#friedrich und katte

[brandybradyrandyandyndy]

Die Bibel 🙏❤️‍🔥

[alina-lantsova]

gay gay homosexual gay

do not repost / do not remove source

[saint-lavande]

So you know that Claus Clausen played Hans Hermann von Katte in "Der alte und der junge König" (1935). You may also know that he played Prince Heinrich in "Der große König" (1942) but now I found this: him as young Friedrich 1930 in Königsberg on stage.

He played them all.

[pomadenbaron]

Zu Friedrichs Jugendfreunden zählte Leutnant Katte, den er, als er König wurde, nicht mehr hatte

Hans Hermann von Katte und Orfraie

[prinzsorgenfrei]

"Friedrich ist unsere Zukunft - und wer liebte sie nicht?"

- Hans Hermann von Katte to Adolf Friedrich von der Schulenburg, Vienna, April 23rd 1730

Oh, Katte sure was far gone for Fritz... I saw this statue and thought "them", so I drew a dramatic picture of the lads. Took a while, I haven't drawn proper lighting in ages. Less dramatic version that lets you see more details under the cut!

[kattestrophe]

So, I asked @gilsart before and now I am here in the quest of knowledge! Can you recommend any books about Friedrich the Great (and the others, of course) in English or German?

Hi there! I'll just chuck a few things at you that I could think of on a whim, there's a ton more out there.

If you want a fun biography that's easy to read to get the gist of things: Mitford is your gal. Very easy to read, pretty short, lots of pictures, fun. A bit old though, lacks sources. (Mitford, Nancy: Frederick the Great, 1970)

If you want a more up to date biography that actually cites sources: Blanning. While he's got his faults, it's probably the most thorough biography to start with and is great for source mining. (Blanning, Tim: Frederick the Great: King of Prussia, 2015)

For anything Katte-related: Kloosterhuis. The most accessible book about the subject is "Katte. Ordre und Kriegsartikel" (make sure to get the second edition from 2011, it has more fun sources in the back). There's also an exhibition catalogue called "Kriegsgericht in Köpenick" that you can find used and that has even more stuff (and an overview of the people involved, very helpful).

For Fritz being a bitch and more info on interesting people around him: Ziebura's biographies of his brothers, especially Henry. (Ziebura, Eva: Prinz Heinrich von Preußen, 1999)

For Fritz writing affectionate letters in questionable German: The Fredersdorf correspondence (Richter, Johannes: Die Briefe Friedrichs des Großen an seinen vormaligen Kammerdiener Fredersdorf, 1926)

For court gossip and gay drama including Henry: The Lehndorff diaries (Ernst Ahasverus Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff: Die Tagebücher des Grafen Lehndorff, 2019; same translation also available as Dreissig Jahre am Hofe Friedrichs des Großen, 1907)

I also recommend checking out the Research Center Sanssouci and parts of the SPSG's blog for various articles (the SPSG has posted articles from their pricey exhibition catalogues before, worth a shot) and the digital edition of the Oeuvres de Frédéric le Grand

If The Rest Of The Niche has anything to add, do not hesitate!

[acrossthewavesoftime]

Der Kronprinz singt

Friedrich der Große als Kronprinz, Antoine Pesne, 1736. Vormals Berliner Stadtschloss, heute: Huis Doorn, via Wikimedia Commons.

Auf einer nächtlichen Zugfahrt durch ein Land, in dem man Bisamratten im Freibad sieht und in dem es auch wieder Wölfe geben soll, entstand aus einer vergnügten Laune heraus im Gespräch mit einer gleichsam historisch interessierten Reisegefährtin die Idee, die allseits bekannte inoffizielle Hymne Brandenburgs einigermaßen historisch nach den Erlebnissen und persönlichen Empfindungen des berümtesten aller preußischen Könige als jungem Mann umzugestalten. Von Friedrich Wilhelm I. beim Tabaskollegium zugequalmt zu werden kann ja wohl kaum schlimmer sein, als nach Zugausfall auf unbestimmte Zeit in einer brandenburgischen Kleinstadt festzuhängen... oder?

Jedenfalls exisitiert jetzt eine nagelneue Textfassung von Rainald Grebes Brandenburg aus der Sicht des 18-jährigen Fritz.

Zum darüber lachen, den Kopf schütteln und meinetwegen auch unter der Dusche singen:

Es gibt Länder, wo was los ist

Es gibt Länder, wo richtig was los ist, und es gibt

Brandenburg, Brandenburg

In Brandenburg, in Brandenburg

Gabs wieder einmal einen Fahnenfluchtversuch

Was soll man auch machen mit 17, 18 in Brandenburg?

