. Romantic Germany. inor court fool they arranged a duel first ofburning peat-pans, then of blank cartridges in whichthe sublime goats-hair wig of Gundling was mor-tally burned. And, to crown all, the king presentedhim with a coffin shaped like a wine-cask, in whichhe was actually buried, to the horror of the grave with its pitiful mock epitaph may stillbe seen in the church at Bornstadt. Frederick the Great ushered in a more humaneperiod, and it is a relief to pass on to his rooms,which have been preserved as religiously as the studyof Goethe at Frankfort. There is the confidential
. Romantic Germany. inor court fool they arranged a duel first ofburning peat-pans, then of blank cartridges in whichthe sublime goats-hair wig of Gundling was mor-tally burned. And, to crown all, the king presentedhim with a coffin shaped like a wine-cask, in whichhe was actually buried, to the horror of the grave with its pitiful mock epitaph may stillbe seen in the church at Bornstadt. Frederick the Great ushered in a more humaneperiod, and it is a relief to pass on to his rooms,which have been preserved as religiously as the studyof Goethe at Frankfort. There is the confidentialdining-room, the trap-door table of which communi-cated with the kitchen, an invention of Fredericksto foil long-eared servants. The library consists of the works of Voltaire,some of the kings own writings unbound, andFrench translations of the classics. For French washis language; he read little German, and neverlearned to speak or write it correctly. Before Napo-leons invasion, the silver furniture was painted 110. POTSDAM black, a needless precaution; for the conqueror al-lowed nothing but the paintings to be disturbed, andmerely cut a strip of silk as a souvenir from Fred-ericks desk in the writing-room. Here the uphol-stery is much torn by the claws of the kings favoritedog, and his pet brass gargoyle still disgorges warmair from a corner. Outside the window is the Peti-tion Linden, where any subject with a grievanceused to wait for the kindly Frederick, who believedin the square deal. In case they had to wait toolong, they would climb the tree and flutter theirpetitions from its branches. Then Frederick wouldsee the reflection in the mirror by his desk, and cometo the window. His answer to one of these petitions in the secondmonth of his reign brought him world-wide Fiscal-General sent in a complaint that theRoman Catholics were proselytizing. On the mar-gin Frederick, in his wretched German, annotatedthis sentence: Die Religionen Miisen alle Tollerirt werden,
Size: 1300px × 1922px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectgermany, bookyear1910
