Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué: Werke

This 21st volume is the first in the edition of Fouqué’s complete works to contain one of his historical works. In 1824 Fouqué’s biography of his grandfather, General Heinrich August Fouqué, was published by Schüppel, after other publishers, including Fouqué’s acquaintance Perthes in Hamburg, had turned it down. In his biography Fouqué was unable to write from personal memories of his famous ancestor, who had died three years before Fouqué’s birth. Instead, he drew on his father’s memories and those of other contemporaries, as well as on a wealth of written material. General Fouqué was a close confidant of Frederick the Great of Prussia and a famous veteran of the Austro-Silesian (Seven Years’) War. Fouqué lost the Battle of Landshut in 1760 to General Laudon; he was forced to retreat several times and was taken captive by the Austrians. But to his descendant around 1820 he was a great war hero. Friedrich Fouqué’s biography of his grandfather also depicts the General’s human side and his friendship with the king. Nearly two centuries later the work is a unique contemporary document and a moving read.