Es sind nicht alle Lange Kerls, doch mangelts Vattern an Ideen  

Ich muss von diesem Wüstling endlich weggehen

Aus Brandenburg

Da steht der König auf dem Hügel und findet keinen zum Verprügeln

In Brandenburg, Brandenburg

Ich fühl mich heut‘ so leer, ich fühl mich Brandenburg

In England wär‘ ich einer von 6 Millionen

In Brandenburg muss ich bei meinem Vater wohnen

Brandenburg

In Berlin sind der Bach und der G. F. Händel

In Wusterhausen raucht Vattern in sei‘m Tabak-Tempel

Brandenburg

Küstrin, oh ich hasse Küstrin

Oh ich hasse Küstrin

Da wollt‘ ich nie hin

Und Katte wollte das auch

In Brandenburg, in Brandenburg

Gabs wieder einmal einen Fahnenfluchtversuch

Was soll man auch machen mit 17, 18 in Brandenburg?

Es ist nicht alles ganz schlecht, es gibt Keith und Wilhelmine

Doch glaubt Vattern dass sich das mit Katte nicht gezieme

In Brandenburg

Wenn man Friedrich Wilhelm auf Treibjagd sieht, dann ist man im Naturschutzgebiet

Mark Brandenburg, Brandenburg

Ich fühl mich heut so ausgebrandenburgt

In England kann man so viel erleben

In Brandenburg tut’s nicht mal Kartoffeln geben

Brandenburg

Aus dem Stadtschloss würde ich am liebsten verschwinden

In Wusterhausen kann Vattern den Malkasten nicht finden

Brandenburg

Küstrin, oh ich hasse Küstrin

Oh ich hasse Küstrin

Da wollt‘ ich nie hin

Küstrin, oh ich hasse Küstrin

Oh ich hasse Küstrin

Da wollt‘ ich nie hin

Und Katte wollte das auch

Lassen Sie mich durch, Prinz-Sein ist absurd, ich muss weg aus Brandenburg

Nimm dir Essen mit, wir brechen aus aus Brandenburg

Wenn man nach England will muss man raus aus Brandenburg

[legerescriptor]

Diesen Freitag hab ich mal ein altes Konzept ausgegraben, das ich immer noch sehr schön finde. Es ist das Kiss, Marry, Kill, das ich bereits einmal bei Schoethe angewandt habe. Weil es mir aber sehr viel Spaß gemacht hat, das zu schreiben, habe ich mir gedacht, ich mache das noch für ein paar andere Couples, die ich shippe.

Diese Woche wären das dann Friedrich der Große und Katte. Und auch die nächsten zwei Fanfiktions sind Kiss, Marry, Kill Fanfiktions, die ich alle schon vor sehr langer Zeit geschrieben und bisher nur nicht gepostet habe (fragt mich nicht, warum).

Damit man die auch alle auf einmal finden kann, habe ich eine series auf AO3 erstellt, in die ich jede einzelne hochladen werde und lasse auch das Kiss, Marry, Kill im Titel. Ich habe nur noch ein paar Worte angehängt, damit das nicht zu verwirrend ist, wenn man sie sucht.

So heißt die Schoethe-Fanfic jetzt "Ein Gedicht für dich" und die Fratte-Fanfic von heute trägt den Untertitel "Ein Königreich für dich"

Ich hoffe, das Konzept der Fanfiktions ist leicht zu verstehen und gefällt zumindest zum Teil.

[dionysianrose]

Hi, hätte jemand, der sich für Themen wie Deutsche Literatur, Klassiker, Schoethe, Literaturgeschichte, Deutsche Geschichte o. ä. interessiert oder möglicherweise auch selber schreibt, vielleicht Lust auf eine Gruppe (entweder auf Instagram oder auf einer alternativen Plattform)? Es sind ja nicht sehr weit verbreitete Themen und ich fände es toll wenn sich dadurch Menschen finden würden die diese Leidenschaft teilen. Wenn jemand Interesse hat, rebloggt, kommentiert oder schreibt mir per PM.

xo dionysianrose

[margridarnauds]

So, all things going according to plan, I’m going to be streaming Friedrich: Mythos und Tragödie tomorrow, January 13, at 4 PM EST, with English subs. Everyone’s welcome to attend, regardless of their previous level of interaction with me.  

It’s a very heterosexual musical. 

[alina-lantsova]

[mylovelettertonobody]

Wer immer dieses Meisterwerk geschrieben hat, bzw immer noch schreibt:

ICH LIEBE DICH UND DIESE FF!!!

