did argue with Fritz about there being one floor at Sanssouci
Speaking of which, I skimmed some of the earlier parts of Manger's book - which contain a lot of building details of course - and noticed that he is not just critical of Fritz between the lines, but very openly, and rather opinionated in general. Case in point, he agrees with Knobelsdorff that at least a basement for Sanssouci would have been much better, not least for Fritz' health. He also tells a long anecdote about the sad fate of a worker and his family to conclude that Fritz' forbidding people to leave the country was a bad and detrimental decision, and thinks that Fritz blamed his own mistakes on others and sometimes listened to slander. Also, about himself again: he never got entrusted with architectural design work of his own, but adds that the King at least thought him adept enough to steal, which was "really a lot"! :P
One more detail regarding Fritz/Knobelsdorff: if the last meeting was indeed in 1750* instead of 1753, their conversation can't have been about the Berlin Gate, because that was built in 1752/53.
*Which might not be the case, see below.
Finally, on a very different note, a fun Potsdam Town Palace detail from Manger: Fritz had a bronze dragonhead for heating his writing cabinet. Since it didn't have a fireplace of its own, Fritz ordered Manger to install a furnace in a room underneath, based on a drawing of a Russian device he'd obtained, with a pipe that led the warm air into the cabinet and ended in said dragonhead. Photo! :D (in context)
Knobelsdorff was an enthusiastic collector of art, a fact unknown until the recent discovery of old inventory lists.[3] He bequeathed to his friend, Lieutenant Colonel von Keith, an extensive collection of paintings and engravings virtually unmatched in 18th century Berlin.
[3] = Martin Engel: Die Knobelsdorffsche Kunstsammlung. In: Tilo Eggeling, Ute-G. Weickardt (Hrsg): Zum Maler und zum großen Architekten geboren. Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, 1699–1753 The same guy wrote a 2001 dissertation (Das Forum Fridericianum in Berlin und die monumentalen Residenzplätze des 18. Jahrhunderts) which has lots of details about all the things Fritz (had) built in Berlin and how. It's long, so I just skimmed a bit, but he questions some of Manger's claims Fritz/Knobelsdorff claims and includes a nice timeline at the end, which shows that Knobelsdorff visited Fritz at least thrice in 1750 (including December) and once in August 1751 (all based on the Berlin newspaper recording the comings and goings). Fritz in his eulogy also says that Knobelsdorff was sick for a long time and went to Spa before his death in September 1753, so a last visit seem unlikely for 1750 and 1753 both?
Regarding Knobelsdorff's friendship with Peter, there's a mention of it in the main text, including that Peter was Knobelsdorff's successor in being responsible for the Tiergarten.
(Engel gives Denina's La Prusse Litteraire as a source on Peter, which has a couple pages (331ff) that seem to be a paraphrase of Formey's eulogy.)
Another Engel article I found (here) quotes Knobelsdorff's will, an addendum he made six days before his death no less: "alle meine Tableau, Kupferstiche, und Bibliothecke [...] legiere ich hiermit meinem guten Freund dem Obristlieutenant von Keith [...]".
So not just the paintings but also the library! I sure hope Engel didn't mistake one Lt.Col. for the other here, but given the possible Tiergarten/Charlottenburg/Academy connection, this would make a lot of sense. The question is just if the connection came first, maybe through the Academy - where Knobelsdorff was an honorary member, although he doesn't seem to have visited all that often, only a handful of times between 1747 and 1749 - and then Peter got the Charlottenburg/Tiergarten responsibility once Knobelsdorff died, or if he got it during Knobelsdorff's lifetime and that is how they became friends.
In addition to that, also in the dissertation: A 1755 letter from Peter to Fritz!
Oct. 17, 1755: Prompted by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Christoph Carl von Keith, the construction manager C. F. Richter made drawings and construction plans for the complete renovation of the Königsbrücke and Neustadtische Brücke [in Berlin]. The accompanying letter shows that Friedrich II spoke with Keith about the bridges in Berlin and asked how much it would cost to build such bridges out of stone:
„Sire, Votre Majesté ayant parlé il y a quelque temps des ponts de Berlin, et combien il en couteroit d’en faire de pierre, je me suis fait donner des desseins pour deux, l’un aupres de l’Opera, l’autre a la Porte Roiale, je prends la liberté de les envoier a Votre Majesté, avec l’estimation combien chaqu’un couteroit ou en pierre ordinaire ou revêtir de pierre de Taille, j’ai L’honneur d’etre avec le plûs profond respect Sire De Votre Majesté Le plus humble et plus obeisant serviteur Keith.“
(Source: Geh.St.A.: 1.HA,Rep.96,412,C1: Bl.38-46)
(Google Translation:
Sire, Your Majesty having spoken some time ago of the bridges of Berlin, and how much it would cost to make them out of stone, I had designs for two given to me, one at the Opera, the other at the Porte Roiale. I take the liberty of sending them to Your Majesty, with an estimate of how much each would cost either in ordinary stone or freestone. I have the honor to be with the deepest respect Sire Your Majesty's Most humble and obedient servant Keith.)
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Manger, Knobelsdorff - and Peter Keith!
