Kingdom Of Prussia - Tumblr Posts
“The differences of birth neither gives nor takes any assets; everything depends on personal worth.”
The melancholic civilian on the throne of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III.
(fairly long rant incoming, slightly biased and emotional, I am no historian and merely stating my opinion)
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Kiss kiss fall in love~
I got a bit carried away. But I think it was worth it. It was fun drawing petals flying everywhere again, haven’t done that in a while. Two versions, one with hearts and one without. I like both.
L.Mühlbach, Duroc in Berlin
A short scene from a German 19th century author who wrote plenty of (rather lengthy) historical novels: Luise Mühlbach, »Louise of Prussia and her times«. I was astonished to find her works translated into English already, so this is just copied over from gutenberg.org. Duroc learns of the tradition of christmas presents and immediately wants to have one. (The story is reported by Friedrich Gentz to another character in the novel.)
[…] The queen told General Duroc of our German customs, and informed him that this was the day on which the Germans everywhere made presents to each other, and that gifts were laid under Christmas-trees, adorned with burning tapers. At that moment Duroc turned to the king, and said, with his intolerable French amiability: ‚Sire, if this is the day of universal presents in Germany, I believe I will be courageous enough today to ask your majesty for a present in the name of the first consul, General Bonaparte, if your majesty will permit me to do so.’ The king, of course, gave him the desired permission, and Duroc continued: ‘Sire, the present for which I am to ask your majesty, in the name of the first consul, is a bust of your great ancestor, Frederick the Second. The first consul recently examined the statues in the Diana Gallery at the Tuileries; there were the statues of Caesar and Brutus, of Coriolanus and Cicero, of Louis XIV. and Charles V., but the first consul did not see the statue of Frederick the Great, and he deems the collection of the heroes of ancient and modern times incomplete as long as it does not embrace the name of Frederick the Great. Sire, I take the liberty, therefore, to ask you, in the name of France, for a bust of Frederick the Great!’
[Footnote: Historical.]
The request of course endeared Duroc to the Prussian court even more. I like the scene mostly because it shows how different customs were at the time in different regions.