Morgenstern: reading a few pages more, ZOMG! I found the source for Jochen Klepper's "FW had a tender youthful love for Caroline the future Queen of England, and never quite stopped" s tale! Jochen K., I wronged you, I thought you made that up because you disliked SD so much and wanted your tragic hero to have loved someone else and be loved by them at least once.
Also, Morgenstern is the source for the supposed "smart woman, bad Christian" from FW about his mother Sophie Charlotte, and for the "she spoiled him, F1 neglected him by not micromanaging him" characterisation which I've already seen in Hinrichs. And good lord, does he (Morgenstern) have a go at F1, marvelling FW showed such general respect for his Dad when the guy was such a weak, vain and bad King and what not, and for good measure, also blames F1 for the death of FW's first kid (dead baby Friedrich Ludwig; why? Because of the loud salute shootings) and for "marrying a third time without need". And then he adds that possibly FW was told by his mother that he, FW, wasn't F1's kid at all, that FW upon becoming King and being drunk said "how can you believe I'm the son of such a weak man!", only to have one of his generals return "hang on, if you're not F1's son, you're not our King and master, either", wereupon he sobered up and said "joking, ob course!"
Now, Morgenstern was present for none of this, since according to the bio you linked he didn't join FW's circle until 1736 (which btw also explains a lot - he only knew FW personally during FW's last four years of life), and it doesn't jive with how Barbara Beuys presented family relationships at all, which she backs up with letters between FW and his parents, and between Sophie of Hannover and Sophie Charlotte as as between Sophie and other folk. (Not to mention that cheerfully telling your kid he's a bastard is just not something any royal woman of the era would have done. That's downright suicidal. But IF Morgenstern didn't make it up entirely from scratch but bases it on some stuff FW actually said when drunk and sick during those last four years (say, about the first baby dying, or complaints that neither of his parents were good Christians in his eyes), then there's a shot that maybe he actually did have a youthful thing for Caroline. (Giving him additional reason to hate on G2!)
He became their teacher in 1740, when he wasn't at Rheinsberg anymore
Ah, that makes sense. Bronisch made it sound like it happened simultanously.
This seems to have been a fanfic trend at the time, at least I remember coming across another "Totengespräch" between Fritz and Amelie at some point last year.
Same. It wasn't very good, tough, so I never bothered to read more than a bit of it. But yeah, clearly a late 18th Century fanfic trend!
That's why he doesn't mention Suhm, he's a shipper, too.
Re: His Name is Diable. Le Diable: Bad Times
Also, Morgenstern is the source for the supposed "smart woman, bad Christian" from FW about his mother Sophie Charlotte, and for the "she spoiled him, F1 neglected him by not micromanaging him" characterisation which I've already seen in Hinrichs. And good lord, does he (Morgenstern) have a go at F1, marvelling FW showed such general respect for his Dad when the guy was such a weak, vain and bad King and what not, and for good measure, also blames F1 for the death of FW's first kid (dead baby Friedrich Ludwig; why? Because of the loud salute shootings) and for "marrying a third time without need". And then he adds that possibly FW was told by his mother that he, FW, wasn't F1's kid at all, that FW upon becoming King and being drunk said "how can you believe I'm the son of such a weak man!", only to have one of his generals return "hang on, if you're not F1's son, you're not our King and master, either", wereupon he sobered up and said "joking, ob course!"
Now, Morgenstern was present for none of this, since according to the bio you linked he didn't join FW's circle until 1736 (which btw also explains a lot - he only knew FW personally during FW's last four years of life), and it doesn't jive with how Barbara Beuys presented family relationships at all, which she backs up with letters between FW and his parents, and between Sophie of Hannover and Sophie Charlotte as as between Sophie and other folk. (Not to mention that cheerfully telling your kid he's a bastard is just not something any royal woman of the era would have done. That's downright suicidal. But IF Morgenstern didn't make it up entirely from scratch but bases it on some stuff FW actually said when drunk and sick during those last four years (say, about the first baby dying, or complaints that neither of his parents were good Christians in his eyes), then there's a shot that maybe he actually did have a youthful thing for Caroline. (Giving him additional reason to hate on G2!)
He became their teacher in 1740, when he wasn't at Rheinsberg anymore
Ah, that makes sense. Bronisch made it sound like it happened simultanously.
This seems to have been a fanfic trend at the time, at least I remember coming across another "Totengespräch" between Fritz and Amelie at some point last year.
Same. It wasn't very good, tough, so I never bothered to read more than a bit of it. But yeah, clearly a late 18th Century fanfic trend!
That's why he doesn't mention Suhm, he's a shipper, too.
Most def.