Prussian Knight

By John Eklund

I n the fall of 1831, 114 years years before his beloved homeland would be erased from the face of the earth, the future crown prince of the kingdom of Prussia is born in his family’s palace. As time would tell, Frederick III could not have been born at a more relevant moment.

While growing up, Fritz becomes a dedicated student who is fascinated with the intricate yet difficult history of his people. As his royal tutor leads Fritz back in time, he learns about the glorious heroes that transformed Prussia into a powerful nation that gained its status not through wealth or natural resources but through the unrivaled discipline and sheer determination of its people. While the crown prince learns about the Teutonic Knights, Tannhäuser, and the horrors that befell his ancestors, he is taken on a fascinating journey into the past that eventually leads him full circle into the present where he becomes a hero himself.

Prussian Knight blends historical facts with legend while telling the compelling tale of the storybook rise and cataclysmic fall of Europe’s most honorable, yet tragic, race, and the heroes who helped build a powerful nation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781663208989

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Copyright © 2021 John Eklund.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.If there are only a few historical figures or actual events in the novel, the disclaimer could name them: For example: Edwin Stanton and Salmon Chase are historical figures... or The King and Queen of Burma were actually exiled by the British in 1885. The rest of the disclaimer would follow:However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-0897-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0899-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0898-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021920813

iUniverse rev. date: 11/16/2021

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Contents

Time Line

Prussian Virtues

The History of Prussia

The Legend of Tannhäuser

The Legend of Hermann von Salza

The Legend of Lohengrin

The Legend of Ulrich von Lichtenstein

The 1848 Revolution

Time in England

Frankenstein Castle

Otto von Bismarck

Count Helmuth von Moltke

War with Denmark

War with Austria

Paul von Hindenburg

Leopold von Hohenzollern

The Ems Telegram

Napoleon III and the French Empire

The Battle of Wissembourg

Voltaire

The Battle of Wörth

Baron von Richthofen

Ferdinand von Zeppelin

The Taking of St. Privat

The Battle of Sedan

Siege of Paris

The Unification of Germany

A Knight’s Duel

The End of the War

A Reckoning

The Death of a King

Prussian Night

Glossary

For all the sad words of tongue or pen, the

saddest are these: It might have been.

—John Greenleaf Whittier

Time Line

1192—The Teutonic Knights establish a base in Acre, kingdom of Jerusalem.

1230—The Teutonic Knights, under the command of Grand Master Hermann von Salza, launch the Prussian Crusade to Christianize the Baltics.

1410—During the Battle of Tannenberg, the Slavs annihilate the Teutonic Knights.

1525—Albert I of the House of Hohenzollern becomes the duke of Prussia.

1701—The kingdom of Prussia is established.

1756—The Seven Years’ War begins.

1757—Cavalry general Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz leads Prussia to astounding victories at Leuthen and Rossbach.

1800—Count Helmuth von Moltke is born.

1813—During the Battle of Nations, Blücher and the Prussians help defeat Napoleon at Leipzig.

1815—Blücher and Wellington defeat Napoleon at Waterloo.

1815—Otto von Bismarck is born on April 1 in Schönhausen, Prussia.

1831—Frederick III, crown prince of Prussia, is born.

1845—Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser premiers in Dresden.

1848—Revolutions break out across Europe.

1859—Prince Wilhelm (future kaiser of Germany), son of Frederick III and Victoria, is born in Berlin.

1864—The Second Schleswig War against Denmark begins.

1866—The Austro-Prussian War begins.

1870—The Franco-Prussian War begins.

1871—Prussia unifies Germany.

1886—The Neuschwanstein Castle opens in Schwangau, Germany.

1888—Frederick III dies.

1898—Otto von Bismarck dies.

1914—During the Battle of Tannenberg, Germany defeats Russia, avenging the loss of the Teutonic Knights.

1934—German President Paul von Hindenburg dies and Hitler comes to power in Germany.

1945—Prussia is destroyed.

