Johann Georg Pfund

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quadriga in the coach stable on Potsdamer Neuer Markt ; the driver of the team is a representation of Pfund

Johann Georg Pfund (also George and Pfundt ; born September 22, 1700 in Neuruppin , † September 22, 1784 in Potsdam ) was the long-time body coach of King Frederick II of Prussia .

Life

In 1730, Pfund entered the service of Friedrich, who was still Crown Prince at the time. Little is known about Pfunds person because the facts of his biography were covered up early by numerous anecdotes that can no longer be reliably separated from the facts. A basic motif of most of the stories can be traced back to reality: Pfund was extremely rude in his demeanor and very impudent even towards Friedrich. Nevertheless, the king kept him in his service, as Pfund was an unusually skilled coachman and knew how to drive particularly quickly, which Friedrich, who was on constant inspection trips, seemed indispensable.

In 1776, Pfund's service as a body coach ended. His retirement was also the subject of anecdotal accounts; Friedrich fired pounds without a pension in order to avenge himself for the insolence of many years, it is said, among other things. For a long time, pound had to repeatedly ask the king for a pension, which Friedrich finally only granted him on the intercession of the chief stable master, Count Schwerin, in the amount of 7 talers and 8 groschen per month. What speaks against royal disgrace, however, is the fact that pound by no means had to beg long for a pension; the order for the payment of the lifelong pension was issued by Friedrich on March 17, 1776. In 1781 he received one of the houses built on royal orders in Potsdam and died three years later on his 84th birthday, as noted in the death register of the civil parish of the Potsdam Garrison Church .

A portrait of Pfund is not known; but the liveried charioteer of the Quadriga on the royal coach stable on the Neuer Markt in Potsdam, a work by the sculptor Johann Eckstein (verifiable 1772–1802) is a representation of the body coach.

literature

  • Hermann Kügler: Johann George Pfund (t) (1700–84), old Fritz's personal coachman . In: Journal of the Association for the History of Berlin . Volume 57, 1940, pp. 27–33.
  • Christiane Petri: DuMont art travel guide Potsdam and surroundings . DuMont Reiseverlag, 2009, ISBN 3770166108
  • Bernhard von Poten :  pound . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, p. 714.
  • Johann David Erdmann Preuss: Friedrich the Great - A life story . Nauck, 1832
  • Eduard Vehse: Prussian court stories. Volume 3. G. Müller, 1913
  • Alfred Weise: Sanssouci and Frederick the Great . E. Diederichs, 1925

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pound, Johann Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pfundt, Johann George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Personal coachman of Frederick the Great
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuruppin
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1784
Place of death Potsdam