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.
Re: Schöning: Days in the Life of Old Fritz
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.