1000 Dank! Ich freue mich auf jedes Update 😍💖

[friedrich-schillers-boytoy]

Hola *zeigt dir meine Kollektion aus Powerpoint Folien über Friedrich 2 die ich auf Google Bilder gefunden habe und mich seit jenem Tag nicht mehr loslassen*

Ich mag hier spezifisch wie sich der Part mit Katte so anhört als wäre er so ein unbeteiligter Random der einfach aus Prinzip ge’voltert’ wird. Und damn er rollt aus dem Armee mit sein Besten.

Friedlich aber nicht zarm...und Kaiser anscheinend...Mag auch wie dort ein edit von dem einen Bild von dem da benutzt wird, so er hat Daumen gemacht.

“guter Musiker” Dat hat der doch selber geschrieben 

[prinzsorgenfrei]

„Ingersleben will Soldat werden; Katt incliniret eher zur Poeterey und Träumerey“ - Katte's teachers in Glaucha, 1719

Y'all know I'm a slut for portraits, especially ones with poetry and dreamery.

Enter my long-time project from the crappy art class I took! I learned a lot, but only because I taught myself :'D The teacher insisted that I was painting Jeanne d'Arc in front of a random French castle. I told him that I was not. He didn't get it. Anyway.

This is my most ambitious acrylic painting as of yet (and, with 50x70 centimeters one of the biggest) and while a lot of mistakes were made, I am overall happy with the outcome. Rambling about the painting process, vague intended symbolism and memery under the cut.

I started this thing back in early March. Originally, I wanted to show Katte as more of a traditional knight, representing parts of his family's coat of arms (a white cat with a mouse between its teeth on a light blue background). Then I noticed that, with a summery sky as a background, the painting would be SO blue and white it could be hanging in the Landtag of Bavaria. So the only parts of that idea that are left at this stage of the painting are the banner, the roses (the full version of the coat of arms includes red roses sprouting from the top of the helmet), and the ribbon around his arm as a knight's favour.

The ribbon is black and white as a nod to the coat of arms of the Hohenzollern. I was considering a few other colours (orange, for the sash of the Order of the Black Eagle; blue and white for the family; the colours of his mother's coat of arms; green, because Friedrich liked green; rainbow, because my mom said "It's Pride Month and he's gay, make it rainbow!"...) but the black and white seemed the most fitting. Although making it rainbow was tempting.

Another thing that connects Katte to Friedrich in this picture is the cipher on his cuirass that reads FR (instead of FWR, which would have been the correct cipher during Katte's time in the military). Funnily enough, I left out the mark of Katte's actual knighthood, the St John's cross, in favour of the mark of his loyalty to his Prince.

It's the other way around on the actual portrait that we have of Katte and people have been wondering if the lack of royal cipher on the cuirass may have something to do with the execution taking place before the painting was finished. I do believe that that's an interesting theory; after working on painting the damn thing myself I could also see the variation that there was just too damn much going on in this specific spot on the cuirass to paint it all :'D That's what happened to me, in any case.

The background is a rendition of the palace of Küstrin - just the palace, because ya girl wasn't gonna copy the whole city off of early 20th century postcards. Would have been more trouble than it was worth. I was originally considering showing the city wall of Tangermünde, which is the next bigger city from Katte's ancestral estate of Wust (and a wonderful place to spend a weekend!), but Küstrin felt more fitting. Overall, I feel like you can really see what I usually paint - people, usually no houses, and definitely no horses. But I like it. It's my boy. He has a cute nose and his cuirass is shiny.

As for memery: Er sieht halt einfach echt ein bisschen aus wie das Logo vom Rotbäckchen-Saft

[kattestrophe]

Pop Culture Kattes Part 3 - A Collection of even MORE Kattes!

Finally! Part three!

PART I

PART II

Gustav Heinrich Gans zu Putlitz - Brandenburgische Geschichten: Kronprinz Friedrich und Hans Hermann von Katt (1862)

This Katte is a mess. He holds the record for least interaction with Fritz ever: They don't have any scenes together at all. Even the death scene is not a scene that actually happens, it is just recounted to Wilhelmine. Speaking of Wilhelmine, Katte is in love with her again. I am surprisingly okay with that, because Wilhelmine does not love him back and this leads to Katte telling Fräulein von Sonsfeld that "Her Royal Highness will be glad to know that I will be gone soon and she never has to see me ever again D':". My personal favourite is the first scene he's in: He enters it as the mysterious stranger in a Potsdam bar who has the most beautiful hands and the most sensual lips, goes through it as that weirdo who talks about how great and pretty and wonderful the Crown Prince is and how he's gonna flee the country soon, and leaves it by, I kid you not, yelling "TO THE CROWN PRINCE!?!?" and fleeing the scene after some guy comes in to talk to him. "Oh, Lieutenant von Spaen, who was that weird guy you sat with, the one who wouldn't shut up?" "That was the Lieutenant Katte from Berlin." "Watch out kid, that one's gonna die."

