archduke Leopold around in 1731 for Wilhelmine to potentially marry, European history would have been different. (OTOH a 1970s West German tv audience could be relied upon to have forgotten that the non existence of a male archduke was kind of a key issue.)
A bit more seriously: of course, now I wonder. FW would never have allowed his sons to convert, save for my one AU. But his by default less important daughters? If one of them gets to be Empress Consort? On the one hand, it was common enough practice for Protestant princesses if a match to a superior in rank and power beckoned - see Liselotte and MT's mother both starting out as Protestant princesses and converting in order to marry Catholic princes. And FW's own mother would have been cool with converting if old Louis XIV had married her. On the other hand: FW was the outlier among 18th century Kings. So, what do you think?
ETA: Found three pictures from the film online; sadly, none show Hotham and his Haarbeutel. Here's Carl Raddatz as FW:
Sonsine and Wilhelmine:
All the Potsdam Giants tv budget can afford:
Edited 2021-03-02 18:43 (UTC)
Browsing through Nicolai's anti-Zimmermann book is a headache because the printing quality is so smudged and bad (in addition to the font used), and there is a lot of detailed refuting of Zimmermann's numbers and locations which is good research work but not interesting to us sensationalist gossip mongers. (Well, not to me at any rate, as I'm not as systematically minded as Mildred with her maps.) Otoh, after a lot of that I was rewarded by getting to the good stuff, i.e. Nicolai addressing the chapters in which the good doctor voices a) the broken penis theory, b) his Fritz/MT shipping, and c) his Fritz/Barbarina influenced the 7 Years War theory. I have to share these gems:
1.) Zimmermann, as you may recall, is the planet's first Fritz/MT shipper and conspiracy theorist who deduced in his fragments that Fritz wanting to go to France or England was just a cover story, he was really in league with Seckendorf and had arranged to go to Austria where he wanted to marry MT, thus sparing the world the Silesian Wars and the 7 Years War. (Zimmermann calls this the greatest Fritz plan ever and really mourns it wasn't to be.) This is also the reason why Seckendorf and the Emperor later intervened with FW to save Fritz' life, and why FS was at Fritz' engagement party later, gloating over his defeated rival for MT's love and hand.
Unsurprisingly, Nicolai has an easy time making mincemeat of that theory even without access to the secret state archives, not least because he's collected stuff on Fritz for decades, including the publication of the various foreign monarchs' letters to FW on the subject, which he uses to point out that the one from MT's Dad was just standard for the day. He also correctly thinks that Seckendorff would have shot himself and his own influence on FW massively in the foot if he'd conspired with FW's son against him in this way and would never have done that, and points to all the meetings with Hotham and Guy Dickens Fritz had, as well as Keith going to England, as proof England was the agreed upon escape destination. And he argues that Katte's published letters form the pamphlet about his execution (which Nicolai has read, and which apparantly has just been republished) as well as the description Preacher Müller gave of his death point to Hans Herrmann von Katte having been an upstanding, really good Protestant, who would never, ever, have signed on a scheme where his beloved Crown Prince has to convert to the Church of Rome to marry MT. On the contrary, upstanding Protestant Katte would have done anything to prevent this.
...I must say, I'm impressed, because Nicolai does not, repeat, does not have access to the interrogation protocols.
2.) Of course, the part of Zimmermann's "Fragments" everyone talked about wasn't this, it was the "Fritz: psychologically impotent due to botched penis operation after youth of STD, but NOT GAY NEVER, he just faked gay interest to cover for this" chapter. Now, as we've seen, in his own collection of anecdotes Nicolai completely avoids the "gay" question, and when he repeatedly has a go at Voltaire for all of Voltaire's ungrateful slanders, he does not include this one. So I was curious how he'd handle what is a part of Zimmermann's big headlines making argument. Mes amies, he handles it thusly.
Nicolai: Okay. Z. - he always calls him "Ritter von Z" or "Herr von Z", never writing out the last name and always using the "von" to mock Zimmermann's pride in his ennoblement - pretends he had to go against all decency to devote an entire chapter on the state of Fritz' penis in order to defend Fritz from a certain charge he then lists in detail. As anyone with a brain in the publishing industry would know, even if you are refuting a charge, by listing it and talking about it you're just making sure more people hear about it. I therefore will not talk about this charge Z is supposedly defending our glorious King from, save to say all right thinking people would never talk about this subject AT ALL. Now, on to Zimmermann's arguments for a broken penis.
