1740 and All That

Jochen Klepper's novel Der Vater is hands down one of the most famous and original German 20th century novels dealing with Prussian history, and also the one designed to get Fredericians protesting, as it is 900 plus pages of FW as the tragic hero of the tale. (SD is the villain.) Incidentally, the first time I read this novel I was still in school, and it was in a severely abriged version, only about 300 pages which centred on the father/son drama. At a guess, that edition existed because some post war publisher figured that the Fritz of it was why most readers were interested in FW. It wasn't until last year that I came across the complete, uncut version, which I read; this was also the first time I read Klepper
since aquiring enough historical knowledge to judge how Klepper works with or around the facts. With the caveat: what facts and research he had access to, writing in the 1930s in Nazi Germany as an harrassed Protestant theologian and writer with a Jewish wife and daughter who would end up committing suicide with them not rather than see them taken away to camps not too long after Der Vater became his success against the odds. I know a novel should speak for itself, but this biographical background of Klepper's is worth keeping in mind when looking at his characterisation of FW, why FW as a character spoke to him - keep in mind that the Third Reich had simultanously a cult of genius leader figures going, of which their distorted image of Friedrich II. was one; Klepper's FW is very much a counterpoint and antithesis to this, among other things. Klepper also had a strict pastor as a father himself, whom he was in conflict with, and trying to understand FW went hand in hand with trying to understand his father. Last not least, there was his own religious struggle to understand why God let the horror around him happen. After the war ended, Klepper's sister Hildegard gave his diary to the Allied trial against Adolf Eichmann where it was used evidence (in session 51).

So much for the author. On to the novel itself.

Some impressions: the 900 plus pages version is still immensely readable if you like well written 1920s/1930s style historical novels, which I do (by which I mean the language and psychology is of that time as much as it's rokoko when directly quoting from documents), and I can see from this version, as I could not from the 300 pages one, why so many literary historians say about Klepper's FW is that he's supposed to be a counter image to Hitler and Franco, the good, morally responsible ruler (despite being also a tragic human being) who reforms his country out of bankruptcy and despite his military fetish keeps it out of war. Klepper makes much of the lesson young FW draws from participating in the battle of Malplaquet in 1709, which was the bloodiest, most devasting European battle (as a part of the Spanish War of Succession - essentially, think old Louis XIV against the rest of Europe) of that century until the 7 Years War, which was on the one hand celebrating the anniversary with fellow veterans like Grumbkow and Seckendorff every year but on the other doing his best to ensure something like this does not happen again within his life time, at least not involving Prussian/Brandenburg armies.

Unsurprisingly, Klepper is good with FW's religious struggles throughout his life. If you do know more history, however, it's noticeable that he goes out of his way to mitigate FW's abusive streak (for which his behavior towards Fritz isn't the only example).

( How Klepper deals with Gundling, Doris Ritter, and Katte )

( Klepper's SD: Ron the Death Eater? )

( Klepper's Wilhelmine: Hermione in a Harry/Draco story )

( The FW/Fritz relationship: tragedy with a Grey Havens ending )

( Klepper: must have read Gustav Volz )

( On young FW falling in love with the future Queen of England )

( On who deflowered FW )

( Klepper's Fritz: Definitely Gay )

Overall: Klepper's FW is presented as tragic but essentially a good man with flaws, at in the end understood as such by his children, including the two oldest ones, with his painful death being written as both atonment (like I said, Katte's death isn't presented as necessary or justified by Prussian law, but strictly because FW has convinced himself he needs a replacement sacrifice for his oldest son to God, in which he's wrong) and martyrdom (FW dies as justified in the Lutherian sense). This is achieved by a lot of editing, hardly unusual for a historical novel, of course, but at least it is a novel, not a biography.