A voice from the past

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books, Frederic II, philosophy, Prussia, Sans Souci, Whippets

Frederic II the Great

Recently I wrote about reading the political philosophy of Frederic II of Prussia, (1712-1786), without a doubt the greatest King of Prussia of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

What I found fascinating about these books, there are several books in one presentation, you are actually reading what he wrote, so it is his thoughts and his voice, not that of some author interpreting what was said or a discussion on what it all meant then and now. It is rare that you can read a book which is so direct, similar to having a conversation with Frederic II. The only other book I read some years ago was the correspondence of Louis XVI on the events around him as the revolution struck in France. Correspondence to other family members and princes, trying to make sense of a situation he did not fully understand and the danger he and his family faced. There is also similar correspondence between Marie-Antoinette and Queen Charlotte in London, the Prussian wife of George III, full of anxiety and fear but also very dignified. I remember seeing the original letters in Rome, they are in a private collection, on beautiful paper, she had a very nice hand and it is quite easy to read.

Frederic II in his first book attacks Niccolo Machiavelli and his book The Prince written in 1532 for the Medici Prince in Florence. Machiavelli was hoping to get a job with the Medici, he did not and it is not clear that the Prince ever read his book dedicated to him.

In his own time, Machiavelli was known as the author of histories, poems, and plays (including a widely produced popular comedy). Respected as a statesman, he represented Florence on foreign missions and wrote reports admired for their style and substance. But the Catholic Church censured Machiavelli for his criticism of Christianity and for the tone and content of the political counsel he offered, especially in The Prince. By the seventeenth century, the name Machiavelli had become synonymous with diabolical cunning, a meaning that it still carries today. Modern readers exhibit the same ambivalence about Machiavelli himself, alternately recognizing him as a precursor of the discipline of political science and recoiling from the ruthless principles he frequently articulates. Both views of Machiavelli, as innovative modernist and cynical politician, have their origins in The Prince.

Frederic II as a Prince and Sovereign presents his views chapter by chapter and why The Prince is an awful book according to him because of its lack of ethics and morals and the promotion of fear of the ruler amongst the people. According to Frederic if your subjects fear you they will hate you and you will gain nothing. Frederic is also against the use of mercenaries in armies which was a common practice in his time by several princes in Europe. He does not think much of these Italian Princes who rule small Principality like Tuscany. He sees them as mediocre rulers.

Frederic II, promotes telling the truth to people and to other Princes, being honest, being tolerant of other peoples religions and differences, maintaining a strong civil government and freedom of conscience, he writes; a Prince must remain neutral and not encourage one group over another. During his reign he will welcome to Prussia, Jews and Huguenots from all over Europe and specially France. He is also very much opposed to war for the sake of grabbing territory and empire build, he writes think of the horrible misery war creates for all and the social ills they bring, warning Princes to be more aware of how the population and youth feels about wars in general. On the other hand he promotes what he calls a just war, one where your enemy attacked you and you defend yourself and your State, in such cases you have no choice but to give a strong response. He goes further in writing that men are born free and must not be slaves to their King. This is a direct criticism of other rulers in France and Austria. He praises the Constitutional Parliaments of England and the Netherlands as models to follow, is political allies, the King of England being his nephew. He advocates for limits on the power of rulers like himself and an independent judiciary, concept which would be championed by the new American Republic, he will be the first Sovereign in Europe to recognize the new Republic.

What is also fascinating about Frederic II is his attitude to Monarchs who sought to have him killed, Austria’s Empress Maria-Theresa being one, Empress Elizabeth of Russia being another, he always maintained polite cordial correspondence with them, despite the threat. The only time he lost his cool was during a battle when his beloved dogs small Italian Greyhounds or Whippets who accompanied him everywhere were dognapped by Austrian soldiers. They were returned after a few days, Frederic II was livid with the Austrians for what he thought cowardice on their part. He also had a love of horses and his favourite was Conde, the one depicted in the famous equestrian monument on Unter den Linden, he rides down the avenue.

