18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 36

[cahn]

Starting a couple of comments earlier than usual to mention there are a couple of new salon fics! These probably both need canon knowledge.

felis ficlets on siblings!

Siblings (541 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Summary:

Three Fills for the 2022 Three Sentence Ficathon.

Chapter One: Protective Action / Babysitting at Rheinsberg (Frederick/Fredersdorf, William+Henry+Ferdinand)
Chapter Two: Here Be Lions (Wilhelmine)

Unsent Letters fic by me:

Letters for a Dead King (1981 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen (1726-1802)
Characters: Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Love/Hate, Talking To Dead People, Canonical Character Death, Dysfunctional Family
Summary:

Just because one's king and brother is dead doesn't mean one has to stop writing to him.

Comments

More Lehndorff findings!

[mildred_of_midgard]

So that's your next mission, detective - did Meusel publish on the Lehndorff-Heinrich letters?

I haven't been able to find them! And this makes me think that maybe he didn't and that they don't survive, because that collection includes a lot of Lehndorff material from various sources (might be worth a look through for you), and yet I don't see any Heinrich letters.

I did find, among other things:

- Volz publishing 3 pages' worth of letters from FW2 to Lehndorff. Will upload if anyone wants them.

- A letter in the above collection from Lehndorff to Immanual Kant. (cahn, remember that Lehndorff's estate is in East Prussia, and Kant lived in Königsberg.) They apparently met, and Lehndorff was a fan.

- A description of FW's last days, death, and funeral, apparently by Lehndorff. (I didn't realize we had stuff from him from 1740, but the editor says, "On the basis of other individual diary sheets, it can be assumed that Lehndorff did not only start writing in 1750.")

- A review by Meusel of volume 2 of Lehndorff's diary. Surprisingly unfavorable! He says the repetition is too monotonous and should have been cut, the malicious gossip should have been cut, Schmidt misspells names, like "Borcke" as "Borck", Schmidt fails to verify the citations, Schmidt mistranslates French expressions, etc. In conclusion, Meusel says the reader will be grateful to Lehndorff for the useful information he provides when not gossiping, irritated with Schmidt for not doing a better job editing.

So I guess historical accuracy requires fratboy talk, but not "This person I don't like is terrible and everyone I know agrees with me" judgments. (Meusel actually says, "Would 'historical research' have suffered a loss if that kind of anonymous complaint had been cut?" Yes, Meusel, it tells us something about Lehndorff.)

Wait! Further detective work reveals more Lehndorff material! Later volumes of the Masovia series include the post-retirement diaries:
- 1775-1780
- 1781-1784
- 1785
- 1786-1787

I think the last two are new to us! Sadly, I think that's where it ends; there are only two more volumes of Masovia, going up to 1928, and I think that's when Schmidt died?

Okay, I will leave hunting for Lafayette in fall 1785 to the great selenak, but I had to check Fritz's death quickly. Lehndorff does mention it, but nothing about the fate of the dogs. Which is to be expected, since he's living in East Prussia. (His account of the death also differs slightly from the more firsthand ones we've seen, which is also to be expected.)

Also, geographical and nomenclature discoveries:

- Lötzen is the old German name of a town in Poland, today called Giżycko.
- It's about 10 km from Steinort, modern day Sztynort, home of the Lehndorff estate. This explains why our Schmidt is so interested in Lehndorff.
- Masovia/Mazovia is the name of a historical region in Poland. It borders Masuria, the historical region in which Sztynort and and Giżycko are located. This explains why the Masovia journal has so very much on the Lehndorff family, and is where the diaries were published.
- Schmidt's name is sometimes given as "Schmidt" (usually when referring to him as a person), "Schmidt in Lötzen", "Schmidt, Lötzen", and "Schmidt--Lötzen" (usually when referring to him as an author).
- Other authors' names in the volume are also sometimes given as "Name--Lötzen".

That clears that up!

I eagerly await gossipy sensationalism from 1785-1787. :D

Re: More Lehndorff findings!

[selenak]

I've downloaded the diaries I haven't read yet first (since the ones until and including 1784 were published as volume IV) and immediately have to share this Lehndorff entry on the occasion of Heinrich's birthday in 1785, on January 18th:

18. Januar: Gesegnet seist Du mir! Unter Deinem Lichte wurde mein Prinz Heinrich geboren!

Practice your German, and bear in mind Lehndorff is writing this well over thirty years after falling in love with the guy...

(Also, there's an earlier January entry where Fritz first is a jerk to various nobles in public - including a "oh, you're the one who was with Heinrich in Russia? can't have learned much, then!" remark - and then Lehndorff's kids want to see the King, and Lehndorff's son Heinrich gets to meet him, and Lehndorff frets and fears Fritz is going to be a jerk again, but no, he's kind and nice to the boy and Lehndorff decides he loves his King after all.)

Re: More Lehndorff findings!

[mildred_of_midgard]

I've downloaded the diaries I haven't read yet first (since the ones until and including 1784 were published as volume IV)

Yep, I was delighted to see the ones you'd asked for were digitized after all, then new ones to boot! Though I'm not sure if what we have constitutes the complete volume IV? 1775 seems to be summarized in half a page, and your write-up made it seem a little more fleshed out.

Anyway, new Lehndorff material! Christmas has come early! *rubs hands*

(I remember that back in 2019, Lehndorff really did come for Christmas. :D <3)

[Hit post too soon...]

Lehndorff frets and fears Fritz is going to be a jerk again, but no, he's kind and nice to the boy and Lehndorff decides he loves his King after all.)

Oh, Fritz. This is the thing everyone notices about him, even Lafayette. He's charming! He's abusive! He's charming! A kingdom of contradictions, as the title of Schieder's biography goes.

Also: Oh, Lehndorff.

Re: More Lehndorff findings!

[cahn]

<33 I've now read the longer posts (will probably not have time to reply to them tonight -- this has been really great, though! You are the best and most royal of readers! ) so I know more details, but also


18. Januar: Gesegnet seist Du mir! Unter Deinem Lichte wurde mein Prinz Heinrich geboren!

I got the second sentence but not the first! (I only know "Selig"...) And was kind of confused until I loaded it into Google translate, but unlike mildred I did figure out he was talking to the day :D Oh Lehndorff. You are something else.

Re: More Lehndorff findings!

[mildred_of_midgard]

My wife also figured it out the moment I told her! It's just me, apparently.