Prussian History - Blog Posts

Today- January 24- is the day that Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia) was born in 1712. He was a great king and military strategist. He was thoroughly abused by his father throughout his childhood. His father hated everything French, while Frederick loved France. He spoke and wrote mostly in French- though his father wanted him to learn German. Frederick’s later best friend was Voltaire, a French philosopher. Frederick HATED his father. He wished to be buried by his six Italian Greyhounds instead of by his father (though he was later put in a tomb beside his father after he died. Eventually, in 1952, they properly buried him by his dogs as he had wished). In 1730, Frederick attempted to run away to England with his tutor/friend/probable lover, Hans Hermann von Katte. Frederick was 18 at the time; Katte was 26. Frederick’s father later executed Katte on November 6 of the same year. He had some guards forcibly hold Frederick against the bars of the window as he watched Katte be decapitated by his father.

Frederick, when he later became king in 1740, served as an amazing ruler and did many great things for his country. He won many battles and was a very interesting historical figure. After he died, Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican military strategist and Emperor of France, visited his tomb on October 26, 1806 and said, “Messieurs, nous ne serions pas là s'il était ici” (gentlemen, we would not be here if he were alive).

Frederick the Great was also idolized by Adolf Hitler, who went so far as to have a picture of him hung up.

Hitler’s obsession with Frederick did numbers on the dead king’s reputation during World War Two because he had been turned into a symbol of Nazism.

He's a very interesting historical figure and this barely begins to tell his story. If you'd like to learn more, here’s a few of videos that I learned a lot from!