The Philosopher King reputation as he became known suffered greatly after his death, not having children to succeed him, his nephew and the more conservative elements of his family took on a very different agenda. By 1860 and the politics of Chancellor Bismarck were clearly regressive and belligerent towards other European countries. By 1933 the Nazi used Frederic’s re-fashioned his image to one of warmonger in a series of nazi propaganda film he is portrayed as belligerent towards everyone. He probably would have been horrified by this portrayal. He did not do much better after 1945 with the Strategic Eastern Part of historical/governmental Berlin under Communist rule who either demolished historical building or blackened his image.

In 1991 with a re-united Germany, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, some 234 years after his death, in an Official ceremony reburies Frederic II with his dogs in the garden of his favourite home Sans Souci has he wished in the vault he had built for himself. It is a beautiful simple site and fitting for a man who had a progressive view of the world.

Frederic II the Great on the right and his 10 dogs to the left in the Gardens at Sans Souci, Potsdam.

Completed

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Berlin, City Palace, Humboldt Forum, Kaiser, Prussia

A piece of news, the Humboldt Forum, the newest museum in Berlin devoted to the ideas of the Humboldt brothers formerly known as the City Palace has opened to the public.

Here is an afternoon picture of the Main Western facing entrance to the Palace. It is located on the Museum Island in central Berlin at the end of Unter den Linden ave. across the street from the Berlin Lutheran Cathedral and all 6 museums. In the background is the Communication tower built by the Communist regime in the 1970’s and Alexander Platz.

Photo du jour

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Calvinist, Church, Germany, Lutheran, Potsdam, Prussia

This photo was probably taken around 1900 in Potsdam in the State of Brandenburg. Potsdam was the Royal Capital of Prussia, it is about 30 km outside Berlin an easy suburban train ride from the city centre.

The Garnison (Garrison) Church of Potsdam a Protestant church in the historic centre of Potsdam. Built by order of King Frederick William I of Prussia according to plans by Philipp Gerlach from 1730 to 1735, it was considered as a major work of Prussian Baroque architecture.

The church burnt down in 1945, shortly before the end of the Second World War, after a bomb attack. In 1968, at the time of the division of Germany, the GDR leadership had the church blown up for ideological reasons. This makes the former Garrison Church one of the 60 or so church buildings destroyed under the East German Communist regime.

In 2018, the re-building started and visitors marvel at the spectacular foundation work: 38 bored piles are turned at a depth of 38 metres to lay the foundations for the new 90-metre-high building.

The first freely elected town councillors met in the Garrison Church from 1809. Calvinists and Lutherans formed the first union here in 1817. As a place of remembrance of German history and as a forum for peace and reconciliation. A highlight will be at 57-metre-high viewing platform with a wide view over Potsdam. The historic carillon 0f 35 bells in the 90-metre-high tower dome will also sound again.

In 1966 the ruins of the church before it was demolished.

A new book

Tags

Biden, biography, Enlightenment, Frederick the Great, President, Prussia, Rousseau, USA

First I want to show you this photo published on a friend’s account of President Elect Joe Biden and his spouse and their 2 dogs Champ and Major who is a rescue dog. I really liked Biden as VP during the Obama Presidency. It is also good for Canada to have such a neighbour. PM Trudeau already has a good relationship with Biden and we think of it as the third Obama term.

I am always looking for new titles and new books that might be interesting to read. I always like to have a look first, read a few pages so I can have a feel for the book. The current book I am reading now I first heard of it by going to the Princeton Press where it was advertised as coming out in the Fall. The Writings of Frederick II the Great is edited by Avi Lifschitz and translated by Angela Scholar,

Frederick II The Great of Prussia, 1712-1786. Born in Berlin, died at Sans Souci, Potsdam.

