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

Re: II. Ferdinand

[cahn]

Meusel notes that the remark older Lehndorff wrote on his collection of Ferdinand letters is somewhat snarky (basically it says Ferdinand was an honorable man but not the brightest or firmest type), as opposed to the far more complimentary opinion Lehndorff voices in his diaries.

It also sounds like it's just one comment on the letters, vs. more opinions in the diaries?

How fortunate are people of brilliant abilities if they are able to impress certain people if they are plainly in the wrong!"

I dare say.

LOL!

My dear Count, a horse had to be killed under me and a wound graze my chin until I finally got letters from you; I am in a good mind to bless those who have inflicted them, for otherwise I believe I'd have been deleted from your memory entirely; if I should lose an arm or a leg one day, I shall at least get regular messages from you.

Aww!

she has never missed an opportunity to give me proof of her love, her benevolence and her amiability when interacting with me

Amalie: WORSE. THAN. DAD.

Oh, who would have said then that I was to leave him without ever seeing him again!

This whole passage is just heartbreaking :(

I tell you this since I know you are interested in anything pleasant what happens to this dear and admirable brother.

Aww, Ferdinand, this is such a sweet and, well, understated way of phrasing this, I'm a fan <3

I love that Ferdinand actually is kind about EC, and concerned about future FW2, and gives Lehndorff news about Heinrich. I feel like I get the sense from your writeups that, okay, Ferdinand wasn't super sharp/witty like Fritz, or Heinrich, or Amalie :) -- which of course we already knew in spades! -- but he does in fact come across in these excerpts as kind and just really a nice person. (And he was the only one to have a reasonably functional marriage, by which I mean the only brother who wasn't horrible to his wife, right?)

Re: II. Ferdinand

[mildred_of_midgard]

And he was the only one to have a reasonably functional marriage, by which I mean the only brother who wasn't horrible to his wife, right?

Yes, but also: the only one who was allowed to choose his wife. There are benefits to being ignored... (AW would have been unfaithful to his wife regardless, though, I'm sure.)

Re: II. Ferdinand

[selenak]

I wouldn't bet against it, even if AW had married Mina or Sophie von Voss. Otoh, I do think he'd have treated either better in general than Fritz and Heinrich treated EC and Mina, respectively, even once the first passion was over.

Re: II. Ferdinand

[selenak]

It also sounds like it's just one comment on the letters, vs. more opinions in the diaries?

Yes. And the 1780s diaries have nothing critical about Ferdinand, he's a good friend. Otoh, it's noticable that when Lehndorff looks back, he writes he became attached to AW and Heinrich, not AW, Heinrich and Ferdinand. (It's not the only rewriting of the past he does, see other comments, but it's probably telling that this is how he remembers it decades later.)

I feel like I get the sense from your writeups that, okay, Ferdinand wasn't super sharp/witty like Fritz, or Heinrich, or Amalie :) -- which of course we already knew in spades! -- but he does in fact come across in these excerpts as kind and just really a nice person.

He does. It's worth recalling, though, that Ferdinand proved he, too, shared the Hohenzollern capacity for jerkness on at least two occasions. Firstly, when he changed his behaviour towards Mina from being her friend and flirting with her to being icy towards her and talking negatively about her. This was before the 7 Years War had ended but after AW's death. And the other thing is that Ferdinand when Heinrich died and left Rheinsberg to Ferdinand's son Louis, who was Heinrich's favorite nephew, badgered Louis into letting him have Rheinsberg instead using the argument that it would go to Louis eventually anyway. (It didn't, because Louis died a battlefield death against Napoleon and Ferdinand outlived him.) Also, the impression I get from Rahel Varnhagen's letters - Rahel, the wittiest and most famous Berlin salonniere of her day, was bff with Louis' favouritee mistress and thus also with Louis - is that both Ferdinand and his wife treated Louis as the unfavourite despite having made him give up Rheinsberg.

All this said, humans are capable of many emotions, and in both cases the loss of a brother might have played a role. Other than that, though, Ferdinand comes across as nice and kind, definitely in these letters to Lehndorff.

Young Fritz to Manteuffel: This is a demon kid, the worst of my father's spawn. Future menace!
Early 1750s Fritz in his last will: To Ferdinand, who has always shown me friendship. (Hope you're listening, Henri the brat!)

Re: II. Ferdinand

[cahn]

Otoh, it's noticable that when Lehndorff looks back, he writes he became attached to AW and Heinrich, not AW, Heinrich and Ferdinand. (It's not the only rewriting of the past he does, see other comments, but it's probably telling that this is how he remembers it decades later.)

Oh, yeah, that's interesting.

And yes, thanks for the less-nice examples as well. :) It's also good to know he wasn't perfect!

Early 1750s Fritz in his last will: To Ferdinand, who has always shown me friendship. (Hope you're listening, Henri the brat!)

LOLOLOLOL I had forgotten about this! I still love it. Oh Fritz :D