Prussian Virtues

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O n October 18, 1831, 114 years before his beloved homeland would be erased from the face of the earth, Frederick III, future crown prince of the kingdom of Prussia, was born in his family’s palace in Potsdam, a city in Brandenburg, not far from Berlin. He came into the world on the Day of Leipzig, a festival celebrated throughout the German lands, honoring the victory that forever drove the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte across the Rhine. As time would tell, the future crown prince could not have been born at a more relevant moment.

Growing up, Fritz, as he was called by those closest to him, was often lonely but never discouraged. Life as a Prussian prince afforded him much responsibility yet few friends. Fritz was a good-natured lad with a natural generosity, and he never said a cross word about anyone. When not preoccupied with his noble duties, he enjoyed running and hunting in the forests and playing with his dogs on the lands surrounding his family’s palace.

Fritz looked like a typical Prussian boy. He had light reddish-brown hair that turned blond in the summer sun. His eyes were a pale blue-green. He had a sturdy frame, and he excelled in athletics. He was very astute and, following in his father’s footsteps, took a great interest in the military. He had a natural intellect when interpreting the details of a battlefield. Early on, the generals in the Prussian Landwehr called him a precocious military genius.¹

A fine student, Fritz was educated by the best scholars in his kingdom. He easily mastered reading and writing and learned several foreign languages. He could hum Beethoven’s symphonies by heart and was able to recite the most famous quotations of the renowned Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant. A lover of animals, his favorite Kant quotation was He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also with his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. However, the Kant quote he embraced most was To be is to do.

Like his parents, Fritz was a Lutheran and was well versed in the Christian faith. He was also well versed in geography. By age nine, he could name all the capitals of Europe and could effortlessly locate all the major German cities on a map. A lifelong believer in the adage that family is the cornerstone of society, Fritz mastered the details of his ancestors by age ten. And, like all patriotic Prussian lads, he learned and memorized the Prussian virtues by age twelve.

To understand the history of the Prussian people, one must first know our virtues, young Fritz was told. It was ingrained in him that the Old Testament had Ten Commandments, but the Prussians had twenty-five virtues:

• stoicism when faced with hardship

• discipline

• bravery without self-pity

• godliness, coupled with religious tolerance

• industriousness

• reliability

• obedience

• austerity

• thrift

• incorruptibility

• loyalty

• sense of duty

• straightforwardness

• sense of order

• sense of justice

• punctuality

• fortitude

• frankness

• determination

• humility

• sincerity

• toughness

• conscientiousness

• courage

• restraint

The Prussian people held these virtues as sacred, especially the members of the Prussian military. The virtues had been passed down for centuries. They originated with the holy order of the Teutonic Knights, ancient crusaders who fought to Christianize the Baltic pagans. Like so many of his countrymen, young Fritz took a vow to uphold the virtues, and he kept them in his heart all the days of his life.

The History of Prussia

A lthough he enjoyed education in general, Fritz’s favorite academic subject was history, and with much fascination, he learned of the intricate and difficult history of the Prussian people.

The history of Prussia commenced not in Germany but thousands of miles away in the Holy Land, Fritz’s royal tutor began. "In the year 1192, Germanic knights took control of the port of Acre, located on the coastal plains of ancient Israel. They came not as conquering crusaders but as healers. They set up hospitals in Acre to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Their official title was the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, but they later became known throughout the world as the Teutonic Knights.

"The Teutonic Knights achieved a great reputation in Acre, and they stayed there several years. Then in the early thirteenth century, as the Middle Eastern crusades reached their twilight, the Teutonic Knights briefly moved to Transylvania. They took on a military role there and helped defend the kingdom of Hungary from marauding Turkish nomads. Soon, however, they found their home in Prussia, on the Baltic coast in Europe. By the order of the Golden Bull of Rimini,² the knights were tasked with converting the Baltic pagans to Christianity. The leader of this effort was Teutonic Grand Master Hermann von Salza, the greatest of the Teutonic Knights. Beginning in the year 1230, they succeeded where the Middle Eastern crusaders had failed. Through military might, they