This Katte is a very emotional, impulsive one who lies to Wilhelmine's face about not telling anyone about the escape plans and I personally enjoyed him quite a bit.

Overall rating: 6/10 gorgeous gorgeous paintings of the Crown Prince

Sheenagh Pugh - Five Voices (1993)

Five Voices is a cycle of five poems showing five different people giving their perspective of the happenings of 1730: Quantz, who talks about the "Hiding from the King in a closet" anecdote, Keith, talking about the planning stage after escaping, the painter Lisiewsky, who was in the middle of painting Katte's portrait when he was arrested, Colonel Reichmann, who reports of the execution, and Theodor Fontane, who visits the crypt 150 years later.

I loved this one, I really did. Katte is described by his contemporaries as not taking things seriously, laughing while hiding in the closet and debating like an atheist because it's fashionable on one hand and on the other his face falls when he sees Frederick hurt, he is very much serious about helping him despite knowing that he will die and spends his last day in freedom checking up on the portrait in progress to reassure himself that he will at least be remembered. The Fontane bit at the end is a great way to tie the whole thing off, showing the ongoing fascination Katte's person manages to evoke and connecting to the Lisiewsky poem's theme of remembrance.

There are inaccuracies, there is some implied womanizing/romance with Wilhelmine, and he is blond, but I can forgive that because the emotion just works. Katte is, as the Fontane poem says: witty; a little arrogant perhaps, but very bright.

Overall rating: 9/10, I can't think of a funny quip

Paul Ernst - Preußengeist (1915)

After the bundle of pure energy that was Brandenburgische Geschichten Katte and slightly unhinged Five Voices Katte, Preußengeist gives us yet another serious man of duty - who is NOT in love with Wilhelmine! Because Wilhelmine is not in this play. He does, however, get a different random girlfriend, Fräulein von Winterstein. They are tragically in love, but it cannot be, because she is poor and he is... too? Hans Heinrich is fudging his income reports to commit tax fraud, I guess... So Katte has a girlfriend! And boy does she make him happy! She... Rats him and Fritz out to the King before they so much as set foot outside of Berlin! This one really has less of an escape than any other adaptation! The whole thing feels like it happens over the course of five hours tops. So anyway, they are "caught" and surprisingly chill FW is really rooting for Katte and Frl. von Winterstein. However, Katte is a serious and maybe somewhat depressed man of duty. Actual conversation from the play:

FW: "Katte, should I pardon you?"

Katte: "No."

Because you see, this play was written in the very early stage of WWI and Katte is here to tell us all that, as some unimportant nobody, dying for the monarchy, in battle or otherwise, is the best you can do. Wow. Anyway, Katte asks FW to think of his poor old father who served in the army once upon a time and who wants nothing more than to be proud of his only son (Hans Heinrich is also fudging birth certificates...), so would FW please let him die a soldier's death an let him be shot with his sword on his hip? FW is very moved by that and gifts Katte his very own sword to die with. He's a bit of a sentimental one, that FW. So Katte and Fritz are thrown into their... shared prison cell... interesting choice... and Katte accepts his fate, gifts Frl. von Winterstein a ring and Fritz a silver pocket watch to remember him by and gets shot, dying the honorable soldier's death and prompting Fritz to change his ways, start hating the English, embrace the Prussian spirit and become a good King. Blergh. Best line: "But Katte, I'm dying with you!"