....
He points that if Zimmermann was so worried about this question, he could have simply done what Nicolai and Büsching did, to wit, asked the various people who saw dead Fritz naked in the one and a half hour his dead body was lying around in that state while it was cleaned up for the wake and funeral. (You, Mildred, quoted Banning on this, I think; Banning's source is Nicolai, because the phrasing is almost identical.) He then, as Büsching did, prints signed testimony of the various guys involved to the effect Fritz had a completely normal piece of male equipment without any scarring tissue, meaning there can't have been any operation, botched or not, at any point. Because Nicolai is thorough, he also says readers (if they'd made it so far in this unsavoury subject) might wonder what the various people were doing checking Fritz' genitals close enough to look for scarring tissue. Well, says Nicolai, it's all that bastard Voltaire's fault, because he was the one who started the story of the botched operation in his slanderous writings, which everyone had read, so these guys were curious and had a look.
Nicolai then proceeds in his Zimmermann evisceration by showing Zimmermann indulges in the art of quote falsification, as Zimmermann says Schöning told him no one alive saw Fritz naked ever; by contrast, Nicolai points to Büsching quoting Schöning saying that the King had "große Schamhaftigkeit" about his person and didn't want his servants to see him naked, hence dressed and undressed himself, which is a different kind of statement, as, see above, the people who cleaned up Fritz' dead body as well as the doctors making the cuts releaving the body of the water all saw him naked.
Next, Nicolai addresses Zimmermann's statement of Fritz (believing himself cured from STD courtesy of the Schwedt cousin and his quack of a doctor) indulging in six months of non stop sexual married bliss with EC until the STD returned, for which Zimmermann said there's the testimony of one of EC's ladies in waiting, whom he names by name. Leaving aside that it's extremely indelicate to incriminate a lady this way, says Nicolai, it's not true, either, since the lady in question never was lady-in-waiting to EC. She was present at the Fritz/EC wedding, and she and her husband were visiting Rheinsberg at one point, as mentioned in Bielfeld's letters, which is, Nicolai says cuttingly, presumably where Zimmermann has picked her name from. But he, Nicolai, talked to the late lady's son, Count Such and Such, and here reprints the son's testimony that his mother wasn't EC's lady-in-waiting during the first six months of EC's marriage (or later), and also certainly would never have been as crass and tasteless as to gossip about EC/Fritz marital sex. How, Nicolai demands, would Zimmermann, himself a married man, feel if people were quoted or "quoted" about his own sexual activities with his wife? And EC is still alive! As is one of Fritz' sisters!!!! The thought of poor EC and Charlotte having to read this (invented) stuff is TOO MUCH, how could you, Z!!!!!
3.) On to Fritz/Barbarina. Here, Nicolai doesn't really go on about Zimmermann's "Fritz clearly wanted to, but thought he couldn't anymore, and this explains his entire behavior with her", but chooses as his target for eviscaration another angle, because Zimmermann in "Fragments" theorizes that Barbarina's ditched boyfriend/sort of fiance?? "Mackenzie" whom she'd been with when Fritz had her extradited by Venice subsequently must have been fueled with thoughts of revenge, a revenge he later took when becoming advisor to none other than Lord Bute, making him withdraw British funding from Fritz in the 7 Years War. Thus, the story of the 7 Years War would have been different if not for Fritz' tragically unfulfilled longings for Barbarina and her ditching this Mackenzie for Fritz, sort of. Nicolai mocks this, saying that it could be one of Bute's advisors is called MacSomething or the other, it's a very common name part in GB for someone to have, but there's no proof this is Barbarina's ex. As for the idea the Brits wouldn't have withdrawn funding from Fritz otherwise, pleaaaaaase. And Z, you're again not being a gentleman towards a lady by putting into print Barbarina's old scandals, because Barbarina? Still alive, and wonderful highly respected old lady who has funded a woman's shelter in silesia with her fortune, so there.
