cahn | Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 44

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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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From:

selenak

I can't read the biography right now - the reading I'm doing has RL precedence - but I had a quick look and saw good old Varnhagen gets out of the trap smoothly: he says when writing re: Seydlitz' youth as a page of the mad, bad and dangerous to know Schwedt cousin - aka the very one poor Sophie, younger sister of Fritz, was married to after Wilhelmine point blank refused him, and produced Ferdinand's future wife with, and the very Schwedt cousin whom Zimmermann suspected of having recced the quack who broke Fritz' penis when treating him for STD - didn't just result in early training in insane riding stunts but also in getting an early taste for "sensual indulgence" which Seydlitz never lost and which eventually killed him. You have to love the expression "sensual indulgence", because otoh, it's correct if you know what he's talking about, but otoh, it's just vague enough that Varnhagen doesn't have to worry getting into trouble with readers who prefer their Fritzian era heroes sex free, because after all, in theory, he could be talking about overindulding in wine and/or food.

(Varnhagen mentions that the Schwedt cousin was unhappily married to poor Sophie (though he's an Amalie eraser by claiming Sophie was the one youngest of FW's daughters), but doesn't appear to get more detailed than "sensual indulgence", at least not in the ten or so pages I read. Which still puts him ahead of the Charles Hanbury Williams biographer who has the marital fallout be for mysterious reasons and the later mental breakdown all because of stress and more mysterious reasons, because we can't say syphilis in print, it seems. (And he's writing in the 20th century, not in the 19th at a point when the infamous Karlsbad Decrets and press censorship still fully applied.

Speaking of that, this happened:

Fanny Lewald: as a female German-Jewish writer, I'm a big, big fan of your late wife, the legendary Rahel (Levin) (Varnhagen), Mr. Varnhagen van Ense, Sir, and I love that you published a selection of her letters ("Rahel. Ein Buch für ihre Freunde"). Alas I suspect you had to leave out some bits because of our evil censorship, am I right?

Varnhagen: You are. Also, I'm an old man now and feeling sentimental. You remind me a bit of Rahel and therefore I'm letting you peek into her correspondence with Pauline Wiesel, legendary courtesan. Rahel's first salon when she and Pauline could hang out with the Schlegels and a real life Hohenzollern prince: those were the days. Rahel even mediated between Pauline and Louis Ferdinand who were both sexy and hot tempered.

Fanny: OMG thank you! I happen to write a novel about Louis Ferdinand and will totally dedicate it in gratitude to you.

Novel: gets published, with dedication to Varnhagen

Varnhagen: Reads novel and realises it ahistorically has Rahel in love with Louis Ferdinand and suffering from his preferring shallow sexy Pauline

(Fanny: Was in unrequited love with her cousin Heinrich Simon who preferred shallow sexy Countess Ida)

Varnhagen: OMG! Rahel wasn't in love with Louis! And now because you dedicated the novel to me everyone will think I encouraged you to write this RPF! I'm never going to be taken seriously as a Fritzian historian again! There's not enough palm for my face!

Fanny: But you yourself said you didn't even know Rahel back then. Also, it's a novel. But fine, have it your way, I'll dedicate the second edition to someone else.

From:

cahn

;an early taste for "sensual indulgence" which Seydlitz never lost and which eventually killed him

Well! Like you say... that's an impressively vague-but-technically-correct synonym for "died of syphilis"!

Varnhagen: Reads novel and realizes it ahistorically has Rahel in love with Louis Ferdinand
Varnhagen: OMG!

LOLOLOLOL I can totally see Varnhagen objecting from the historian side! Though it's got to be especially weird when it's actually your own wife. I think if someone wrote RPF about my spouse and that RPF was actually incorrect, I'd be pretty freaked out.

Conclusion: on one hand, it's just a novel. On the other hand, also kind of weird! I understand both their POVs here :)

From:

selenak

To be fair, if someone wrote correct RPF about my spouse, I would find that difficult to take as well. But yeah. Again, Varnhagen - who was considerably younger than Rahel and fell in love and married her anyway - hadn't known her at the time the novel is set, but he was correctly sure she had not been in love with Louis Ferdinand.

Fanny: But your wife is the most interesting woman in that time set! She had to be my female main character! Louis' earlier main mistress Henriette Fromm is a drippy dull Zimperliese, and Pauline Wiesel with her sex life can't possibly be the heroine for my mid 19th century readership, not to mention that I don't find her as fascinating as your wife anyway! Also, having Rahel in unrequited love with Louis Ferdinand gives me the opportunity to VENT about how men look for "childlike" adoring women first, then get bored and blame the women, while all the the time overlooking the brilliant female writer who'd have been their true partner in life!

Varnhagen: Being a man who totally went for the brilliant female writer, I resent that generalisation. Also: Rahel would NOT have fallen for freaking Louis Ferdinand. If anyone, I always had my suspicions about her/Pauline.

Fanny: Did I mention I have to sell this novel to a mid 19th century audience and that I want to VENT?

Selena, reading: Meanwhile, I'm distracted by other issues. I get why you're called the German George Sand, but Fanny, your description "like all the Hohenzollern, he was tall and slim" made me snort. I mean. FW? Fritz? And okay, Heinrich was slim, but TALL?

Fanny: I use that description in the first encounter of Louis with his cousin FW3. Both of whom look fit and slim in their portraits.

Selena: You've let Louis Ferdinand describe himself as a descendant of Fritz der Einzige König twice already. He's got even less an excuse for this than bloody Wilhelm II a century later. Louis would happen to know he was Fritz' nephew. The whole reason why they called him Louis Ferdinand was because he was Louis, son of Ferdinand, the littlest brother of Fritz. Fritz HAD NO DESCENDANTS!

Fanny: I know that. But many of my readers are into Der Einzige and the closer I can tie him to Louis Ferdinand, the better.