In the 18th century, when the German princes were divided, all parts of the country and all levels of society were filled with obscure, poor and stingy nobles. Prince Christian August of the Principality of Anhalt Zerbst was no different from these people.

.

There's nothing special about Christian, but he's not a worrying villain either.

In fact, he inherited the real qualities of the Junker class——

Absolutely obedient, self-disciplined, upright, frugal, and pious. And he is unmoved by other people's right and wrong, romantic affairs, and all kinds of information in printed matter.

Generally speaking, he is indifferent to the world outside his own life.

Christian was born in 1690 and became a professional soldier while serving in the army of King Frederick William I of Prussia.

Christian had performed his duties faithfully during the battles against Sweden, France and Austria, but he had not accomplished many feats on the battlefield. He never rose to great heights, but he never stood still either.

The king once called his loyal commander "Zerbst's Idiot". Despite this, after the war, the king promoted him to the commander of the infantry regiment and garrisoned Stettin, which was the newly conquered city of Prussia from Sweden.

A piece of land captured by the kingdom.

At that time, Sweden controlled the area of ​​Pomerania on the Baltic Sea coast.

Prince Christian, who was stationed in Stettin, remained a bachelor, but in 1727, at the age of 37, he still listened to his family's advice and decided to marry and have children.

He put on the most exquisite blue uniform, hung up Cheng Liang's sword, and married Princess Johanna Elisabeth, who was only 15 years old at the time.

Before the marriage, the prince knew almost nothing about the princess of the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. Their union was completely arranged by the parents of both parties.

This marriage made the prince's family very happy. Firstly, the marriage could ensure that the Anhalt-Zerbst family would have a successor. Secondly, judging from their family status, the prince's family was clearly in a high position.

But the age difference between the couple caused many problems.

Generally speaking, the marriage between a young woman and an almost middle-aged man is always due to various comprehensive factors.

Johanna's family background is good and she is not considered wealthy, but she is still a well-to-do wealthy family.

As soon as Johanna's childhood was over, her parents chose a respectable man to be her husband without her consent, leaving Johanna with no choice.

What's even more discouraging is that the couple's personalities and temperaments are almost completely opposite to each other.

Christian August is simple and frank, serious and dull, and does not like socializing or extravagance. But Johanna is a complex-minded, lively and active person who likes fun and a luxurious life.

She is a recognized beauty, with a pair of curved eyebrows, golden curly hair, full of charm, and she is always eager to please everyone, all of which makes her easily capture everyone's attention.

As long as there are people around her, Johanna feels that everyone should fall in love with her.

However, as she grows older, she has to put in more and more efforts, because her shortcomings are quickly exposed.

Her endless chatter betrayed her shallowness, and once she was struck, her charm disappeared and was replaced by an angry look on her face, and her fiery temper soon erupted.

Johanna has always known that the reason why she is like this is simply because her marriage is a terrible mistake, and there is no way for her to escape from this marriage.

Johanna realized this the first time she saw the mansion her new husband bought for her in Stettin.

Throughout her teenage years, Johanna lived a life of luxury.

Their family is a less prominent branch of the Holstein family. Her father is the Lutheran bishop in the Lübeck area. The family has a total of 12 children. Johanna was adopted to her godmother - none of them.

He was raised one by one by the Duchess of Brunswick.

In the most luxurious court in northern Germany, Johanna had long been accustomed to gorgeous gifts, numerous servants, balls, operas, concerts, fireworks displays, collective hunting, and endless gossip.

Johanna's new husband, Christian August, a professional soldier, barely survives on his meager military salary and cannot sustain any of Johanna's hobbies. The most he can do is try his best to ensure that he has a decent bluestone building.

house.

The house is located in a cobbled alley that is exposed to wind and rain all year round.

Stettin is a fortress town surrounded by city walls. To the north you can see a desolate sea. The whole town is full of a rigid military atmosphere. You can't find much fun in this place, nor can you enjoy wealth.

a comfortable life,

The lives of the officers' wives in the town were even more ordinary.

A young woman full of vigor, who was previously immersed in the luxury and various pastimes of the Brunswick court, suddenly had to live on her husband's meager income under the arrangements of others.

The puritanical husband devotes himself wholeheartedly to military life, loves the life of poverty, is good at giving orders, but cannot communicate normally with others. In addition, he also longs for his wife to realize his hope for this marriage.

He gave birth to a boy and a half girl.

Johanna tried her best. Although she was unhappy, she still fulfilled her duties as a wife. But deep down in her heart, she always longed to regain her freedom, stay away from her boring husband, get rid of poverty, and escape from the narrow and vulgar Sri Lanka.

Deding, she always believed that she deserved a better life.