Date: 2021-03-18 10:34 pm (UTC)Speaking of which, I skimmed some of the earlier parts of Manger's book - which contain a lot of building details of course - and noticed that he is not just critical of Fritz between the lines, but very openly, and rather opinionated in general. Case in point, he agrees with Knobelsdorff that at least a basement for Sanssouci would have been much better, not least for Fritz' health. He also tells a long anecdote about the sad fate of a worker and his family to conclude that Fritz' forbidding people to leave the country was a bad and detrimental decision, and thinks that Fritz blamed his own mistakes on others and sometimes listened to slander. Also, about himself again: he never got entrusted with architectural design work of his own, but adds that the King at least thought him adept enough to steal, which was "really a lot"! :P
One more detail regarding Fritz/Knobelsdorff: if the last meeting was indeed in 1750* instead of 1753, their conversation can't have been about the Berlin Gate, because that was built in 1752/53.
*Which might not be the case, see below.
Finally, on a very different note, a fun Potsdam Town Palace detail from Manger: Fritz had a bronze dragonhead for heating his writing cabinet. Since it didn't have a fireplace of its own, Fritz ordered Manger to install a furnace in a room underneath, based on a drawing of a Russian device he'd obtained, with a pipe that led the warm air into the cabinet and ended in said dragonhead. Photo! :D (in context)
--
Speaking of Knobelsdorff's Wiki, though:
Knobelsdorff was an enthusiastic collector of art, a fact unknown until the recent discovery of old inventory lists.[3] He bequeathed to his friend, Lieutenant Colonel von Keith, an extensive collection of paintings and engravings virtually unmatched in 18th century Berlin.
[3] = Martin Engel: Die Knobelsdorffsche Kunstsammlung. In: Tilo Eggeling, Ute-G. Weickardt (Hrsg): Zum Maler und zum großen Architekten geboren. Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, 1699–1753
The same guy wrote a 2001 dissertation (Das Forum Fridericianum in Berlin und die monumentalen Residenzplätze des 18. Jahrhunderts) which has lots of details about all the things Fritz (had) built in Berlin and how. It's long, so I just skimmed a bit, but he questions some of Manger's claims Fritz/Knobelsdorff claims and includes a nice timeline at the end, which shows that Knobelsdorff visited Fritz at least thrice in 1750 (including December) and once in August 1751 (all based on the Berlin newspaper recording the comings and goings). Fritz in his eulogy also says that Knobelsdorff was sick for a long time and went to Spa before his death in September 1753, so a last visit seem unlikely for 1750 and 1753 both?
Regarding Knobelsdorff's friendship with Peter, there's a mention of it in the main text, including that Peter was Knobelsdorff's successor in being responsible for the Tiergarten.
(Engel gives Denina's La Prusse Litteraire as a source on Peter, which has a couple pages (331ff) that seem to be a paraphrase of Formey's eulogy.)
Another Engel article I found (here) quotes Knobelsdorff's will, an addendum he made six days before his death no less: "alle meine Tableau, Kupferstiche, und Bibliothecke [...] legiere ich hiermit meinem guten Freund dem Obristlieutenant von Keith [...]".
So not just the paintings but also the library! I sure hope Engel didn't mistake one Lt.Col. for the other here, but given the possible Tiergarten/Charlottenburg/Academy connection, this would make a lot of sense. The question is just if the connection came first, maybe through the Academy - where Knobelsdorff was an honorary member, although he doesn't seem to have visited all that often, only a handful of times between 1747 and 1749 - and then Peter got the Charlottenburg/Tiergarten responsibility once Knobelsdorff died, or if he got it during Knobelsdorff's lifetime and that is how they became friends.
In addition to that, also in the dissertation: A 1755 letter from Peter to Fritz!
Oct. 17, 1755: Prompted by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Christoph Carl von Keith, the construction manager C. F. Richter made drawings and construction plans for the complete renovation of the Königsbrücke and Neustadtische Brücke [in Berlin]. The accompanying letter shows that Friedrich II spoke with Keith about the bridges in Berlin and asked how much it would cost to build such bridges out of stone:
„Sire,
Votre Majesté ayant parlé il y a quelque temps des ponts de Berlin, et combien il en couteroit d’en faire de pierre, je me suis fait donner des desseins pour deux, l’un aupres de l’Opera, l’autre a la Porte Roiale, je prends la liberté de les envoier a Votre Majesté, avec l’estimation combien chaqu’un couteroit ou en pierre ordinaire ou revêtir de pierre de Taille, j’ai L’honneur d’etre avec le plûs profond respect
Sire
De Votre Majesté
Le plus humble et plus obeisant serviteur
Keith.“
(Source: Geh.St.A.: 1.HA,Rep.96,412,C1: Bl.38-46)
(Google Translation:
Sire,
Your Majesty having spoken some time ago of the bridges of Berlin, and how much it would cost to make them out of stone, I had designs for two given to me, one at the Opera, the other at the Porte Roiale. I take the liberty of sending them to Your Majesty, with an estimate of how much each would cost either in ordinary stone or freestone. I have the honor to be with the deepest respect
Sire
Your Majesty's
Most humble and obedient servant
Keith.)
!