page_title: Frederick the Great
section_title: Arts and education
hierarchical_section_title: Frederick the Great / Policies / Arts and education
caption_attribution_description: English: Frederick II of Prussia in Waffenrock (dress tunic). Deutsch: Das klorierte Bild zeigt den König nicht ganzfigurig. Der König ist von vorn dargestellt, der Kopf leicht gedreht im Halbprofil. Die mit einem Handschuh bekleidete linke Hand in die Seite gestützt, die Rechte auf den Krückstock. Der König trägt den schlichten „Interimsrock“ des 1. Bataillons der Leibgarde seines Garde-Regiments (IR 15 der Stammliste von 1806) mit umgelegter Offiziersschärpe, schwarzer Halsbinde, Generalshut, Degen mit Portepee, dazu auf der linken Seite aufgenäht den gestickten Bruststern des Schwarzen Adlerordens (Ordenssterne aus Metall erst im 19. Jh.). Auf der rechten Schulter ist das geflochtene Achselband zu erkennen. Zur Farbgebung: Der Rock dunkelblau („Preußischblau“) mit rotem Kragen und an den Ärmelenden ebensolchen roten Aufschlägen, die Knöpfe aus Metall sind silbern, ebenso die Offiziersschärpe und der Ordensstern. Der Hut - ein Dreispitz - schwarz mit weißem Federbesatz - der sog. „Plumage“ -, den die Generale trugen.
context_page_description: Frederick II ruled the Kingdom of Prussia from 1740 until 1786, the longest reign of any Hohenzollern king at 46 years. His most significant accomplishments during his reign included his military victories, his reorganization of Prussian armies, his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment and his success in the Seven Years' War. Frederick was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia and declared himself King of Prussia after achieving sovereignty over most historically Prussian lands in 1772. Prussia had greatly increased its territories and became a leading military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great and was nicknamed Der Alte Fritz by the Prussian people and eventually the rest of Germany.
  In his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than the art of war. Nonetheless, upon ascending to the Prussian throne he attacked Austria and claimed Silesia during the Silesian Wars, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. Toward the end of his reign, Frederick physically connected most of his realm by acquiring Polish territories in the First Partition of Poland.
context_section_description: Frederick was a patron of music as well as a gifted musician who played the transverse flute. He composed more than 100 sonatas for the flute as well as four symphonies. The Hohenfriedberger Marsch, a military march, was supposedly written by Frederick to commemorate his victory in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg during the Second Silesian War. His court musicians included C. P. E. Bach, Johann Joachim Quantz, Carl Heinrich Graun and Franz Benda. A meeting with Johann Sebastian Bach in 1747 in Potsdam led to Bach's writing The Musical Offering.
  Frederick aspired to be a Philosopher king; he joined the Freemasons in 1738 and corresponded with key French Enlightenment figures. These included Voltaire, whose friend the Marquis d'Argens, was appointed Royal Chamberlain in 1742, then Director of the Prussian Academy of Arts and Berlin State Opera.
  While using German as a working language in the army and with his administration, Frederick read and wrote his literary works in French and also generally used that language with his closest relatives or friends. Though he had a good command of this language, his writing style was flawed; he had troubles with its orthography and always had to rely on French proofreaders.
  Frederick disliked the German language and literature, explaining that German authors "pile parenthesis upon parenthesis, and often you find only at the end of an entire page the verb on which depends the meaning of the whole sentence". He discarded many Baroque era authors as uncreative pedants and especially despised German theatre. Also, he was cool toward the revival of German culture in the later part of his reign, as he was unimpressed by the authors of the "Sturm und Drang" movement and remained of essentially classical taste. His main inspirations were ancient philosophers and poets as well as French authors of the 17th century. However, interest in foreign cultures was by no means an exception in Germany at that time. The Habsburg court at Vienna was open to influences from Italy, Spain and France. Many German rulers sought to emulate the success of Louis XIV of France and adopted French tastes and manners, though often adapted to the German cultural context. In the case of Frederick II, it might also have been a reaction to the austerity of the family environment created by his father, who had a deep aversion for France and was not interested in the cultural development of his state.
  On the other hand, while still considering the German culture of his time to be inferior to that of France or Italy, he did try to foster its development. He thought that it had been hindered by the devastating wars of the 17th century (the Thirty Years' War, the Ottoman wars, the invasions of Louis XIV) but that with some time and effort, it could equal or even surpass its rivals. In his view, this would require a complete codification of the German language with the help of official academies, the emergence of talented classical German authors and extensive patronage of the arts from Germanic rulers, a project of a century or more. Frederick's love of French culture was not without limits either. He disapproved of the luxury and extravagance of the French royal court, and he ridiculed German princes (especially Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland) who imitated French sumptuousness. His own court remained quite Spartan, frugal and small, restricted to a limited circle of close friends- a layout similar to his father's court, though Frederick and his friends were far more cultured than Frederick William. Also, Frederick the Great was dismissive of the radical philosophy of later French thinkers such as Rousseau (though he in fact sheltered Rousseau from persecution for a number of years), and grew to believe that the French cultural golden age was drawing to a close.
  Despite his distaste for German, Frederick did sponsor the Königliche Deutsche Gesellschaft (Royal German Society), founded in Königsberg in 1741, the aim of which was to promote and develop the German language. He allowed the association to be titled 
caption: Frederick in a Waffenrock (army tunic)
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