Frederick the Great

Gerhart Hoffmeister (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 24 Jan 1712
Died 17 Aug 1786
Activity 1730-1786

Places

Born in Berlin
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Military commander
Monarch/ King/ Queen

Resources

Frederick the Great (born 24 January 1712 in Berlin) was an unusual Hohenzollern king in the “classical” eighteenth century of Prussian history (see entry on “Prussia”). As crown prince he was full of intellectual promise, as king he was admired both as a superb general and as a “philosopher on the throne”, but his detractors considered him an “oriental despot”. Essentially, he was a tragical figure who neither fulfilled his own life's dreams nor the aspirations of his people and left an ambivalent legacy for Prussia and for Germany at large.

Since Frederick's childhood a conflict between the crown prince and Frederick William I (the “Soldier King”, 1713-40) had festered when his father discovered some “…

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1346 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Frederick the Great". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 March 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1626, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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