Samstag, 28. April 2012

Queens lover died

On the 28th of April in 1772 Johann Friederich Struensee was executed near Kopenhagen. He was minister to King Christian VII. and his queen, the English princess Caroline Mathilde. Because of his affair with the queen, his enemies at court could overthrow his government and stop his reforms.
Struensee was born in Halle/ Saale as a clergymans son.
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Dienstag, 24. April 2012

Gossip on Frederic the Great

When French general Jacques Antoine de Guibert went to Germany, he also visited Frederic the Great to learn more about the 'Prussian regimental drills and army manœuvres'. Later, when he went back to France he published a journal and also commented on Frederic's non-existent sense of fashion. The Friedrichradio on RBBinfo has a podcast (German) on rumours and gossip about Fritz.

Guibert, Journal d'un voyage en Allemagne (1803); Journal d'un voyage en Allemagne fait en 1773 par G.-A.-H. Guibert, ouvrage posthume publié par sa veuve et précédé d'une notice historique sur la vie de l'auteur (2 volumes, 1803)
The French ebook is available at google in two volumes!
Personally I would like to read the love letters between him and Julie de Lespinasse...
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Montag, 23. April 2012

From Frederic's bedchamber

The marriage between Frederic the Great and Elisabeth Christine of Braunschweig-Bevern was a difficult one and didn't even start well. The wonderful pages on RBBInfo show a scene from the new Frederic drama, which was aired on RBB April 10th, starring Anna Thalbach as the young Fritz and her mother Katharina Thalbach as the old king.
More on the film, photos and movie snippets as well as the making of can be found HERE.

Unfortunately the podcasts have no link to embed them, so please click the link above to access the original homepage.
More information on the Prussians/Hohenzollern dynasty can be found on preussen-chronik.de
Exhibitions and more during the Friedrich-Jahr/Frederic-year HERE.
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Radio for the King

2012 is the 300th birthday of Prussian king Frederic the Great. Brandenburg Radio (RBB Inforadio) turns to history and sends out its reporters to 18th century Prussia and the court of King Fritz. For a whole week they will report on events on Frederics life, the Katte process and the life at court in Berlin.

The articles are in German, as are the podcasts, but do translate the text with google, they did a great job travelling through history!

 

Friedrichradio

Eine Woche lang - vom 23. bis 27. April - berichtet Inforadio live aus dem 18. Jahrhundert vom Hof König Friedrich des Großen. So hätte Preußen klingen können, wenn es damals schon ein Friedrichradio gegeben hätte ...

English:

Frederick radio
For one week - from 23rd to 27th April - Inforadio reports live from the 18th century court of King Frederick the Great. How would Prussia have sounded, if it had then been given a radio ?

 

The Katte Process - live reports on Crown Prince's reaction

Fashion at Frederic's court

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the week on Friedrichradio:

Tuesday - Potsdam, economy and intrigues & rumours

Wednesday - 1 day in the life of a king

Thursday - wars & peace

Friday - Frederic's foreign policy & his death

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Sonntag, 22. April 2012

Where Otto the Great was born

Today we went on a family trip to Wallhausen Palace, a Renaissance palace in the southern Harz region. It was probably the place where Otto the Great was born in 912. His parents Henry I. and Mathilda of Ringelheim where married there. Several diplomas were signed in Wallhausen, which was an important Pfalz near the Kyffhäuser during the Ottonian time.

The palace was rebuilt several times, from the Renaissance period onwards to the Second World War it belonged to the Counts of Asseburg. Since 1945 till 2004 it was a school and since 2005 it is in private hands again, renovated and turned into a hotel and cultural center for modern art by Swiss owner.

It'll be a long way until it will be restored to its Renaissance beauty, but it is already very beautiful! Together with students from the University of Magdeburg an exhibition on Otto the Great and his time is open to the public this year; in correspondence with the exhibition in Magdeburg and several other Ottonian places in Saxony Anhalt.

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Samstag, 21. April 2012

The Prudent Housewife

The Management of all Domestic Affairs is certainly the proper Business of Woman; and unfashionably rustic as such as Assertion may be thought, 'tis certainly not beneath the Dignity of any Lady, however high her rank, to know how educate her children, to govern her servants, to order an elegant Table with Oeconomy, and to manage her whole family with Prudence, Regularity and method.

Lady Sarah Pennington, An Unfortunate Mother's ADvice to Her Absent Daughters, 1761

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Saxonian Princess gets back her tomb slab

Saxonian princess Christiana, daughter of Duke Christian I. of Saxony-Merseburg, was born in 1659 and married Duke Christian of Eisenberg-Saxony in 1677. One month after the birth of her daughter of the same name, Christiana died in childbed (1679). She was burried in the 'Fürstengruft' of the Merseburg cathedral. In the 1970s the engraved silver slab was stolen from her tomb out of the vault. After the Reunification of both parts of Germany, the cathedral's dean went on a 9 years quest for the slab and finally found it in a gallery in Bremen. Meanwhile it was bought back.

Now the silver tomb slab came back home to Merseburg. It will be on display in the Gewandkapelle. Guided tours to the vault will start again from 29th April. Advanced booking is recommended.

 

Click for directions to the cathedral in Merseburg.

Merseburg offers more historical treats: The museum for cultural history in Merseburg features an exhibition ('Augenschmaus') on festive table decoration and the art of napkin folding from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

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Donnerstag, 19. April 2012

A Royal Affair

Finally the Danish movie 'A Royal Affair', which was partly filmed in Dresden (short video below the trailer!), starts in German cinemas TODAY. I still don't know if its shown in any theatre nearby(UPDATE: yes it is!!!!), but I'm already excited by the trailer. I've read a biography about Matilda years ago and immediately loved her. There is also a docu-drama on arte.tv abouth her and Struensee. It's so sad to see this young queen lose her children to a tyrannical mother-in-law and an insane husband. And to lose her love as well, not to mention to be exiled and die a lonely death in the middle of nowhere. Just reminds me of Marie Antoinette's daughter Marie Therese...

 

PS: Ooooooh, swoon... Mads Mikkelsen!!!!

 

 

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Freitag, 13. April 2012

Comeback for Pesne, Lisiewsky and Veronese after loss in 1945

Eleven portraits, two by Antoine Pesne, some by Lisiewsky and one by Paolo Veronese finally found their way back to Anhalt. During the anniversary 'Anhalt 800' the Castle Mosigkau, summer residence of the Anhalt-Dessau-dynasty, will exhibit the long lost portraits, of which many show members of the princely family. After the 13th of May they will be incorporated into the collection of the Dessau-Wörlitz-Trust and several palaces like Oranienbaum and Mosigkau.

Castle Mosigkau

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Donnerstag, 12. April 2012

Baroque musical entertainment by RESONANTIA

The Resonantia-Ensemble from Leipzig [Doreen Busch (Mezzosopran), Johanna Baumgärtel (Traversflöte), Frank Petersen (Theorbe,Barockgitarre)] will pick up their lutes for clerical cantatas & arias from the Renaissance and Baroque eras this Sunday at the Castle Merseburg.

The "Tafelmusik" will start at 4pm and the entertainment is called 'Ohrenschmaus - Barocke Tafelmusik'.

 

Tickets are available at the Tourist Information.

Kulturhistorisches Museum Schloss Merseburg

Domplatz 9

06217 Merseburg

Tel: 03461/401318

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