Henris boyfriends du jour (Part one)
(A selection)
These sources are taken from the catalog "Ein Europäer in Rheinsberg" [2002]. I’ll try to make this post in a chronological order.
“Je passe ma vie dans mon lit, et suis très incapable de faire des vers sur ce qui passe dans le lit de monseigneur le Prince Henri.”
[I spend my life in my bed and am completely incapable of writing verses about what happens in Prince Heinrich's bed.]
Voltaire to Countess Bentinck, 26.06.1752
Lehndorff
Anton Friedrich König, Ernst Ahasverus Heinrich von Lehndorff, 1761
“Im Falle Lehndorffs sehen wir das einzige Mal eine Favoritenbeziehung mit den Augen des Favoriten und können dadurch die romantische Energie erahnen, die es auch auf der anderen Seite geben konnte.”
[In Lehndorff's case, we see a favourite relationship through the eyes of the favourite for the only time and can thus glimpse the romantic energy that could also exist on the other side.]
Christoph Martin Vogtherr, page 495.
Vogtherr also mentions the possibility of an Amour Fou on Lehndorff's part in the early stages of their acquaintance, which may have led to Heinrich’s turning away.
Lehndorff being the queer disaster he always has been.
Here are a few excerpts from the diary entries:
09.12.1752
“Ich sehe heute meinen teuern H., kann mich ihm aber nicht nähern, sondern ihn nur von fern bewundern.”
[I see my dear H. today, but I cannot approach him, only admire him from afar.]
28.01.1753
“Was ist er reizend! Ich kann nicht anders, ich muß ihn lieben, obwohl ich merke, daß diese Liebe mir Gemütsruhe, die uns allein glücklich macht, nicht verleiht, sondern im Gegenteil raubt.”
[What a charming man he is! I can't help it, I have to love him, although I notice that this love doesn't give me peace of mind, which alone makes us happy, but on the contrary robs me of it.]
01.10.1753
“Mein Entschluß ist gefaßt! Ich entsage diesem Herzen, das ich niemals habe an mich fesseln können. O Himmel, was kostet mich dieses Opfer, und welchen Schmerz wird es noch kosten!”
[My decision is made! I renounce this heart which I have never been able to bind to myself. O heaven, what is the cost of this sacrifice, and what pain it will cost!]
Later, Lehndorff mentions the sheer number of 50 lovers Heinrich is said to have had in his life.
April 1770
“Unser wackrer Prinz Heinrich, der sonst alle Eigenschaften eines großen Mannes besitzt, kann sich den Geschmack an jungen Leuten nicht abgewöhnen. Gegenwärtig ist es ein junger Schauspieler namens Fernet, mit dem er immer zu tun hat.”
[Our valiant Prince Henry, who otherwise possesses all the qualities of a great man, cannot shake off his taste for young people. At present, it is a young actor named Fernet with whom he is always involved.]
Kaphengst
Anton Graff, Christian Ludwig von Kaphengst, 1790
Apparently Kaphegst was born on the 25th of November 1743 in Gühlitz. After the end of the war [1762] he was sent to Heinrich to take over the hussars of the Rheinsberg castle guard. The 20th of August 1765 is the first time he appears in Lehndorffs diary. 1766 he played Hanswurst in a play called Der Milchtopf which was written by Heinrich.
“Schon 1766 hatte er Gelegenheit, bei dem mehrtägigen Fest, das Heinrich seiner Schwester Amalie gab, in kleineren Rollen zu glänzen. [...] 1767 soll er, [...], Heinrich dazu veranlasst haben, einen Orden zu gründen, der im Unterschied zu den Freimaurerlogen auch den Damen offenstünde. Eintretende hatten das Gelübde auf Ovids Ars amatoria abzulegen. ”
[As early as 1766, he had the opportunity to shine in smaller roles at the feast held by Heinrich for his sister Amalie, which lasted several days. [...] In 1767, [...], he is said to have prompted Heinrich to found an order which, unlike the Masonic lodges, would also be open to ladies. Those joining had to take a vow on Ovid's Ars amatoria.]
“Heinrich und Kapengst feierten alljährlich ihre beiden Geburtstage mit mehrtägigen Festen und stets neuen überraschenden und kostspieligen Einfällen.”
[Heinrich and Kapengst celebrated their birthdays every year with festivities lasting several days and always with new surprising and costly ideas.]
Hannelore Lehmann, page 500.
Kaphengst had one illegitimate son named Carl Otto (born 16th of May 1785) with Maria Louisa Therèse Toussaint and another son (Friedrich Leopold Ludwig Johann, born 1776) with Marianne Scholz. Later on he married Toussaint, which already had two children from her first marriage. Four children were born to the couple during the marriage; of these, one son and one daughter remained alive.
Questions, comments, concerns: feel free to contact me.