1.) Zimmermann, as you may recall, is the planet's first Fritz/MT shipper and conspiracy theorist who deduced in his fragments that Fritz wanting to go to France or England was just a cover story, he was really in league with Seckendorf and had arranged to go to Austria where he wanted to marry MT, thus sparing the world the Silesian Wars and the 7 Years War. (Zimmermann calls this the greatest Fritz plan ever and really mourns it wasn't to be.) This is also the reason why Seckendorf and the Emperor later intervened with FW to save Fritz' life, and why FS was at Fritz' engagement party later, gloating over his defeated rival for MT's love and hand.
Unsurprisingly, Nicolai has an easy time making mincemeat of that theory even without access to the secret state archives, not least because he's collected stuff on Fritz for decades, including the publication of the various foreign monarchs' letters to FW on the subject, which he uses to point out that the one from MT's Dad was just standard for the day. He also correctly thinks that Seckendorff would have shot himself and his own influence on FW massively in the foot if he'd conspired with FW's son against him in this way and would never have done that, and points to all the meetings with Hotham and Guy Dickens Fritz had, as well as Keith going to England, as proof England was the agreed upon escape destination. And he argues that Katte's published letters form the pamphlet about his execution (which Nicolai has read, and which apparantly has just been republished) as well as the description Preacher Müller gave of his death point to Hans Herrmann von Katte having been an upstanding, really good Protestant, who would never, ever, have signed on a scheme where his beloved Crown Prince has to convert to the Church of Rome to marry MT. On the contrary, upstanding Protestant Katte would have done anything to prevent this.
...I must say, I'm impressed, because Nicolai does not, repeat, does not have access to the interrogation protocols.
2.) Of course, the part of Zimmermann's "Fragments" everyone talked about wasn't this, it was the "Fritz: psychologically impotent due to botched penis operation after youth of STD, but NOT GAY NEVER, he just faked gay interest to cover for this" chapter. Now, as we've seen, in his own collection of anecdotes Nicolai completely avoids the "gay" question, and when he repeatedly has a go at Voltaire for all of Voltaire's ungrateful slanders, he does not include this one. So I was curious how he'd handle what is a part of Zimmermann's big headlines making argument. Mes amies, he handles it thusly.
Nicolai: Okay. Z. - he always calls him "Ritter von Z" or "Herr von Z", never writing out the last name and always using the "von" to mock Zimmermann's pride in his ennoblement - pretends he had to go against all decency to devote an entire chapter on the state of Fritz' penis in order to defend Fritz from a certain charge he then lists in detail. As anyone with a brain in the publishing industry would know, even if you are refuting a charge, by listing it and talking about it you're just making sure more people hear about it. I therefore will not talk about this charge Z is supposedly defending our glorious King from, save to say all right thinking people would never talk about this subject AT ALL. Now, on to Zimmermann's arguments for a broken penis.
....
He points that if Zimmermann was so worried about this question, he could have simply done what Nicolai and Büsching did, to wit, asked the various people who saw dead Fritz naked in the one and a half hour his dead body was lying around in that state while it was cleaned up for the wake and funeral. (You, Mildred, quoted Banning on this, I think; Banning's source is Nicolai, because the phrasing is almost identical.) He then, as Büsching did, prints signed testimony of the various guys involved to the effect Fritz had a completely normal piece of male equipment without any scarring tissue, meaning there can't have been any operation, botched or not, at any point. Because Nicolai is thorough, he also says readers (if they'd made it so far in this unsavoury subject) might wonder what the various people were doing checking Fritz' genitals close enough to look for scarring tissue. Well, says Nicolai, it's all that bastard Voltaire's fault, because he was the one who started the story of the botched operation in his slanderous writings, which everyone had read, so these guys were curious and had a look.
Nicolai then proceeds in his Zimmermann evisceration by showing Zimmermann indulges in the art of quote falsification, as Zimmermann says Schöning told him no one alive saw Fritz naked ever; by contrast, Nicolai points to Büsching quoting Schöning saying that the King had "große Schamhaftigkeit" about his person and didn't want his servants to see him naked, hence dressed and undressed himself, which is a different kind of statement, as, see above, the people who cleaned up Fritz' dead body as well as the doctors making the cuts releaving the body of the water all saw him naked.
