wanted to be buried like a philosopher, not a king. I always assumed "no embalming" was part of that.
Yeah, I think that's certainly a big part of it in Fritz' case, even including the "return to nature" aspect, see the introductory context in his will:
Gladly and without regret, I return my breath of life to the beneficial nature that graciously lent it to me, and my body to the elements of which it is made. I lived as a philosopher and want to be buried as such, without pageantry and ceremonial pomp. I don't want to be dissected or embalmed. [Followed by the vault details and the "like Moritz von Nassau, who was buried in a bosk" reference, i.e. more nature.]
That said, and Zimmermann aside, no autopsy (as opposed to no "kingly" embalming) might still have been an expression of his control issues, i.e. not wanting anybody to mess with his body after his death? Not sure how much his pragmatic belief that death was the end would have affected that, or what the general view of autopsies was around the time. But in addition to mentioning it in both versions of his will (see below), he also makes sure to include it in two "in case I get killed" instructions in 1757 (pre-Leuthen) and 1758 (pre-Zorndorf), solely, without mentioning embalming as well. So it must have been rather important to him. (The German version from 1758: Man soll mir nicht öffnen, sondern stille nach Sanssouci bringen und in meinem Garten begraben lassen.) By the way, the first of his wartime "in case I die" instructions from 1741 actually says he wants to be cremated (in the Roman style) and buried in an urn grave at Rheinsberg. Interesting to see the changes over time.
Speaking of! I just realized that there were two versions of his will, 1752 and 1769, and that the second is slightly different and condensed when it comes to the burial instructions, i.e. he left out the whole dramatic "third day at midnight, by latern light, nobody following" part in the second one. (The middle step being a simple "at night" in 1757.) I'm curious if he had a template/reference for that earlier scenario, do we know?
Also, Preuss says that the 1769 testament was opened and read by the Minister of State v. Hertzberg, on August 18, 1786, at the castle of Berlin, in the presence of the new king, of the princes Heinrich and Ferdinand, and of the Minister of State Count Finck of Finckenstein, which made me wonder if we have any comments from Heinrich (or Ferdinand) about FWII disregarding Fritz' wishes?
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Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-27 12:04 am (UTC)Yeah, I think that's certainly a big part of it in Fritz' case, even including the "return to nature" aspect, see the introductory context in his will:
Gladly and without regret, I return my breath of life to the beneficial nature that graciously lent it to me, and my body to the elements of which it is made. I lived as a philosopher and want to be buried as such, without pageantry and ceremonial pomp. I don't want to be dissected or embalmed. [Followed by the vault details and the "like Moritz von Nassau, who was buried in a bosk" reference, i.e. more nature.]
That said, and Zimmermann aside, no autopsy (as opposed to no "kingly" embalming) might still have been an expression of his control issues, i.e. not wanting anybody to mess with his body after his death? Not sure how much his pragmatic belief that death was the end would have affected that, or what the general view of autopsies was around the time. But in addition to mentioning it in both versions of his will (see below), he also makes sure to include it in two "in case I get killed" instructions in 1757 (pre-Leuthen) and 1758 (pre-Zorndorf), solely, without mentioning embalming as well. So it must have been rather important to him. (The German version from 1758: Man soll mir nicht öffnen, sondern stille nach Sanssouci bringen und in meinem Garten begraben lassen.) By the way, the first of his wartime "in case I die" instructions from 1741 actually says he wants to be cremated (in the Roman style) and buried in an urn grave at Rheinsberg. Interesting to see the changes over time.
Speaking of! I just realized that there were two versions of his will, 1752 and 1769, and that the second is slightly different and condensed when it comes to the burial instructions, i.e. he left out the whole dramatic "third day at midnight, by latern light, nobody following" part in the second one. (The middle step being a simple "at night" in 1757.) I'm curious if he had a template/reference for that earlier scenario, do we know?
Also, Preuss says that the 1769 testament was opened and read by the Minister of State v. Hertzberg, on August 18, 1786, at the castle of Berlin, in the presence of the new king, of the princes Heinrich and Ferdinand, and of the Minister of State Count Finck of Finckenstein, which made me wonder if we have any comments from Heinrich (or Ferdinand) about FWII disregarding Fritz' wishes?