1. The Queen Of Hearts Returns To Berlin
Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who married her prince charming, became a queen
and loved by her people. Although two centuries have passed since Louise Queen of Prussia died,
she remains what is called today a superstar. Her glamorous popularity is very similar to that of
Princess Diana or the Austrian Empress Sissy. Berlin loved Louisa, as did the entire German-
speaking Europe. Exactly, 200 years after her death, Berlin marks the event in exhibitions and
festivals.
The non-conformist Princess and the lackeys.
In 1793, she had a pre-arranged date with Prussia's Crown Prince Frederick William (Friedrich
Wilhelm). The prince fell in love with her and the two got married that same year. Frederick William's
brother, Louis (Ludwig), married Frederike, Louise's sister, and it helped Louise perform a "soft
landing" in the Prussian court. The pretty princess quickly gained the admiration of her subjects.
When Louise came to Berlin, so the legend says, she was greeted by a girl dressed in white who
gave her a bunch of flowers. It touched the princess' heart, and she lifted the girl and kissed her, in
contrast to the strict Prussian rules. The crowds of Berliners loved this loose behavior, but not the
"lackeys" who argued that this was not a proper behavior of the future queen. Fuel was added to the
fire by a sculpture created by the celebrated sculptor Gottfried Schadow, which depicted Luise and
her sister in a way that seemed erotic. The statue terrified even the Crown Prince, who ordered to
hide it from the public.
However, Louise continued her nonconformity over the coming years, and gained an immense
popularity in the Prussian public, as much as Diana Princess of Wales two centuries later.
Leading the struggle against Napoleon
When Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederick William) came to the throne, he started consulting with his wife
about running the kingdom. Louisa was eminent t in foreign policy. Friedrich Wilhelm the 3rd was a
pacifist and indecisive ruler, but all his efforts to conduct a policy of neutrality and peace, and
maneuver his medium sized country between the major powers Russia, Austria and France, were
unsuccessful. The queen played a key role in changing the attitude of the Prussian monarchy into a
struggle against Napoleon and his allies.
The Emperor and the Queen
Louise felt a contempt for Napoleon and saw him as just upstart. The french ruler was aware of the
influence of Queen Louise on her husband, but mocked her, calling her "an Amazon". After Napoleon
defeated Prussia in 1806 in Jena and Auerstadt, the royal family fled to Koenigsberg, on the far
eastern part of their kingdom and lived there in harsh and humiliating conditions.
July 1807 Luise tried to convince Napoleon, in a private conversation in Tilsit to moderate his policy
toward defeated Prussia. Napoleon rejected it, causing Louisa to radicalize her position. Now, she
called her people to take a patriotic stand and challenge Napoleon.
The Amazon's vengeance
At the end of 1809 the royal family could return to Berlin, although Prussia was still under the
2. patronage of France. However, the tense situation weighed greatly on Louisa's health. July 19 1810
the queen died of pneumonia in the arms of her husband. An autopsy revealed a tumor which
weighed on her heart. And so came to the world the myth that Louise died of a broken heart. This
story also contributed to the nickname that granted to her after her death: the German Queen of
Heart. Germany's greatest poets devoted their poems to the "Queen of Hearts."
Louisa was only 34 years old when she died. She did not live to enjoy her husband's victory over
Napoleon. However, the old Prussian field marshal Gebhard von Bluecher, said on 30 March 1814,
while overlooking defeated Paris from the top of Montmartre: "Louise got her revenge."
And now a few words about the events of Louise's year in Berlin and its vicinity, for those who plan to
visit the city..
Nature, water and art
The Havel river's Peacocks Island (Pfaueninsel) on the western edge of Berlin, is the site of a
combination of nature, water and art called "the queen's inner world." This event will end on October
31, 2010
A beautiful nature reserve today, the Peacocks' Island was one of my favorite places on the Prussian
royal family. Well-known artists from around the world incorporated Louisa's personality with the
atmosphere and landscape, and guests may watch the results by walking along a route with 18
stations. For the first time, visitors are permitted to enter parts of the park, which were so far closed to
the public.
Louise's many faces
The second event is going to end as early as May 30. That is the exhibition "Louise, life and myth of
the Queen" in Charlottenburg Palace. The palace curators put an emphasis on the queen's many
faces: beautiful woman, bourgeois wife, political activist, philosopher, tough ruler, martyr, pioneer of
German nationalism. Visitors meet the Queen at the palace rooms. At the foyer, the controversial
sculpture of Louise and her sister is presented.
More than 350 paintings, sculptures, drawings and documents, including masterpieces by Karl
Friedrich Schinkel, Johann Christian Schadow and Gottfried Daniel Rauch, are shown in the "new
flank" of the palace. They make it easier to get acquainted with the queen.
The grave
The mausoleum in Charlottenburg Palace park, where Louise is buried, also attracts visitors. Louisa's
sarcophagus was cleaned and renovated professionally this year. For the first time since 1814 the
mausoleum crypt is open to the public. An impressive marble portrait statue of Luise, created by
Christian Daniel Rauch, is also worth seeing there.
Other highlights are a residential apartment of Louise, restored almost authentically, with real
belongings of the queen from the years 1800 and 1810. 90 percent of the furniture are original, and
there are also hand-painted silk rugs.
These rooms in the southern part of the new wing had been renovated in 1796-1797 to serve as a
winter residence of King Friedrich Wilhelm 2, Luise's father in law. The king died before the
completion of the renovation work, and Louise took advantage of the place while she was staying in
3. Charlottenburg.
Louisa Queen of Heart
Finally, an exhibition held in Potsdam, near Berlin. The Potsdam Film Museum (Address: Breite
Strasse 1A) presents the "Queen of Heart Louise" exhibition until 24 October 2010.
This special exhibition is accompanied by documentaries and fiction movies. In 1913 the first film ever
about Luise was released. She is depicted there as a patriotic angel. From then on, the German
audience has seen lots of Luise movies. Her image changed according to the political regime that
prevailed at the time. During the Weimar Republic, the German movie studios produced six films
about the queen - once as a maternal figure, another time as a positive leader who led her people out
of their great distress. The first color film about Luise was screened at the end of the Second World
War in theaters that survived by bombings. West Germany's young film industry which emerged in the
postwar years, presented Louise as a reformer. Communist East German cinema described her, on
the other hand, as a feministic character.
Germany's film and television cannot escape Louise even today. At the exhibition, one may see the
costumes and requisites of Luise's movies, past and present, including almost all the costumes of the
last movie which was called, unsurprisingly, "Louise Queen of Heart." You may find a lot of
information about traveling to Berlin in my web site. Click here to visit there.
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