The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-08-21 00:00:00

FREDERICK THE GREAT.

The 17th of August (Tuesday) was the 100th anni-
versary of the day on which Prussia's greatest
monarch, Frederick 11., surnamed the Great, died at
the little château of Sans-Souci, near Potsdam. 11
had been very ill since the Silesian review, one year
previously. "On the evening of August 16th (says
Carlyle) there had come on a continual short cough
and a rattling in the breast. For the most part he
was unconscious, never more than half-conscious. As
the wall clock above his head struck 11, he asked
What o'clock?' Eleven,' answered they. At four,'
murmured he, 'I will rise.' Strutzki, is Kammer-
hussar, it faithful ingenious man, to save the King
from hustling down, as ho always did, into the corner
of his chair, where with neck and chest bent forward,
breathing was impossible, at last took the King
on his knee, kneeling on the ground with his
other knee for the purpose—King's right arm
round Strutzki's neck, Strutzki's left arm round
the King's back, and supporting his other
shoulder, in which posture the faithful creature
for above two hours sat motionless till the end came.
Within doors all is silence, except this breathing;
around it the dark earth silent, above it the silent
stars. At twenty minutes Past two the breathing
paused, wavered, ceased. Friedrich's life-battle is
fought out; instead of suffering and sore labour, here
is now rest, Thursday morning. 17th August, 1783, at
the dark hour just named. On May 31st last the
King had reigned 46 years; he has lived 74 years six
months and 24 days." The room at Sans-Souei in
which Frederick died is still preserved almost unal-
tered. The chair in which he drew his last breath is
also shown, stained with the last bleeding to which be
was subjected. The clock which he wound up himself
regularly is now placed in the concert-room. It is
commonly reported to have stopped at the precise
moment of the King's death—twenty minutes past
two. The pillows on which he died and the clothes
he wore on the last day are preserved at the Hohen-
zollern Museum in Berlin, where a wax east of the
dead monarch's features, taken a few hours after his
death, may also be seen. Frederick's last will, which
he signed in 1769, contains the following passage:
"I have lived as a philosopher, and I desire to be
buried as such—without pomp, without singing.
without funeral procession. My resting-place shall
be at Sans-Souei, on the terraces, in a grave which I
have had prepared for myself. If I die during a
campaign or while travelling, I am to be laid in the
nearest suitable place, and then during winter to be
taken to Sans-Souci to the just-mentioned place."
This express will was disregarded, and the grave at
Sans-Souci still remains empty on the upper terraces.
It is covered by a marble statue of Flora, on which
Frederick used to gaze from the windows of his study.
The King's remains, dressed in the uniform of the Ist
Foot Guards, were placed in the Garrison Church at
Potsdam. The coffin, which is of plain zinc, stands
in the little vault directly under the pulpit,
beside the black marble sarcophagus which contains
the body of Frederick's father, Frederick William I.
This vault was the scene of the historical meeting be-
tween the Emperor of Alexander of Russia, King
Frederick William 111. of Prussia, and Queen
Louisa, the present Emperor's mother, who on Novem-
ber 5, 1805, at midnight, standing before Frede-
rick's coffin, vowed eternal friendship and fidelity to
each other. Ten months later Prussia's military
power was annihilated, and on October 24, 1806, her
conqueror, Napoleon, stood in the same plane and
after long gazing at Frederick's coffin, said "Sic
transit gloria mundi!" Above the vault a great
number of flags, chiefly French, captured in 1813-15
and in 1870-71. now hang suspended on each side of
the pulpit. In 1873 the late King Victor Emanuel,
accompanied by the Emperor William and the Crown
Prince, paid a visit to Frederick's tomb.