I do love to read historical research and biographies it can be somewhat erudite at times but I enjoy it, always have. To give an example a few years ago I spotted a book on Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply in the ancient world. Since some of these aqueducts still work today and give excellent clean drinking water, I wanted to learn more about how they were built and maintained. I also read the book of Giles MacDonogh, Frederick the Great, published in 1999.

This current book is entitled Frederick the great’s Philosophical Writings, covering a range of topics he wrote about. As a young Prince age 16 and then as King of Prussia he wrote a lot on philosophy, he also wrote poetry, entertained a lively correspondence with many Enlightenment Age philosophers, Rousseau, Voltaire, D’Alembert and he also wrote 100 music compositions and performed at his Court for his friends. The simple fact that as a head of State he wrote by his own hand and did not ask an eminent person to ghost write for him was in 18 century Europe a eyebrow raising novelty, no other prince or King did that and many other Heads of State thought this very peculiar. Thing is that Frederick’s mother Sophia Dorothea of Hanover encouraged him and he received a very good education for his time. On the other hand his father King Frederick Wilhelm I, was alarmed by this type of enlightened education.

Some of the concepts he developed was based on his own personal beliefs. He wrote on the limits of the powers of the State in an age of absolute monarchies. He abolished torture and reform the bureaucracy, he allowed non-nobles to rise up to senior positions, implemented basic education for all. He loved sciences and invited many scientists to come and work in Prussia. He favoured religious tolerance, unlike his father who was a strict Calvinist, Frederick was a sceptic on religion. He invited persecuted French Huguenots to come to Prussia. He also believed in trade and what we call today globalism, to him this was a way to achieve ‘‘luxury’‘ for the people or a higher standard of living. Many of his ideas would be adopted by the Founding Fathers of the USA. He was amongst the first King in Europe to recognize the new Republic and in 1783 signed a treaty with the USA, one clause was about the humane treatment of war prisoners, again a first for the age.

Frederick died aged 74 in 1786 and his reputation as philosopher King started to change after 1860 for political reasons and to advance the new political reality under Chancellor Bismarck. Instead of Frederick the enlighten ruler, we get Frederick the war monger. His reputation is further tarnished by the Nazis and Hitler who offer a completely different narrative more fiction than reality, based entirely on the various conflicts during his reign. It is true that Frederick was a brilliant strategist and had a very well trained army. In Prussia the ratio was one soldier for 4 citizens in a Kingdom with a population of 2.5 million people. French statesman Count Mirabeau, famously said that Prussia was not a country with an army but an army with a country.

Photos on a sunny Sunday

Tags

Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany, Kaiser, palace, Prussia

Here is a nice photo of the Imperial Palace in Berlin now free of scaffoldings and seen from the Western side of the Spree River in Central Berlin.

Here is a second photo taken from the Palace Bridge, landscaping work and completion of a new metro station continues. Opening date October 2021.

final touches

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art., culture, Empire, Germany, Hohenzollern, palace, Prussia

Daily I follow the changes around the final touches in the re-building of the Berlin City Palace now known as the Humboldt Forum which was set to open this September 2020, but now it has been postponed to October 2021. The Pandemic cut the working construction crews by 25% many unable to return to work after Easter. There is a lot of details to attend to in terms of landscaping and installing new central heating system which runs in huge pipes along the street on the South side of the Palace. On the North side facing the Lutheran Cathedral and the Museums, gardens and trees have been planted. The East facade looking at Alexander Platz across the Spree River is being completed. On the West facade which is the main gate of the Palace the last scaffolding is coming down on Portal III, one big element that is missing is the bronze cartouche at the top of the triple gate, which according to plans is in the making by the same group of artisans who made the lantern with the dancing angels for the dome of the palace. It is truly work requiring a lot of attention to detail and the artisans belong to another era. Lucky that such artists like Andreas Hoferick can still be found. He is responsible for all the baroque elements of the palace, the numerous statues and cartouche that can be seen. He has worked on many projects all over Germany involving historical reconstructions. www.hoferick.com

The draft design on paper before the casting in bronze.

the cartouche will be attached to the stone facade with hooks. Below is a photo of what it looked like in 1920.