Overall rating: 4/10 stupid stupid fake girlfriends

Carl Furkert - Friedrich und Katte: Roman Epos (1860)

This one rhymes! Once you get past quite a bit of romantic waxing about nature, some villany from Grumbkow and Seckendorf and a lot of "oh Frederick, greatest person to ever walk this earth", we finally meet Frederick's Pylades (the author's words, not mine) on page 43: He... has small hands and small feet? Thanks, Furkert, that's definitely relevant. Finally, we learn our hero's name: Friedrich Katte. I am not kidding. I have seen Holtzendorff and both Keiths get wrong first names, I kinda get that, but Katte, really? Not sure if he has a noble title in this btw, it's never mentioned. Probably to drive home the fact that he is, once again, dirt poor despite his father being a General. Anyway, moving on... And ah, we're back to the status quo: Katte is in love with Wilhelmine. And how! He'd fight George II of England for her and sacrifice himself in battle and never marry anyone else and bla bla blaaa... And the worst part: She likes him back and they rhyme about it for a g e s. Katte would also fight people for Fritz though! They are constantly hugging, referring to each other as "mine, mine forever" and swear their undying love and loyalty to each other. And in Küstrin Fritz says to himself that once he becomes King, Katte shall sleep in his bed? Oh, and Mine sneaks into Katte's cell and tells him to borrow her veils and make a run for it while she stays behind. Fritz and Mine should have a talk about their feelings for Katte, I think.

Overall, the whole thing has its moments, but the Katte/Mine thing is hard to ignore because it's long and it rhymes and also they get his first name wrong, this is embarrassing!

Overall rating: 4/10 overly long monologues about longing to be a shepherd

Heiner Müller - Leben Gundlings Friedrich von Preußen Lessings Schlaf Traum Schrei (1982)

This... It's... It's a drama from the 80s. The rambling title kind of gives you a glimpse at what's to come. This is the kind of play you only enjoy as a proper theatre or literature student, I believe; I am a mere history student who was good in german class once upon a time.

Katte is in two scenes, he's explicitly gay for Fritz, they are constantly cockblocked by Wilhelmine, who has her tits out at some point, for... reasons, and then he gets shot. Yeah. Him and Fritz are honestly kind of cute, they read tragedies together (which I definitely didn't only enjoy because I wrote a fic about it myself before I knew this play) and play blind man's buff (with Wilhelmine who smacks their hands when they try to touch). This whole play is a fever dream. Anyway, it did have some killer lines:

After the execution

FW: "That was Katte."

Fritz: "Sire, that was me."

Overall rating: 4/10 really good lines amidst absolute pandemonium

Gertrud von Brockdorff - Katte: Die Geschichte einer Freundschaft (1934)

... y'all. This Katte is so incredibly queercoded, I thought I was actually going insane. At least half of his scenes with Fritz could be copied to AO3 verbatim and nobody would notice anything off. Katte is won over by Fritz just existing in less than a second, keeps going on about how it was destiny that brought them together, draws his portrait from memory, and says that should he ever love a woman she would have to have the eyes of the Crown Prince.

Now, this of course leads to a Wilhelmine romance later on, however, it's honestly not that compelling and I think it might be on purpose. A beard romance to publish some gay shit in NS-Germany. For comparison: Upon first meeting Fritz, Katte is stunned almost speechless for a moment and can barely concentrate in the conversation that follows, feeling anxious that the prince might be disappointed in him now (despite Fritz never acting like it, on the contrary, he feels a connection immediately). After their conversation, he tells Keyserlingk that he's been bewitched. Upon meeting Wilhelmine, he just thinks "Hm. She looks like the white lady and her hands are cold."

Now if that ain't romance.

Also: While it is said that Wilhelmine's eyes are similar to Fritz's, they are never described in the same way. Fritz's eyes, the eyes Katte would need "to ever love a woman" are constantly described as "wide, bright and impenetrable" while Wilhelmine's aren't. And in his scenes with Fritz Katte is often taken by intense, sweeping emotions - With Wilhelmine, he's a little giddy at most. The classic old het romance of "Ah, I sigh, what an honor to be in your presence". Also all they ever talk about is Fritz.

Now in Chapter 7, they actually do have a romantic scene and hug and almost kiss and "Ah, my destiny has been separated from the Crown Prince, I will stay here because I love Wilhelmine and she loves me!" - However, Chapter 7 is an anomaly and should not be counted. By chapter 8 Katte is back to longing for his dear Frédéric, whom he suddenly addresses as such while also using informal pronouns, can only be comforted by the thought of him longing for Katte too, and answers Fritz's desperate thrown kiss from his cell window by pressing his fingers to his lips before telling him that he is dying for a prince he loves. It is gay, gentlefolk, it is gay and I stand for that with my name, pour one out for Gertrud, she gave us more romance than Zeithain. Deducting a point for Chapter 7 though, that hurt me. I know it had to be done, but ouch.

Overall rating: 8/10 intense hand clasps

[mutantenfisch]

1 C...Fritz&Katte bitte, weil letztes mal mein Herz brach und die zwei ein wenig was fröhliches brauchen (und ich auch😭)

Wunsch erfüllt. :)