1740 and All That

Continuing on the note of "contemporary envoy reports are a gold mine", we give you the 1728 - 1733 reports of Wilhelm Stratemann, envoy of the Duchy Braunschweig/Brunswick, whose employers would end up marrying three of their offspring to three of FW's children (Fritz marries Elisabeth Christine, AW marries Louise, Charlotte marries the next Duke of Brunswick), on the fateful years when Hohenzollern family life went from dysfunctional to death sentences for boyfriends and intermittent imprisonment for the oldest son and daughter, respectively. The way Stratemann spins this saga into the most wholesome FW praising account any envoy (including FW's pal Seckendorff, the Imperial envoy at the time) has given yet is something to behold. Furtherly, bear mind this edition of the reports, edited by one Richard Wolff, was published before World War One, which meant that Hohenzollern censorship still applied. This said, Stratemann, with his detailed focus on royal family stories and lack of access to hardcore secret political negotiations, does provide a treasure trove of what would later be called "human interest" stories and useful details on anything from how FW and family celebrated Christmas to the seating chart of Wilhelmine's wedding banquet.

( So, who was Stratemann? )

But before getting to the Katte relevant reports, let's have some pre-escape attempt wholesome family life. As mentioned, Strateman got his political intel generally either via rumors or as crumbs from Seckendorff whom he tried to hang out with as often as he could, and thus it's frequently slightly or strongly off the mark. Otoh, he clearly did have a source among the staff in the royal household, whom I have identified based on several factors listed below as the governess of the Princess Sophie (and her two younger sisters, Ulrike and Amalie), and thus anything that happens with the kids is usually first hand. It is pronounced how he flings himself into these stories as opposed to reporting anything like that the other envoys (say, Suhm for Saxony or Dickens for Great Britain) report about the father/ oldest son or husband/wife clashes. So instead of stories about Fritz getting yelled at, you get stories about AW getting gifted with miniature canons and indulged in his love for fireworks. Until it really, really becomes unavoidable to report something else, what with a locked up Crown Prince.

( A happy royal family and their shenanigans: 1728 till the escape attempt )

With this background, and no word on FW humiliating Fritz in front of the army at Zeithain, the fateful summer trip by father and son being used as an escape attempt comes completely out of the blue. As I mentioned earlier, Stratemann hasn't heard about it (or at least doesn't mention it) as late as August 18th, at which point all the other envoys know, and when he does report Katte's arrest, he doesn't mention Fritz by name as the reason of it. He keeps reporting through September and October that the father/son reconciliation is imminent, that FW if anything will lessen Katte's sentence, that all will be well. Then comes November with its execution, of which Stratemann suddenly has far better intel than he used to in matters Crown Prince and Katte. And he has a fascinating follow-up on this in the middle of his wholesome family anecdotes, as none other than little August Wilhelm has heard about Katte's demise.

( Katte and the Consequences: The Disney Version )

So much fo Katte. Back to Hohenzollern family affairs.

( How to celebrate Christmas and break your oldest daughter to your will )

( On marrying your oldest daughter and son and the difficulties of replacing your court historian )

( Aftermath: Crown Prince not blissfully happy after all? )

The rest of the dispatches has the news that Wilhelmine has written she's really happy with her new husband in Bayreuth, the Protestant religious refugees from Salzburg arrive, and then there's the sudden time jump of a year to 1733 when Fritz gets married. No more interesting stuff. But no matter; Stratemann certainly delivered before that.

Since imo if there's a radio active core at the bottom of the fraternal hateship Fritz/Heinrich, it's what happened with brother August Wilhelm more than anything else, including Fritz' behavior in war (though the two are connected), I thought I might present some collected details from the letters in the Trier archive and those biographer Ziebura made available. With the Greeks, before every tragedy, there is a farce. The tragedy happens in 1757/1758, the farce happens in the summer of 1749.

( Brotherly Conduct I: The Prelude )

( Brotherly Conduct II: The Main Act )

( Brotherly Conduct III: The Aftermath )


Addendum: ( The same event as presented by Fritz to his reader Henri de Catt )

Eva Ziebura wrote several Hohenzollern biographies which have proved to be fantastic sources. In this post, I’m collecting my quotes and summarizing of her biography on August Wilhelm (second son of FW, Crown Prince during Fritz‘ reign until his untimely death), her biography of Heinrich (third son, life long alter ego, key hater and key supporter of his brother in one) and one of the three unwanted wives of Fritz, August Wilhelm (AW) and Heinrich.

( August Wilhelm )

( Three Unwanted Wives for Three Brothers )

( Heinrich )

Summarizing and quotes from the diaries of Ernst Ahasverus Count von Lehndorfff, Chamberlain to Elisabeth Christine, Queen of Prussia.

Lehndorfff was appointed to this office by Fritz at age 19 in 1746. He kept it for thirty years. During that time, he got close to various members of the royal family, especially Prince Heinrich. His journals are a source a lot of biographies draw from.

A collection of the diaries was published in 1907 which, however, left out significant parts; the editor subsequently published them in two further volumes of appencies.

( Summary and quotes from the three volumes )

Individual aspects of Lehndorff’s diaries:

( Lehndorff and Heinrich )

( Lehndorff and Charles Hotham )

( Lehndorff and the Kattes )