The final recreated cartouche will also be embellished with gold leaf. It is a fairly large element and is part of the 105 million Euros raised through public donations for the portion paid by the public. Total cost of this project is 750 million Euros.

This Summer as the palace was approaching the final phase, a Court case made the headlines in newspapers in Germany. It turns out that the former Royal Family of Germany and it’s head, Prince Georg Frederich of Prussia are asking the German Government for the return of their palaces and art collections which includes art work in several German Museums some of which are just across the street from the Palace. In Potsdam alone there are 5 palaces of various sizes. In Berlin one is now the Presidential Palace, Bellevue, the other would be the Charlottenburg Palace. The City Palace was the main one but in its new incarnation it is a vast conference centre, library, museum and restaurant. The German Government have won the latest round in Court. The legal argument is in the German Constitution of May 1949 which establishes the new German Federal Republic and its basic Law. In it the text states that any claimant of former properties must prove that their family had no connection or did not belong to the NSDAP (Nazi Party). Though the Prince who was born in 1976 and his father had no links whatsoever, his grandfather the Crown Prince and his great grandfather the former Kaiser in exile, uncles and cousins had links or were members of the Nazi party until 1942. So the Court rejected his claim which was seen as an over reach by the public. The family is quite wealthy and has the ancestral Hohenzollern castle in Southern Germany including the Prussian Crown Jewels and many other assets.

Castle Hohenzollern in Baden-Wurttenberg. It is open to the public https://www.burg-hohenzollern.com/startseite.html

Un po’ di musica

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Arts, composer, culture, Germany, Prussia, UK

When things look dark, I look to the age of the Baroque (1600-1750) and I think of Georg Frideric Handel (1685- 1759) born in Halle, Brandenburg. He worked for the Prince Elector of Hanover who would later become George I of England. In England he worked for the Duke of Chandos and Queen Anne. On the accession of  George I, his old patron re-hired him. His career as Court composer continued with George II & Queen Caroline. He lived at the same time as Frederic II the Great (1712-1786) in the Age of Enlightenment. It was a golden age for the Arts, Music, decorative and architectural style, an age of Princes who promoted their Court by encouraging artists and musicians. Handel was one of many popular, talented and well known musician of the time, Princes invited him to come and work for them.

Artist: Jan Peerce, tenor (with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Hans Schwieger) Title: “Love Sounds the Alarm” from Handel’s “Acis and Galatea” (HWV 49) Album: “Jan Peerce sings Handel Arias” Label: Westminster Cat No: WTC 163 Release Year: 1962

23:45 Berlin time

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Architecture, art., City Palace, Hohenzollern, Humboldt Forum, Prussia

Because of the size of the lantern to be hoisted on top of the dome of the City Palace as of 6am on Friday 29 May, if the winds are calm, it was transported late this evening in 2 sections, bottom and top on large flatbed trucks through the streets of Berlin. It will stay in the front yard of the City Palace until Friday.

Here is a webcam shot take as it arrives at the Palace. This is the top part which is shame like Palm leaves.

this is the bottom part with balustrade, missing here are the 8 winged angels as caryatid holding up the top part with palm leaves and the gold plated cross. Probably will be brought tomorrow for the final assembly of all parts.

Will look for it in day light tomorrow to have a better view of the area.

I also found this photo of the artists/workers applying the gold leaf to the lettering around the blue ring at the base of the dome which is visible from afar. Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. The dome of the palace is his creation.

King Frederich Wilhelm IV was an evangelical Lutheran and a staunch conservative, unlike his uncle Frederich II the Great, who did not bother much with religion, his political decision in 1845 had repercussions on the history of Prussia and Germany for 100 years. This is an amalgamation of passages in Acts 4:12 and Philippians 2.9-11 the inscription says:

There is no other salvation, there is no other name given to men so that at the name of Jesus, in honor of the Father, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth.  

