By the way, via Volz' footnotes I found another Zimmermann refutation by the second chamber husar called Neumann (can be found here, written 1789)
OMGGGGG, that's awesome! Brilliant find! This is so great. I am snacking hard on my metaphorical popcorn as I watch this 1790s literary feud unfold. :D
Zimmermann's legacy: causing multiple people to give signed testimonies on the state of Fritz' penis. I mean. Congrats? :P
(A small part of) Voltaire's legacy: making them look. Zimmermann's legacy: making them sign off on what they saw.
I'm dying. :'D
He also says the dog death during the Silesia revue was actually in 1784
Omg, of course we can't agree on the date. *headdesk*
I gather that STILL no one cares what happened to the dogs after Fritz died?
Indiscriminately defensive? Why would you ever think that?
Having read the article felis linked, including the footnotes, I see we have a first name for Neumann - Gottfried - but still none for Schöning. According to Neumann, their respective duties were:
Schöning: SECOND chamber hussar OMG SECOND: shaving Fritz, giving Fritz his medications, taking care of Fritz' enemas, otherwise "just like every other servant"'s duties, whereas
Neumann: FIRST chamber hussar: waking Fritz in the morning, dressing him (?? - maybe once he was ill?), creating Fritz' tail, selecting a wig, handing both coffee and water to Fritz, bring any and each letters addressed to the King to him, as well as execute any orders of the day Fritz may give.
According to yet another foonote, Neumann was born in 1752 in one of the 17 villages Peterdorf, Silesia, started his work for Fritz as a runner in 1772, ended up as First Chamber Husar and adminstrator of the royal private purse (Privatschatulle des Königs) until Fritz' death. Neumann himself died as chief of police (Polizei-Direktor) in Liegnitz on June 24th 1799.
Now, aside of Zimmermann getting wrong who was outranking whom, all this doesn't contradict the previous info; felis said the Schatulle accounts list Schöning for shaving and medication espenses, especially leeches, and even Zimmermann quoting the courtier to the effect that Schöning was currently Fritz' only doctor (due to the firing of the others) fits. Note that Schöning himself in his own account doesn't say anything about himself at all. His account is strictly about Fritz and doesn't include "the King and I" stories. But what I find telling in retrospect is the passage about Fritz being the kinder to the servants who nursed him (i.e., it appears, Schöning himself) the worse off he was, and that you could always tell he got better when he started being rude again, also that Fritz in his last years generally mellowed a bit towards the staff and "made little presents after illnesses to those who nursed him".
Something else that struck me is this: in his own account, Schöning doesn't mention Glasow, Völker or for that matter, Desen. He limits himself to the "sometimes, the King gave a lot of money to unworthy people, and no, I won't be talking about the motivation for this here" observation. Büsching, otoh, in his recounting of the Desen story (ending in suicide) gives Schöning as a source; I translated Büsching's version for you back in the day, and it's listed for contrast in the Georgii entry at Rheinsberg. Note it ends with Fritz just commenting he hadn't thought Desen had it (the shooting himself) in him. Zimmermann, who hears about Desen, can't resist improving on this because he's all about how misunderstood Fritz was really loving at heart, and says that Fritz was really sorry once the guy had shot himself and said maybe he shouldn't have been so harsh. Neumann, apparantly feeling the need to defend Fritz from this, too, which tells you something about Neumann, says NO HE DID NOT, he couldn't have cared less about Desen by then, he just said he hadn't thought Desen would have the courage.
Yeah, Schöning really was the closest thing to a nurse Fritz had during his last years it seems.
dressing him (?? - maybe once he was ill?)
Might also have been the general handling of Fritz' clothes? In the "several hours in pouring rain during the Silesia revue" passage, he is quite indignant, saying that, despite what some people write about the King's wardrobe, it's not like he had to sit at the table in wet clothes, there were more than enough clothes for him to get undressed and dressed again.
Neumann, apparantly feeling the need to defend Fritz from this, too, which tells you something about Neumann
Right? It's quite interesting what he feels the need to defend/nitpick. Also, no patience at all for literary exaggeration -
Zimmermann: driving up the hill towards Sanssouci, I prayed most fervently, probably nobody else ever prayed as fervently as I did on this hill. Neumann: Self-important bullshit, I'd say there were lots of invalids who prayed there way more devoutly than Zimmermann did.