Next, Nicolai addresses Zimmermann's statement of Fritz (believing himself cured from STD courtesy of the Schwedt cousin and his quack of a doctor) indulging in six months of non stop sexual married bliss with EC until the STD returned, for which Zimmermann said there's the testimony of one of EC's ladies in waiting, whom he names by name. Leaving aside that it's extremely indelicate to incriminate a lady this way, says Nicolai, it's not true, either, since the lady in question never was lady-in-waiting to EC. She was present at the Fritz/EC wedding, and she and her husband were visiting Rheinsberg at one point, as mentioned in Bielfeld's letters, which is, Nicolai says cuttingly, presumably where Zimmermann has picked her name from. But he, Nicolai, talked to the late lady's son, Count Such and Such, and here reprints the son's testimony that his mother wasn't EC's lady-in-waiting during the first six months of EC's marriage (or later), and also certainly would never have been as crass and tasteless as to gossip about EC/Fritz marital sex. How, Nicolai demands, would Zimmermann, himself a married man, feel if people were quoted or "quoted" about his own sexual activities with his wife? And EC is still alive! As is one of Fritz' sisters!!!! The thought of poor EC and Charlotte having to read this (invented) stuff is TOO MUCH, how could you, Z!!!!!
3.) On to Fritz/Barbarina. Here, Nicolai doesn't really go on about Zimmermann's "Fritz clearly wanted to, but thought he couldn't anymore, and this explains his entire behavior with her", but chooses as his target for eviscaration another angle, because Zimmermann in "Fragments" theorizes that Barbarina's ditched boyfriend/sort of fiance?? "Mackenzie" whom she'd been with when Fritz had her extradited by Venice subsequently must have been fueled with thoughts of revenge, a revenge he later took when becoming advisor to none other than Lord Bute, making him withdraw British funding from Fritz in the 7 Years War. Thus, the story of the 7 Years War would have been different if not for Fritz' tragically unfulfilled longings for Barbarina and her ditching this Mackenzie for Fritz, sort of. Nicolai mocks this, saying that it could be one of Bute's advisors is called MacSomething or the other, it's a very common name part in GB for someone to have, but there's no proof this is Barbarina's ex. As for the idea the Brits wouldn't have withdrawn funding from Fritz otherwise, pleaaaaaase. And Z, you're again not being a gentleman towards a lady by putting into print Barbarina's old scandals, because Barbarina? Still alive, and wonderful highly respected old lady who has funded a woman's shelter in silesia with her fortune, so there.
Edited 2021-03-02 08:14 (UTC)
So, for context: Zimmermann published this in 1788, one and a half years after Fritz' death. He's not yet fallen out wiith Nicolai, which is noticeable because at one point, he advertises for a Nicolai publication, to wit, the German versions of the comedies written by Catherine the Great. However, he's already engaged in arguments about who's the biggest Fritz fan of them all, and the big publishing rush about Fritz has of course long since started. Nor is this the first time Zimmermann throws his hat into the ring; he's already published about his first meeting with Fritz, in 1771. This book consists of: a narration of his being summoned to Fritz in the summer of 1786 and the several meetings and conversations he had with him, in detail; then another description of his first meeting with Fritz back in the day; then ponderings and warnings about where all this freethinking and religion mocking is leading among people less morally fortified than Fritz and the hope FW2 will do something about this at least in Prussia. Most of all, though, the book is yet another fannish love declaration to Der Einzige König.
Fritz isn't just the greatest King of the 18th Century, he's the greatest man of the 18th Century. And he had the most beautiful eyes ever given to a human being, ever. And Zimmermann was filled full of male tenderness (männliche Zärtlichkeit) when visiting this wonderful human being dying before him, which he also felt for Fritz in happier, healthier days. His tone of voice is the clearest and most agreeable Zimmermann has ever heard. Also, no one was ever so misunderstood as Fritz was. His critics accuse him of never having loved, which is so wrong, and no, Zimmermann isn't just speaking of the dogs. (Though he does tell a touching dog story, about Fritz' current favourite dog having been ill in 1785, when Fritz was doing his last trip to Silesia, so he couldn't take the dog with him but had fast couriers standing by to bring him news of how the dog was doing, and was heartbroken when the dog died.) Zimmermann, like the Salon, has read the printed Crown Prince Fritz/Suhm letters and thinks they're the most beautiful testimony to Fritz' capacity of feeling and love.
