Potato command
Potato command is a name for orders, circulars and ordinances from Frederick II of Prussia to the officials of his provinces, in which he tried to enforce the cultivation of potatoes in the Prussian provinces. Fifteen such “potato commands” are known; the first was issued in 1746 on the occasion of a famine in Pomerania . In addition, he had the pastors promote the spread of the potatoes, who, as "tuber preachers", passed on new knowledge and advised them to cultivate them. To check the implementation, he requested tables from his administration that provided information on success and failure.
For Silesia , the first letter dated March 24, 1756 read as follows:
“Circulars to all district administrators and officials about growing the potatoes
It is from us in the highest person in our other provinces the planting of the so-called potatoes, as a very useful and in many ways useful for humans and cattle, seriously ordered. Since we now notice that in Silesia people are not particularly concerned with the attraction of this plant; as [therefore] you have to make the lords and subjects understand the benefit of planting this earthy plant and advise them to plant the potatoes as a very nutritious food this spring, especially the poor farmers and subjects are put in a position to sell many more bushels of grain, which they would otherwise have to use for bread, hence their [them] the maintenance of their families, and the discharge of their praestandoren [obligations], since this fruit is known to be very much increased, one cannot obtain more from any plant than potatoes on the same terrain, as the dominatrix [landlords] and subjects will find that they benefit from the upbringing of this earth plant, partly by consuming it themselves, and being able to manage [save] a lot of grain, but partly also by selling it and leading it to markets Can have use, and by the way, those places which at the moment do not have any potatoes at all, have to purchase them from other places for sowing. "
In a second letter, dated April 5, 1757, intended for Silesia, it is noted that “there is a lack of knowledge of how to plant these potatoes” and what they are to be used for. That is why long instructions are given about suitable soil, soil cultivation, planting out the potatoes and their use for human consumption and as fodder. It describes mixed bread made from potato flour and rye, mashed potatoes (still without milk), potatoes as an accompaniment to meat, obtaining potato starch (for “powder” and the “best cakes”) and for “poor people” jacket potatoes with salt. It also says:
“Wherever there is only an empty space, the potato should be grown, since this fruit is not only very useful to use, but is also so productive that the effort put into it is very well rewarded. […] By the way, you do not have to stop at the mere knowledge of the instruction, but have the Land Dragoons and other Creißservers revised at the beginning of May to determine whether diligence was also required in the planting, as you must investigate yourself in your analyzes let their planting be taken care of. "
Friedrich saw the following advantages in the potatoes: No high demands on the soil, nutritious food for humans and cattle and they tolerate moisture better than grain.
Legend has it that for lack of instruction, farmers boiled the seeds or the plants instead of the tubers and then refused to grow them. The king had now grown potatoes on his property and had soldiers guarded them. That in turn would have aroused the curiosity of the farmers in the area and when asked they would have received information that the king had tubers grown on the respective field for the royal table. The soldiers were deployed to protect the valuable bulbs and had the task of preventing any theft. Allegedly, the farmers sneaked to the fields at night and stole the potato seeds in order to plant them in their own fields and the guards overlooked this according to their instructions. In memory of the potato order, visitors today often place potatoes on the grave of Frederick the Great in Sanssouci.
More similar commands
In 2015, the government in China issued an order reminding of Frederick the Great's potato order, but without being derived from it, because the water consumption for the wheat and rice plants has apparently become too great. At the same time, population growth is forcing alternatives in order to ensure that people are fed. In contrast to Prussia's Frederick the Great, the tuber is used as a useful plant in China, albeit as a vegetable, but not as a side dish .
Web links
literature
- Antonia Humm: Friedrich II. And potato cultivation in Brandenburg-Prussia. In: Frank Göse (Ed.): Friedrich the Great and the Mark Brandenburg. Rulership practice in the province. Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86732-138-9 , pp. 183-215.
- Kurt Winkler (eds.), Antonia Humm, Marina Heilmeyer: König & Kartoffel. Frederick the Great and the Prussian "Tartuffoli". Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, 2012, ISBN 978-3-942476-30-0 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Antonia Humm: Friedrich II. And the potato cultivation in Brandenburg-Prussia. In: Frank Göse (Ed.): Friedrich the Great and the Mark Brandenburg. Rulership practice in the province. Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86732-138-9 , pp. 186f. (with detailed references to the archival material) (limited preview on Google Books)
- ↑ King and Potato ( Memento of the original dated November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Frederick the Great and the Prussian "Tartuffoli". Accompanying text and flyer for the exhibition of the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History from July 20, 2012 to October 28, 2012.
- ↑ printed in: Andreas Martin Lipius: Collection of the sovereign Duchy of Silesia and its incorporated county Glatz in finance, justice, criminal, clerical, consistorial, church matters [etc.] published edicts, patents, ordinances [ Etc.]. 6th volume, Korn and Gambert, Breslau 1763, p. 350 ( digitized from Google Books ).
- ↑ Pergande, Frank: The 50 most important questions of Friedrich the Great Why is Friedrich's grave often like a potato field? Bucher Verlag, Munich, 2011, p. 130
- ↑ Grave crime! Why are potatoes lying on Frederick the Great's grave slab?
- ↑ By Hendrik Ankenbrand: The Chinese: damned to eat potatoes. In: FAZ.net . January 23, 2015, accessed October 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Felix Lee, Beijing: China wants to become a potato nation. In: nzz.ch. January 22, 2015, accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ http://blog.zeit.de/china/2015/01/17/china-will-kartoffelnation-haben/ Zeit-Online January 17, 2015, 9:56 am
