#Prussian history

[gilsart]

Fratte gang I haven't forgotten about you. Here's a quick redraw in the midst of commissions and work.

The quote is from Michael Roes' Zeithain.

[ripstefano]

“Poor Blucher went mad for some time. He had shown off before some of our ladies, and got a fall from his horse and a blow on his head. This gave him all sorts of strange fancies. When I went to take leave of him, he positively told me he was pregnant! And what do you think he said he was pregnant of? – An elephant! And who do you think he said had produced it? – A French soldier!…”

- Recounted by Wellington to Stanhope, unknowingly exemplifying the dangers of directly translating your language to English without any context.

There’s a bit of a comedic story involving a Prussian diplomat during the War of the Third Coalition, Prussia being one of the main boss enemies during the early revolution was dragging its feet to declare war this time. Finally about to do it, the diplomat arrives just in time to hear the result of the battle of Austerlitz, and instead congratulates the French.

Queen Louise being one of Napoleon’s biggest haters on the continent is another funny little quirk about the Prussians.

As for their uniforms? The reference book really only covered the later army, but you can get a feel of the military practicality present. Overcoats, blankets, blues and grays, the Russo-German legion was dripped out a bit. The cavalry wasn’t too bad either.

From Blucher’s Army, 1813-15.

[kane404]

Post after a long time, got to drawing some historical figures. Sometimes you just gotta embrace the history ships

Frederick and Katte holds a special place in my heart

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

~ Heinrich von Angeli, Princess Augusta Viktoria of Prussia (1880) (detail)

via wikimedia commons

[liminalgardens]

Image: Rudolf Petereit. The Girl of the Lagoon. 1864

Prussian Art History

The fine art of East Prussia reflected many international cultural connections, interweaving many styles and trends of European art. Due to the complicated history of the region, many artists were forgotten, many works were lost, some became private property, and only a few ended up in museums. Thus, Popov’s collection is valuable not only aesthetically, but also historically and educationally...

...oil, tempera, water colour and pastel paintings, prints made using various graphic art techniques, drawings and reproductive prints represent the most significant phenomena of fine art history in East Prussia – the Königsberg Art Academy and the Artists’ Colony of Nida (Nidden), as well as the works of painters that were born, permanently lived or occasionally visited this region.

Image: Bruno Bielefeld. Lake in the Forest. Oil on canvas. 19th century

...from Academism, sentimental Realism, late Impressionism, and Naturalism, to Expressionism and New Objectivity. Some works, created in the second half of the 20th century and which represent late Expressionism, reveal a phenomenon of East Prussian fine arts post-1945: unable to return to their beloved places, painters created paintings by memory, based on their impressions deep in their minds.

In 1709, Friedrich Wilhelm built the Schloss Charlottenburg as a summer palace for his wife Sophie Charlotte. His son, Elector Friedrich III, who became Frederick I the first King of Prussia from 1701, continued the mission to build a royal capital—now befitting a Prussian capital—hiring court architects and sculptors like Andreas Schluter, Johann Arnold Nering and Martin Grünberg.

Schluter’s most famous baroque-influenced work was the Royal Palace. Still, he was also responsible for the equestrian statue of Frederick I that today. Still, he was also responsible for the equestrian statue of Frederick I that today fronts the Schloss Charlottenburg, and the sculptural decorations for the Zeughaus.

The Zeughaus, best known for housing the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Museum), was designed by Schluter, Nering, Grünberg, and Jean de Bodt. Built between 1695 and 1729, it’s the oldest building on Unter den Linden. Another grand example of baroque can be found of course at Sansoucci in Potsdam, which was built a little later (between 1755-1764) as a summer residence for Frederick The Great.

[goodsped]

Negotiations of the Franco-Prussian Treay of Tilsit, 6th July 1807

[thebeesareback]

Frederick, the potato king

I am not a monarchist. I do, however, occassionally look at monarchs and think, huh, they seem pretty cool. Meet Frederick the Great.