All this Fritz fannishness does not, however, prevent him from also plugging his own royal patron, who since he's (while born Swiss) a citizen of Hannover is Frederick Duke of York, younger son of G3, currently studying at the university of Göttingen which his family co-sponsors; Göttingen is about to become the most famous German university. Luckily, Fritz like Fred of York, too; he even tells Zimmermann repeatedly he loves the Duke of York like a son and hopes Fred of York will stay in Hannover after he's finished with uni and be a German, because Brits, eh. Zimmermann's other famous royal patron is none other than Catherine the Great. (Who has just ennobled him in 1786, making him Ritter von Zimmermann.) About her, he and Fritz have this exchange:
KING: You're corresponding with the Empress of Russia?
I: The Empress condescends to writing to me occasionally, yes.
KING: So the Empress consults you about her health?
I: The Empress doesn't need to, since she enjoys excellent health. Literature, philanthropy and philosophy are the themes of the letters with which the Empress honors me.
KING: But eveyone knows the Empress is sick!
I: The Empress knows everyone believes that. She often jokes about it and once wrote to my: her yearly expenses for her health are thirty pennies.
KING: Not what I've heard.
I: Your Majesty knows best how unreliable in such a case even secret news from so called confidential sources are. I know perfectly well and very recently that everyting which is said about the Empress being sickly can't be true. The Empress endures the toughest fatiguing trials. As late as last year, she undertook a journey of more than twohundred and fifty German miles, in a great mood and in cheerful spirits. Her good mood doesn't leave her all day. Her busy mind never rests and remains effective. In her hours of leisure, she's recently written by her own hand a new book of laws for Russia's nobility, and a new law book for Russia's towns. She's also started a book which is amazing from a philosophical point of view, a glossary comparing slang and phrases between different languages and dialects. A few of the comedies the Empress herself wrote in order to ridicule superstition, full of sparkling satire and wit I received by the Empress' own hands this very year.*
*footnote: Three comedies against superstitions: 1) The Con Man (Cagliostro), 2.) The Deluded Man, 3) The Siberian Shaman. By Her Imperial Highness Katharina Alexejewna, published by Friedrich Nicolai, Berlin 1788. Buy it, readers!
KING: I admit it, the Empress of all the Russias is a woman of uncommon genius.
** Footnote: The King wasn't just saying that then, he ALWAYS said it. After his death, my dear friend the Marchese Lucchessini wrote to me: L'Imperatrice de la Russie, un temps l'amie du grand Frederic, toujours la rivale de sa gloire, etoit toujours aussi l' object des discours et de 'l admiration de ce roi unique.
(Now Luccessini puts it a bit differently in his diary, where he he lets Fritz give Catherine credit for writing well and also for offering, via future FW2 who has just visited her when Lucchesini writes in his diary in 1780, to mediate between Fritz and Heinrich ("„L‘Imperatrice di Russia scrive bene. Ho apiuto in quesito giorni da altra parte, che la prima conversazione dell‘ Imperatrice di Russia col Principe Reale si piegrava a porre in ricilolo il Re, e il Principe Enrico"), but also says she spent her first few years being ruled by the Orlovs, and also he's still the biggest genius of them all. But Luccessini wasn't just ennobled by her and hoping for future gifts.)
Speaking of Luccessini, since Zimmermann here uses almost identical phrases to describe him as he uses in "Fragments" to describe the unnamed companion of Fritz' last years who had the deepest insight etc. into Fritz and to whom Fritz said he had had sex until directly before the 7 Years War, which briefly led Zimmermann to assume that all the gay rumors could be true until he figured out this was just part of Fritz' distraction campaign to fool people about his tragic broken penis, I think we can settle that Luccessini is indeed the source for this story. Which still makes it sound as if Fritz/Glasow happened to me.
