1740 and All That

1. Two reports written by Hofrat König (undercover Saxon envoy) in 1740, which can be found in Volz' "Spiegel". One of them is even all about Keyserlingk, titled "Report on the character of the current Royal Prussian Favourite, Baron von Keyserlingk, and my secret conversations with him". König says they met when Keyserlingk visited Dresden (unclear when) and became good friends, and he gives quite a few verbatim and paraphrased quotes, even says he got to read some of Fritz' poetry and letters to Keyserlingk (who also read said poetry to him, ha).

( some details )


2. Early Days and Picking Keyserlingk Discussion

( Fritz would much rather have Keyserlingk than a wife! But FW seems not as keen on Keyserlingk as he once was... )


3. Fritz Poetry and Letters of Grief

Since the Fritz/Keyerlingk correspondence - described as "lively" - went missing (or "missing") very early on, there are no letters between them to read, but some Keyserlingk related poetry survived, and Fritz occasionally talks about Keyserlingk to other people (particularly after his death in 1745).

( Read more... )


4. mildred_of_midgard: A few other descriptions of Keyserlingk.

Bielfeld, at Rheinsberg: ( Read more... )

Bielfeld on Keyserlingk right after Fritz becomes king: ( Read more... )

Wilhelmine, not a fan, writing about FW's choice of governors for Fritz: ( Read more... )

And Pöllnitz (copied from Hamilton's Rheinsberg volume, including the ellipses): ( Read more... )


5. Keyserlingk's Marriage and Eulogy

( Marriage Discussion )

And some more info from Keyserlingk's eulogy: ( Read more... )