Frederick ruled Prussia from 1712 to 1786. During this time he:

was woken up by a cannon each morning, because his father wanted him to be a military leader

wrote "Anti-Machiavel", a rebuttal to Machiavelli's The Prince

was gay

married a woman to keep his father happy, then separated from her, gave her a palace and visited her once a year for her birthday

was friends with Voltaire

was king of Prussia but wrote exclusively in French. Frederick was a bit of a Francophile, mostly because his dad hated the place

introduced potatoes and turnips to Prussia, and was known as "Der Kartoffelkönig". Potatoes were initially unpopular, so Frederick had them planted and guarded so they looked expensive and desirable. However, the guards were told to let people steal the potatoes

his head was permanently tilted to one side because he spent so long playing his flute

opened the first veterinary school in Prussia

gave everyone free entry to the opera

sheltered Jean-Jacques Rousseau

was bad at spelling (a relatable icon) (also, he was writing in French, and French spelling is even more ridiculous than English)

drank eight cups of coffee each day, mixed with mustard and peppercorns. The cannon alarm clock was discontinued after his father died, so I guess eight cups of coffee would probably be just as effective for waking one up

his lasts words were "cover the dog, he's shivering".

wanted to be buried with his greyhounds. This didn't happen, but now he had a nice gravestone and people leave potatoes there

[fritz-on-a-blitz]

Hans Heinrich von Katte wasn't known for his... Fatherly love, but at least he can now serve the kingdom in a kinda inaccurate 1741 cuirassier uniform!

Buon fucking giorno everyone!

Pose credits: Pinterest

[nyasputin]

The anti Machiavel is so funny to me. Write a book countering The Prince by Machiavelli, then proceed to be a similar type of leader to what was described [militarily] and then try really hard not to get that book published. Congratulations, you are now a hypocrite. Nobody was moving like Frederick II of Prussia truly. Better luck next time, Fritz. 🫶

[mbenguin]

HAAAIII from a blücher fan from another..... Where do I find / read his memoir 💔💔??

Finally...someone on this platform with taste... You should be able to find them quite easily with a quick search on book archive websites (Internet Archives, Project Gutenberg, etc. etc...) or order them with your local libraries if you're that committed. Here are some I've been meaning to get around to reading:

- The Life and Campaigns of Field-Marshal Prince Blücher (The definitive Blücher Bible, everyone say "thank you Gneisenau") - Blücher: Scourge Of Napoleon (Usual jazz + has a bunch of details about his life post-Waterloo) - Blücher And The Uprising Of Prussia Against Napoleon (Contextualises Blücher during the French occupation of Prussia) - Memoirs of Prince Blücher (Had tidbits in the first three chapters but is technically about the fourth prince of Wahlstatt-- a treat for the WWI girlies if you will...) - And this RPF novel that features a bunch of other figures from that period

[gilsart]

a small redraw c: he's wearing pink and lilac and he stares into your soul

[karl-jensen]

Preußischer Heersanitätskorps - Prussia

Also an OC named Franziska Schäffer.

Back at it again with another Guts and Blackpowder OC. This time, its a Surgeon from the Kingdom of Prussia. Franziska Schäffer is a young woman who tried to sneak into the Army by disguising herself as a man only to be with her lover in the battlefield; Her small bust and short stature (plus her seemingly deep voice) made her look and sound like a young adult. To add to her disguise, she trimmed her hair to match up with the rest of the soldiers. She is a member of the Preußischer Heersanitätskorps, but wishes to be part of the 1. Garde Regiment zu Fuß where her lover is in. She also is an excellent cook who wishes to open up a restaurant once the Blight has ended.

Schäffer first appeared in the events of Kaub where she was miraculously reunited with her lover in a church (starting area). They are joined with a German Chaplain as well as Several Russian and French Soldiers.

Franziska could possibly be a historically accurate character since there were some women who snuck into the ranks of the Prussian Army by crossdressing as men. Eleonore Prochaska (seen in the character sheet) is a perfect example of one.

[kane404]

His majesty the king

I drew this while being very emotional

[ripstefano]

“Prussia was hatched from a cannonball”

-Napoleon

But not to diss the Prussians as much as I did in the prior post, it’s pretty hard to mess up a good cavalry uniform. Here are some over the span of ~20 years.

From Prussian Cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars: 1792-1807 + 1807-1815.

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein by Alexander Bassano (c.1880)

via royal collection trust

[goodsped]

look at these idiots