Back to Zimmermann. He isn't just emo all the time, he can describe Fritz' various symptoms with medical accuracy. I also believe him when he says he realised at once that Fritz was dying, and that conversely Fritz refused to acknowledge it until shortly before Zimmermann left. (Heinrich, not a medic, also realised Fritz was dying when he saw him in January that same year and wrote to Ferdinand that if he wanted to see Fritz again alive he should make his visit now. So Zimmermann, a celebrated doctor of his day, definitely must have realised it.) In terms of describing people, Zimmermann is neither a Lehndorff nor a Boswell, which is to say, he doesn't have the gift of bringing them to life with a few sentences; he resorts to stock phrases instead. Take this introduction of Schöning; Zimmermann is in conversation with an unnamed courtier, who told him Fritz has fired his regular doctors before summoning Zimmermann:
"But Sir, how is the King, and who is the King's Doctor?"
"The King," he replied, "is very ill, and he has no other doctor but his chamber hussar."
"His Chamber Hussar is his doctor?"
"Yes, and in between and mainly the King himself is his own doctor. This Chamber Hussar is the King's valet. He's called Herr Schöning. He will now lead you to the King."
Herr Schöning entered, and greeted me politely and with good manners, but very seriously, and with great alacrity. In this moment I thought: Next to the King, I need to get along best with Herrr Schöning. So I pulled myself together and said and did what a lifetime of knowing people had taught me in order to study and win over the chamber hussar as much as I was able.
Herr Schöning soon showed me his true nature. I found him to be a man of good sense, of feeling and of intelligence, who spoke with great deliberation, yet truthfully, and very well. He seemed to know the King through and through. Soon Herr Schöning showed himself to be a Herzensfreund of Professor Selle of Berlin, whom the King had dismissed for a good while. This heightened the good opinion I had already formed of Herr Schöning, for this wasn't courtier behavior. (To show friendshp for a fired official.) But as it had to grieve him that I, a stranger, replaced his Herzensfreund at the King's side, this thought, or rather this suspicion made us equal and made us be very delicate in all we said and did to each other.
It's servicable as a description, but no more. Oh, and speaking of descriptions, Zimmermann never fails to mention that Fritz has a portrait of Joseph in the last antechambre where he can see it when the door of his study is open. This Zimmernann takes to mean he wants to keep an eye on Joseph. (Coming menace of Europe in Fritz' view, we might add, though Zimmermann probably thinks of Joseph as the son MT and Fritz never had instead.) Though the one Fritz truly loves as a son, as is repeatedly said by Zimmermann in this text, is the Duke of York. (Who will, btw, later marry FW2's daughter, thus concluding yet another miserable Hohenzollern and Hannover marriage.)
I feel a bit cruel for mocking Zimmermann; it's clear he did adore Fritz and was deeply affected by having to watch someone he loved so extensively be painfully ill without being able to truly help. (Because while some of the symptoms can be relieved temporarily, it's clear that he's dying.) But even for the spirit of the age, the mixture of high strung adoration on the one hand and the insistence of being The One Who Truly Understands (while all the other competing publications are wrong, of course) is annoying, and even in this book, before he starts to speculate about Fritz' sex life or lack of same, you can see why he's about to fall out with his fellow fanboys.
Fritz isn't just the greatest King of the 18th Century, he's the greatest man of the 18th Century. And he had the most beautiful eyes ever given to a human being, ever. And Zimmermann was filled full of male tenderness (männliche Zärtlichkeit) when visiting this wonderful human being dying before him, which he also felt for Fritz in happier, healthier days. His tone of voice is the clearest and most agreeable Zimmermann has ever heard. Also, no one was ever so misunderstood as Fritz was. His critics accuse him of never having loved, which is so wrong, and no, Zimmermann isn't just speaking of the dogs. (Though he does tell a touching dog story, about Fritz' current favourite dog having been ill in 1785, when Fritz was doing his last trip to Silesia, so he couldn't take the dog with him but had fast couriers standing by to bring him news of how the dog was doing, and was heartbroken when the dog died.) Zimmermann, like the Salon, has read the printed Crown Prince Fritz/Suhm letters and thinks they're the most beautiful testimony to Fritz' capacity of feeling and love.
