5-line handwriting in brown ink on paper
Autographed letter signed "Frederic", dated and located "Potsdam", in French, to the widow of General-lieutenant Krusemark
Potsdam, 16 June 1775
Frederick II (1712-1786) – also called "the Great", King of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg
Hans-Friedrich von Krusemark (1720-1775) - General-lieutenant and loyal officer of Frederick II
1 double sheet folded transversely, posterior half empty
Sheet size: 22.5 x 18.5 cm
In very fine condition

Frederick writes freely translated:

The assurances that you have received through my Major General von Wartenberg concerning the care of your children do not hesitate to be fulfilled. I will not forget them. I will strengthen their fate in a way that you will recognize the eagerness with which I try to be a father of those who have served me faithfully.

This new promise must reassure you and let you expect with resignation the moment when I will fulfill this. The point in time is not far away. In this expectation, I pray to God that he helps you in his holy protection.



The letter is in very fine condition. The clean and solid laid paper was once folded several times and smoothed. Verso with old traces of mounting. Sheet size 22.5 x 18.5 cm.



Hans-Friedrich von Kruse Mark (1720-1775)

Lieutenant General Hans-Friedrich von Krusemark was a highly endowed, loyal officer of Frederick II and was conferred Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle in 1773. He died on 15 May 1775 in Berlin. The present letter was written by Frederick II a month after Krusemarks death. Krusemarks had married Johanna Christiane Wilhelmine of Ingersleben in 1765, the daughter of General Johann Ludwig von Ingersleben.



Frederick II (1712-1786)

Frederick II, also called Frederick the Great or Old Fritz, was from 1740 king in Prussia and from 1772 King of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg. He was descended from the noble house of Hohenzollern. Frederick is considered a representative of enlightened absolutism. He described himself as ‘the first servant of the state’. The three Silesian wars agains Austria for the possession of Silesia led to the German dualism. After the last of these wars, the Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763, Prussia was recognized as the fifth great power along with France, Great Britain, Austria and Russia in the European pentarchy.