In conclusion, if I were going to date this, I would tentatively date it to 1727-1728. 1729 is a possibility, but Peter and Fritz were trying to escape from Potsdam in November 1729, and this doesn't seem consistent with that. Of course, Fritz possibly means, "Come visit me so we can talk about things I don't dare put in writing," so 1729 is not ruled out.
I'm with you there. 1729 isn't impossible, but 1728 is more likely. I mean, Fritz had a bad time in Dear Old Wusterhausen in 1727, 1728, 1729, so that criteria doesn#t give much away by itself, but....
However, your point about autumn being Wusterhausen time is an excellent one: for Fritz being especially miserable, for Peter being separated from them (minimal servants--as we saw, there was no place for anyone to sleep anyway!), and for Peter being able to sneak out and come visit.
*nods* The minimum staff factor really makes Wusterhausen the choice over Potsdam palace or the Berlin town palace, so page!Peter is not required to attend FW, and having been there, Wusterhausen is close enough that you can go there on horseback from Berlin and still be back before the next morning (if Peter has to report to whoever is in charge of the pages).
It would be worth cross-checking Stratemann for when Fritz and FW left Wusterhausen in 1727-1729.
That sounds like a good idea but alas I really don't have the time right now. felis? But I did think of another possible way to exclude one of the years - when was it that FW was really really sick in the late 20s? Because presumably once that happened, he'd been moved to Berlin to have more doctors able to attend him?
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Re: Letter from Fritz...to Peter?
Date: 2023-06-23 08:06 am (UTC)I'm with you there. 1729 isn't impossible, but 1728 is more likely. I mean, Fritz had a bad time in Dear Old Wusterhausen in 1727, 1728, 1729, so that criteria doesn#t give much away by itself, but....
However, your point about autumn being Wusterhausen time is an excellent one: for Fritz being especially miserable, for Peter being separated from them (minimal servants--as we saw, there was no place for anyone to sleep anyway!), and for Peter being able to sneak out and come visit.
*nods* The minimum staff factor really makes Wusterhausen the choice over Potsdam palace or the Berlin town palace, so page!Peter is not required to attend FW, and having been there, Wusterhausen is close enough that you can go there on horseback from Berlin and still be back before the next morning (if Peter has to report to whoever is in charge of the pages).
It would be worth cross-checking Stratemann for when Fritz and FW left Wusterhausen in 1727-1729.
That sounds like a good idea but alas I really don't have the time right now.