All this Fritz fannishness does not, however, prevent him from also plugging his own royal patron, who since he's (while born Swiss) a citizen of Hannover is Frederick Duke of York, younger son of G3, currently studying at the university of Göttingen which his family co-sponsors; Göttingen is about to become the most famous German university. Luckily, Fritz like Fred of York, too; he even tells Zimmermann repeatedly he loves the Duke of York like a son and hopes Fred of York will stay in Hannover after he's finished with uni and be a German, because Brits, eh. Zimmermann's other famous royal patron is none other than Catherine the Great. (Who has just ennobled him in 1786, making him Ritter von Zimmermann.) About her, he and Fritz have this exchange:
KING: You're corresponding with the Empress of Russia?
I: The Empress condescends to writing to me occasionally, yes.
KING: So the Empress consults you about her health?
I: The Empress doesn't need to, since she enjoys excellent health. Literature, philanthropy and philosophy are the themes of the letters with which the Empress honors me.
KING: But eveyone knows the Empress is sick!
I: The Empress knows everyone believes that. She often jokes about it and once wrote to my: her yearly expenses for her health are thirty pennies.
KING: Not what I've heard.
I: Your Majesty knows best how unreliable in such a case even secret news from so called confidential sources are. I know perfectly well and very recently that everyting which is said about the Empress being sickly can't be true. The Empress endures the toughest fatiguing trials. As late as last year, she undertook a journey of more than twohundred and fifty German miles, in a great mood and in cheerful spirits. Her good mood doesn't leave her all day. Her busy mind never rests and remains effective. In her hours of leisure, she's recently written by her own hand a new book of laws for Russia's nobility, and a new law book for Russia's towns. She's also started a book which is amazing from a philosophical point of view, a glossary comparing slang and phrases between different languages and dialects. A few of the comedies the Empress herself wrote in order to ridicule superstition, full of sparkling satire and wit I received by the Empress' own hands this very year.*
*footnote: Three comedies against superstitions: 1) The Con Man (Cagliostro), 2.) The Deluded Man, 3) The Siberian Shaman. By Her Imperial Highness Katharina Alexejewna, published by Friedrich Nicolai, Berlin 1788.
KING: I admit it, the Empress of all the Russias is a woman of uncommon genius.
** Footnote: The King wasn't just saying that then, he ALWAYS said it. After his death, my dear friend the Marchese Lucchessini wrote to me: L'Imperatrice de la Russie, un temps l'amie du grand Frederic, toujours la rivale de sa gloire, etoit toujours aussi l' object des discours et de 'l admiration de ce roi unique.
(Now Luccessini puts it a bit differently in his diary, where he he lets Fritz give Catherine credit for writing well and also for offering, via future FW2 who has just visited her when Lucchesini writes in his diary in 1780, to mediate between Fritz and Heinrich ("„L‘Imperatrice di Russia scrive bene. Ho apiuto in quesito giorni da altra parte, che la prima conversazione dell‘ Imperatrice di Russia col Principe Reale si piegrava a porre in ricilolo il Re, e il Principe Enrico"), but also says she spent her first few years being ruled by the Orlovs, and also he's still the biggest genius of them all. But Luccessini wasn't just ennobled by her and hoping for future gifts.)
Speaking of Luccessini, since Zimmermann here uses almost identical phrases to describe him as he uses in "Fragments" to describe the unnamed companion of Fritz' last years who had the deepest insight etc. into Fritz and to whom Fritz said he had had sex until directly before the 7 Years War, which briefly led Zimmermann to assume that all the gay rumors could be true until he figured out this was just part of Fritz' distraction campaign to fool people about his tragic broken penis, I think we can settle that Luccessini is indeed the source for this story. Which still makes it sound as if Fritz/Glasow happened to me.
