The Potato King

Frederick II. of Prussia, called the Great or Old Fritz, did a great deal for his country. In particular, he rendered outstanding services to the introduction of the potato. So what could be more appropriate than dedicating a book designed with potato print to Old Fritz? The idea is so obvious that no one has conceived it yet – except for the ingenious Christoph Niemann.

The story of the potato’s arrival in Germany goes like this: Old Fritz intended to introduce the potato, but the farmers did not want this strange crop they had never heard of. So Old Fritz used a bit of cunning. He installed a royal potato field and sent heavily armed soldiers to guard it. Thereupon the farmers thought something so closely-guarded had to be of great value. When Old Fritz ordered the guards to carry out their duty less carefully during the night, the farmers came in crowds, digged up the potatos and replanted them in their own fields. Prussia has been a potato country ever since, but no one knows for sure whether this is a true story or just a myth …

The last page of the book gives a short oversight of the introduction of potatoes to Europe.

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