Later, she became pregnant.

Johanna was not ready to be a mother yet, so she just retreated into her daydreams when facing this pregnancy.

She longed that this child would continue her past life, that they would eventually be able to move to a big city, and that she would wander on the wide avenues so that her long-cherished wishes in the past could come true.

In her daydreams, Johanna took it for granted that the child she was pregnant with this time, that is, her first-born child, would definitely be a boy. This child would inherit his father's title. More importantly, this child would be handsome and extraordinary.

Under Johanna's guidance, he will have a brilliant career, and Johanna will share his glory with him.

At half past two in the morning on April 21, 1729, at the gray and cold dawn of the Baltic Sea, Johanna gave birth, but the little one turned out to be a girl.

Faced with this reality, Christian August was not as negative as Johanna.

Johanna reluctantly and her husband named the child Sophia August Frederica.

However, she showed no maternal love to the child from the beginning.

Johanna never nursed or caressed her young daughter, never even looked after the cradle or held her.

In fact, she hastily left the child with the servants and wet nurses.

Some say this was because the separation process nearly cost Johanna her life, as her underage mother was still bedridden 19 weeks after Sophia was born.

Others say that Johanna was still young at the time, and she still had a lot of dazzling ambitions for life, but the day when her dreams came true was far away.

However, the real reason is because it's a girl, not a boy.

If a boy is born that Johanna is looking forward to, and that boy grows up, he will inherit his father's title and become Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst.

Eighteen months after the birth of her eldest daughter, Johanna gave birth to another child, and she was devoted to this child.

Johanna became even more fond of her second child, William Christian, when she discovered that he had serious physical defects.

Johanna was fascinated by the boy who suffered from rickets. She doted on him, pampered him blindly, and stared at him almost all the time. She devoted all the love she had never given to her daughter to this son.

Sofia knew very well that her birth had disappointed her mother, and now she witnessed her mother's meticulous love for her brother. The gentle kisses and caresses and the whispers in the ear were all given to the boy, and she could only...

Watching from the sidelines.

For Johanna, if one of her children has a disability or a chronic disease, then it is not too much to spend a little more effort on this child. It is also very difficult for other children in the family to resent the mother's unbalanced love.

normal.

However, Johanna's rejection of Sophia existed long before William Christian was born.

The birth of her younger brother made her mother's rejection of her even stronger. Her mother's partiality left a wound in Sophia's heart that could never be healed.

In families where parents have preferences for their children, most children who are rejected or neglected will be more or less like Sophia. In order to avoid being hurt, she does not reveal her true feelings to others, and she gets nothing.

Her family has no expectations for her either.

Because of William's illness, Johanna's family searched for the most famous doctors in Germany over the course of more than ten years.

These doctors recommended that William be sent to Baden and Carlsbad to soak in the hot springs, but every time he came back, he was still walking as before.

As his height increased, William's legs became longer and thinner. William died of spotted fever when he was 12 years old.

Sophia was 13 years old at this time.

William's death made Johanna heartbroken, and the whole family had to accompany her in pain.

The harm caused by Johanna's unbridled favoritism to the young Sophia left a deep mark on Sophia's character.

The rejection she suffered in her childhood made Sophia constantly seek what she once lacked, which was the most basic warmth between people.

Just as the younger brother received the warmth from his mother that she had never received before.

At this time, Germany was divided into pieces, and even the monarchs of the small principalities were striving to show their identity and status in carriages, clothing, and other aspects.

Children from aristocratic families are surrounded by nannies, female governesses, male teachers, and various instructors to take care of them, teach them music, dance, riding, religion, etc., and train them to ensure their appearance.

, behavior and beliefs can meet the standards of the European court.

The first thing to learn is etiquette. Young students practice bowing and curtseying until they can perform the most standard movements without thinking.

Language learning is a top priority. Young princes and princesses must have the ability to speak, read, and write in French, a common language for the entire European intellectual community.

At this time, the German nobility generally believed that German was too vulgar.

And Sophia welcomed her governess Elizabeth Babette Caddell.

Babette was French and a Huguenot believer. She believed that Protestant Germany was safer and more suitable to her temper than Catholic France.

Babette soon realized that the reason for her student's frequent conflicts with others was because she was suffering from loneliness. The little girl longed for encouragement and warmth from others.

Babette satisfied Sophia, and she also tried her best to cultivate Sophia's love for French with its logic, subtlety, and the wit and vividness of the language.

Sophia's love for the language has never disappeared.

The French class progressed from the original "La Fontaine's Fables" to the works of French playwrights Corneille, Racine and Molière, although Sophia felt that most of the time she was just memorizing them by rote.
To be continued...