Wilhelmine and Frederick (Frederick the Great)
Princess Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine and Frederick II (later Frederick the Great) were the two oldest surviving children of Frederick Wilhelm I, King of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. While they were children, their grandfather, on their mother’s side, became King George I of England. It was their mother’s dream to have a them marry their cousins in a double wedding - Wilhelmine to the Prince of Wales and Frederick to the Princess Amelia of Great Britain. (Wilhelmine’s parents were also cousins.) Wilhelmine was raised and educated along side her brother in the hopes she would someday be the Queen of England. Unfortunately, the double wedding never happened and, ironically, the Prince of Wales died before his father. He never became king and, had they married, Wilhelmine would never have been queen.
Their father, the King of Prussia, was probably bipolar, an alcoholic, and a tyrant to his wife and children. He was very frugal and military-minded with an abhorrence for music, literature and anything cultural. He made Wilhelmine and Frederick’s childhood very unhappy. In defiance of their father, they found time to play music together when he wasn’t around. Wilhelmine played the lute and harpsichord while Frederick played the flute. Music became a life-long bond between them.
As a child Frederick preferred music and reading to his father’s insistence on military training. When he was older, he became obsessed with all things French, as did most of Europe. This infuriated his father. The king ridiculed and publicly shamed his son. By August of 1730, Frederick had had enough. He and another soldier and friend planned to run away to England. Their plot was discovered and both boys were thrown in jail. The king threatened to kill them both for desertion. In the end Frederick was forced to watch as his friend was executed. Then he was imprisoned for a year.
The king suspected that Wilhelmine also knew about the escape plan so he locked her in her room for a year as well. In a rage, he threatened to marry her off to his friend, Augustus II, the King of Poland - who was 39 years OLDER than Wilhelmine. Fortunately, Wilhemline’s mother suggested the Margrave of Bayreuth instead. They were closer in age and the marrage would secure Prussian rule in the Franconian margraviate, which had a tendency to side with Austria.
Wilhelmine’s Flute Sonata was discovered in 2003 in the library at Jagdschloss Herdringen in Arnsberg, Germany. The collection had the work labeled as ‘anonymous’ even though Wilhelmina’s name was clearly written on the upper right corner. Handwriting comparisons with her Opera, Keyboard Concerto, and her letters verify that she wrote this work as well. It is believed to have been written during the tumultuous year before her marriage to the Margrave of Bayreuth in 1731.
