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

[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