(By the way, a look at the Schatullrechnungen tells me that Neumann, like Schöning, did apparently hand out money to poor people occasionally, and especially invalids in his case, so he does have a reason for saying this. Other recurring expenses in his list are Spanish tobacco for Fritz and postal charges.)
Oh, and Mildred: No, of course no mention of the dogs' fate.
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Re: Nicolai vs Zimmermann: En garde!
OMGGGGG, that's awesome! Brilliant find! This is so great. I am snacking hard on my metaphorical popcorn as I watch this 1790s literary feud unfold. :D
Zimmermann's legacy: causing multiple people to give signed testimonies on the state of Fritz' penis. I mean. Congrats? :P
(A small part of) Voltaire's legacy: making them look.
Zimmermann's legacy: making them sign off on what they saw.
I'm dying. :'D
He also says the dog death during the Silesia revue was actually in 1784
Omg, of course we can't agree on the date. *headdesk*
I gather that STILL no one cares what happened to the dogs after Fritz died?
Indiscriminately defensive? Why would you ever think that?
LOLOLOL, he sounds awesome.
FIRST and SECOND Chamber Hussars
Schöning: SECOND chamber hussar OMG SECOND: shaving Fritz, giving Fritz his medications, taking care of Fritz' enemas, otherwise "just like every other servant"'s duties, whereas
Neumann: FIRST chamber hussar: waking Fritz in the morning, dressing him (?? - maybe once he was ill?), creating Fritz' tail, selecting a wig, handing both coffee and water to Fritz, bring any and each letters addressed to the King to him, as well as execute any orders of the day Fritz may give.
According to yet another foonote, Neumann was born in 1752 in one of the 17 villages Peterdorf, Silesia, started his work for Fritz as a runner in 1772, ended up as First Chamber Husar and adminstrator of the royal private purse (Privatschatulle des Königs) until Fritz' death. Neumann himself died as chief of police (Polizei-Direktor) in Liegnitz on June 24th 1799.
Now, aside of Zimmermann getting wrong who was outranking whom, all this doesn't contradict the previous info;
Something else that struck me is this: in his own account, Schöning doesn't mention Glasow, Völker or for that matter, Desen. He limits himself to the "sometimes, the King gave a lot of money to unworthy people, and no, I won't be talking about the motivation for this here" observation. Büsching, otoh, in his recounting of the Desen story (ending in suicide) gives Schöning as a source; I translated Büsching's version for you back in the day, and it's listed for contrast in the Georgii entry at Rheinsberg. Note it ends with Fritz just commenting he hadn't thought Desen had it (the shooting himself) in him. Zimmermann, who hears about Desen, can't resist improving on this because he's all about how misunderstood Fritz was really loving at heart, and says that Fritz was really sorry once the guy had shot himself and said maybe he shouldn't have been so harsh. Neumann, apparantly feeling the need to defend Fritz from this, too, which tells you something about Neumann, says NO HE DID NOT, he couldn't have cared less about Desen by then, he just said he hadn't thought Desen would have the courage.
Re: FIRST and SECOND Chamber Hussars
dressing him (?? - maybe once he was ill?)
Might also have been the general handling of Fritz' clothes? In the "several hours in pouring rain during the Silesia revue" passage, he is quite indignant, saying that, despite what some people write about the King's wardrobe, it's not like he had to sit at the table in wet clothes, there were more than enough clothes for him to get undressed and dressed again.
Neumann, apparantly feeling the need to defend Fritz from this, too, which tells you something about Neumann
Right? It's quite interesting what he feels the need to defend/nitpick. Also, no patience at all for literary exaggeration -
Zimmermann: driving up the hill towards Sanssouci, I prayed most fervently, probably nobody else ever prayed as fervently as I did on this hill.
Neumann: Self-important bullshit, I'd say there were lots of invalids who prayed there way more devoutly than Zimmermann did.
(By the way, a look at the Schatullrechnungen tells me that Neumann, like Schöning, did apparently hand out money to poor people occasionally, and especially invalids in his case, so he does have a reason for saying this. Other recurring expenses in his list are Spanish tobacco for Fritz and postal charges.)
Oh, and Mildred: No, of course no mention of the dogs' fate.