Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts

[selenak]

This was not just an but the most famous, most expensive GDR tv production, and somehow I didn't watch it until this last week. The title is somewhat misleading, since it's All Saxony, (Nearly) All The Time, and Prussia only has two cameos (in episode 2) in the first four episodes, not becoming equally important in terms of location and character until the last two episodes (which are set early in the Seven Years War). The miniseries is loosely based on a a series of novels by a nineteenth century Polish author collectively referred as "the Saxon series". If he already took liberties with history, the show then added some. Something else to keep in mind: it was created in the 1980s. The first few decades, East Germany found dealing with its Hohenzollern past a bit tricky. On the one hand, imperial feudalism = BAD, obviously. On the other hand, by the 1980s, the GDR was in dire need of money, tourists were an income, and national pride was a thing again. And given the content of this miniseries, I also suspect someone in the production team said: "You know how they're all glued to the tv screen in the west, watching these decadent American shows where people have sex and scheme all the time? We can do that, too, with more nudity than the Yanks and way better fashion, and still justify it as national heritage!"

Keep this in mind as I give you the summary of the six episodes:

( Episode 1 + 2: Countess Cosel, or: Anne Boleyn in Saxony )

( Episodes 3 + 4: Brühl, or: The J.R. Ewing of the Rococo Age )

( Episodes 5 + 6: 7 Years War, or: In which Fritz becomes a main character )

And now for the screencaps:

( Fritzian Screenshots from the above )