 

More photos

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Brandenburg, City Palace, Germany, Hohenzollern, Humboldt Forum, Prussia

The project of rebuilding the City Palace in Berlin is now coming to a close. Though a few days ago it was announced that there will be a delay to opening up the new museum because of Covid19 only 70% of workers are accessing the site at this time, social distancing etc. On the web cam you can see that all the workers outside are keeping a good distance from each other. Inside the building is pretty much completed what is missing now are the technical permissions from inspectors, sign off on all phases of this project and that is another delay. Given that this is a massive project and with many technical aspects, I am not surprised.

Here are photos of the completed dome minus the famous lantern on top which is coming in a few weeks to be installed by helicopter. I still want to see that and there will be a YouTube video about it for sure, not everyday you install a 16 ton lantern all the way up there.

Another fantastic project under way now, in Russia this time, is the completion of the renovations at the Alexander Palace in Tsarkoe Selo near St-Pertersburg.

The palace was the last residence of Tsar Nicholas II and his family before their arrest and deportation to their place of execution. He and his family have been rehabilitated by the Russian authorities and deemed victims of Bolchevik terror in 1918. The restoration required an army of gifted artisans to recreate rooms from rumble. Though in that typical ghoulish aspect of Bolchevik thinking every object belonging to the Imperial family was saved and warehoused and archived.

I will put up some photos of that restoration, it is quite marvellous, so much hard work, the Palace is re-opening to visitors in 2022.

Berlin the copper clad dome of the City Palace free of its scaffolding.

This morning 13 May, view from the Crown Prince Palais. The blue ring inscription around the dome is a prayer to God, the dome area was a Lutheran Chapel.

A closer view from the Commandature Palace, housing Bertelsmann a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group. This company had the former palace of the Commandant of the guards re-built on Unter Den Linden avenue some 10 years ago.

View of the North Side of the City Palace from the Lust Garden. In this reconstruction of the Palace a restaurant has been added on the roof, it should have quite a nice view of the city. Looks like Spring has arrived in Berlin, the Linden trees are in leaf.

 

16 tons

Tags

City Palace, Germany, Humboldt Forum, Prussia

I did not know that you could lift with a giant helicopter some 16 tons. This is the weight of the Lantern to be installed on top of the dome, some 350 feet above ground, a delicate installation. Military grade helicopters can lift much more.

At the end of May this is what is schedule to happen, the lantern on the dome of the City Palace will be lifted up and delicately lowered and installed. The requirement is for a windless day, a certain stillness in the air so to speak. I am sure it will be quite the show to see this happen. It is also not clear how they will get the Lantern to the City Palace. The workshop is at some distance. Will they fly it over by helicopter to the site? Possibly.

Here is a photo in the workshop with the balustrade and one bronze angel assembled. The entire Lantern is over 35 feet in height. This photo does not give a correct appreciation of the size of this Lantern which will sit at the top of the dome.

You may recall that in an earlier post I mentioned that in rebuilding the City Palace in Berlin now known as the Humboldt Forum, it was important to involve the general public and reflect the historical past of Berlin from 1445.  It was King Frederick Wilhelm IV (1795-1861) who was a very religious man, who had the dome designed along Christian iconography. It is in direct contrast with the other palace courtyard with Greek gods of antiquity designed earlier by architect/sculptor Andreas Schlüter (1664-1714) who worked for the Prince Elector Frederick I. In the case of the Schlüterhof all the statues will be installed later this Summer I believe there is 12 total, all newly sculpted to replace the original which were badly damaged in 1945 which are now installed in a gallery of the Humboldt Forum museum.

 

The little film below show above the main entrance portico of the Honour Courtyard four statues representing Christian Virtues, each 3 meter tall, reproductions in Sandstone from photos and drawings. Faith, Love, Prayer, Hope, Christian virtues King Frederick Wilhelm IV wanted represented. It was part of his very conservative mindset.

Here is a little film on their installation recently in German with English subtitles.