Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 44

[cahn]

Not only are these posts still going, there is now (more) original research going on in them deciphering and translating letters in archives that apparently no one has bothered to look at before?? (Which has now conclusively exonerated Fritz's valet/chamberlain Fredersdorf from the charge that he was dismissed because of financial irregularities and died shortly thereafter "ashamed of his lost honor," as Wikipedia would have it. I'M JUST SAYING.)

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Dear old Wusterhausen

[selenak]

In my reading 1848 related books quest, I came across early feminist Louise Aston's "My Emancipation" pamphlet from 1847, where after getting kicked out of Berlin for being a cigar smoking male dress wearing divorced female religious non-conformist by the police, she describes her attempts to petition first the law and then the King (FW4) to reverse that judgment (btw, she didn't move far - to Köpenick, which at that time wasn't yet a part of Berlin), and how she's religiously examined, whereupon she says "I glaube, dass jeder nach seiner Facon seelig werden sollte", which is a pointed diss using one of Fritz' most famous sayings. She's not the first nor the last to play out Fritz as the symbol of the Enlightenment against current day Prussia (FW4 was very very religious), but as with other attempts, it didn't work. (BTW, these attempts do idealize Fritz, of course, though not in the matter of religious toleration and as Voltaire had put it, freedom of the penis, in which Prussia had taken a big big step backwards.) Anyway, this pointed comparison of Frederician Berlin vs pre-revolutionary Biedermeier Berlin made me go and have a short glimpse at one of the diaries.

I therefore had a very quick look into the Freylinghausen diary, and will definitely once I have the time translate at least three scenes, two of which we're familiar with as Ziebura's AW biography contains them (little AW successfully pleading for the deserter with all of the adults (SD, Seckendorff, Grumbkow, Freylinghausen) setting him up to, SD at last by threatening to have him whipped if he doesn't) als well as the Gundling biography (Freylinghausaen sitting between Gundling and an extremely monosyllabic Fritz, blissfully unaware (or pretending to be) of the awkwardness), one of which we aren't (FW makes Freylinghausen give Fritz a religious examination, which is exactly as painfully awkward a scene as you imagine it). There's also a double case of 18th century vs 19th century antisemitism when you compare the preface with the diary. Our editor brings up the conversation about Jews FW has with Freylinghausen as well as the not contained in the diary infamous story about FW forcing the boar he hunted on the Jews, but assures us that all of this only goes to prove how tolerant FW was towards the Jews, who were the economic enemy of the German people. That's classic 19th century antisemitism for you.

Meanwhile, those conversations in the diary circle around religion, showing FW once again as an outlier among his contemporaries. He's disturbed about his inability to consider the Jews as his Nächste - as in "Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst" (I don't know the classic English phrasing for this and can't look it up for lack of time - love thy neighbour?) He's also aware that Jesus and all the prophets and apostles were, in fact, Jews, which puts him one step ahead of antisemites a century and then two later, and decides his dislike is all about them refusing to acknowledge Jesus (very medieval of FW) and wants to know from Freylinghausen why they don't and how to go about converting them. (19th century antisemitism won't care about conversion, as the great many Jewish intellectuals converting in a last attempt to achieve respect will find out.) Freylinghausen's grand explanation about why Prussia's Jews won't become Protestants instantly, btw, is that Jews are put off by all the fairs and theatre performances on the Sabbath. FW and Seckendorff think that a hard working Protestant labourer deserves his bit of relaxing on the weekend, so nothing can be done there. This is old fashioned Antijudaism fixated on ideas of religion rather than ethnicity, with the caveat that we see this through Freylinghausen's perspective, and presumably he would report coloured by his own biases and interests. (FW also repeatedly discusses with him whether or not hunting is a sin, btw.)

Oh, and the editor is another Wilhelmine disser ("her completely exaggarated descriptions of her father are well known"). The irony is that while the diary does paint a more dimensional picture of FW (the main reason why Freylinghausen is there to begin with is to talk with FW about the orphanage he's leading, and FW's founding, keen interest in and financial support of schools, hospitals and orphanages are one of several reasons why some later historians make a case for his being the best ruler Prussia ever had in terms of inner politics (not in foreign policies), it supports everything Wilhelmine has ever written about family life at Dear Old Wusterhausen. (That religious examination scene alone...)

Fritz: And that's why I didn't want to go back there when Ulrike visited in 1770.
Self: You never displayed that much emotional intelligence before or after, and we're all very proud of you.

Re: Dear old Wusterhausen

[cahn]

Oooooh. I therefore had a very quick look into the Freylinghausen diary, and will definitely once I have the time translate at least three scenes, two of which we're familiar with

I'm looking forward to this!

as in "Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst"

Ah, thanks for that clarification, as I then understood :) (The classic (KJV) phrasing is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.)

He's also aware that Jesus and all the prophets and apostles were, in fact, Jews, which puts him one step ahead of antisemites a century and then two later

Huh, that particular thing is... it could be worse, which is not something I usually say about FW!

FW and Seckendorff think that a hard working Protestant labourer deserves his bit of relaxing on the weekend, so nothing can be done there.

Antisemitism aside, this is interesting to me -- in my Great Awakening-developed church, I'm used to the idea that proper Sabbath observance means no fairs/theater/entertainment on the Sabbath. But this is absurd to D and pretty much everyone I've talked to from his Lutheran church. (Interestingly, people at my church tend to be generally more OK with going to musical performances, possibly because we're always having people perform music at church and so it seems like a fuzzier line to say that one shouldn't go to other musical performances.)

and FW's founding, keen interest in and financial support of schools, hospitals and orphanages

OKAY FINE

it supports everything Wilhelmine has ever written about family life at Dear Old Wusterhausen.

...oof. I await more details :D

Fritz: And that's why I didn't want to go back there when Ulrike visited in 1770.
Self: You never displayed that much emotional intelligence before or after, and we're all very proud of you.

Lol! *pats Fritz's head*