Back to Zimmermann. He isn't just emo all the time, he can describe Fritz' various symptoms with medical accuracy. I also believe him when he says he realised at once that Fritz was dying, and that conversely Fritz refused to acknowledge it until shortly before Zimmermann left. (Heinrich, not a medic, also realised Fritz was dying when he saw him in January that same year and wrote to Ferdinand that if he wanted to see Fritz again alive he should make his visit now. So Zimmermann, a celebrated doctor of his day, definitely must have realised it.) In terms of describing people, Zimmermann is neither a Lehndorff nor a Boswell, which is to say, he doesn't have the gift of bringing them to life with a few sentences; he resorts to stock phrases instead. Take this introduction of Schöning; Zimmermann is in conversation with an unnamed courtier, who told him Fritz has fired his regular doctors before summoning Zimmermann:
"But Sir, how is the King, and who is the King's Doctor?"
"The King," he replied, "is very ill, and he has no other doctor but his chamber hussar."
"His Chamber Hussar is his doctor?"
"Yes, and in between and mainly the King himself is his own doctor. This Chamber Hussar is the King's valet. He's called Herr Schöning. He will now lead you to the King."
Herr Schöning entered, and greeted me politely and with good manners, but very seriously, and with great alacrity. In this moment I thought: Next to the King, I need to get along best with Herrr Schöning. So I pulled myself together and said and did what a lifetime of knowing people had taught me in order to study and win over the chamber hussar as much as I was able.
Herr Schöning soon showed me his true nature. I found him to be a man of good sense, of feeling and of intelligence, who spoke with great deliberation, yet truthfully, and very well. He seemed to know the King through and through. Soon Herr Schöning showed himself to be a Herzensfreund of Professor Selle of Berlin, whom the King had dismissed for a good while. This heightened the good opinion I had already formed of Herr Schöning, for this wasn't courtier behavior. (To show friendshp for a fired official.) But as it had to grieve him that I, a stranger, replaced his Herzensfreund at the King's side, this thought, or rather this suspicion made us equal and made us be very delicate in all we said and did to each other.
It's servicable as a description, but no more. Oh, and speaking of descriptions, Zimmermann never fails to mention that Fritz has a portrait of Joseph in the last antechambre where he can see it when the door of his study is open. This Zimmernann takes to mean he wants to keep an eye on Joseph. (Coming menace of Europe in Fritz' view, we might add, though Zimmermann probably thinks of Joseph as the son MT and Fritz never had instead.) Though the one Fritz truly loves as a son, as is repeatedly said by Zimmermann in this text, is the Duke of York. (Who will, btw, later marry FW2's daughter, thus concluding yet another miserable Hohenzollern and Hannover marriage.)
I feel a bit cruel for mocking Zimmermann; it's clear he did adore Fritz and was deeply affected by having to watch someone he loved so extensively be painfully ill without being able to truly help. (Because while some of the symptoms can be relieved temporarily, it's clear that he's dying.) But even for the spirit of the age, the mixture of high strung adoration on the one hand and the insistence of being The One Who Truly Understands (while all the other competing publications are wrong, of course) is annoying, and even in this book, before he starts to speculate about Fritz' sex life or lack of same, you can see why he's about to fall out with his fellow fanboys.
Edited 2021-03-02 17:55 (UTC)
Re: Die Preußische Heirat, or Hohenzollern: The RomCom
mildred_of_midgard
2021-03-03 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
LEOPOLD WHO???? was my reaction as well.
I know, I was echoing you! I thought it was funny because, yeah, there *is* so much else going on...and yet.
On the other hand: FW was the outlier among 18th century Kings. So, what do you think?
Only if he gets Jülich and Berg. More seriously, I just don't know. It could go either way. At the very least, I bet he drags his feet on it.
OTOH, our Scheming Duo might be able to pull it off, who knows.
All the Potsdam Giants tv budget can afford
AHAHAHAHAAAAAA, I laughed so much. That's one low budget! That's...20 of them?
Thank you for sharing the hilarity. :D
I know, I was echoing you! I thought it was funny because, yeah, there *is* so much else going on...and yet.
On the other hand: FW was the outlier among 18th century Kings. So, what do you think?
Only if he gets Jülich and Berg. More seriously, I just don't know. It could go either way. At the very least, I bet he drags his feet on it.
OTOH, our Scheming Duo might be able to pull it off, who knows.
All the Potsdam Giants tv budget can afford
AHAHAHAHAAAAAA, I laughed so much. That's one low budget! That's...20 of them?
Thank you for sharing the hilarity. :D
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