(cont'd) When Frederick was 18, the abuse became so intolerable that he attempted to escape the country.
He hatched a secret plan to flee to England with his close friend and suspected lover, a young officer named Hans Hermann von Katte.
They were caught. The King threw his son into a fortress dungeon and accused him of high treason.
To permanently break Frederick’s spirit, the King ordered the execution of Katte and forced Frederick to watch his friend be beheaded directly outside. Frederick fainted from the horror.
Fearing his own execution, Frederick finally submitted to his father's demands. He took on military duties, entered a loveless political marriage, and pretended to obey.
When his father died in 1740, Frederick ascended the throne as King Frederick II. Hardened, ruthless, and cynical from his upbringing, he utilized the highly trained army his father left him.
He conquered massive amounts of territory, earning the title Frederick the Great.
As a final act of rebellion, he used his power to build magnificent, sprawling Rococo palaces —completely erasing the austere, simple style his abusive father had loved.
(Statue of Frederick the Great in front of the New Wing, sculpted by Johann Gottfried Schadow and completed in 1792)