Person:Friedrich Riedel (2)

The following is from the writings of Georg Emil Kramm (1880 - 1937).

Friedrich became a student of theology at the town of Halle located on the Saale River, South of Berlin and West of Leip zig. Wh y he quit his study of theology is not k nown; probably he f ell into the hands of the Prussian militar y recruit ers. What most likely happened is that, as a you ng student, he ran short of money and joined the Prussian Army. It is conjectured that this occurred after a happy "student hour " when he signed up with the recruiter. He wou nd up at the fortress of Kustrin. Young Riedel was not comforta ble in the King's u niform as later misfortu ne proved. Soldiering was rough under the command of the Prussian King Fredrich Wilhelm I.

For this line of wor k, our you ng fore bear was not qualified. He pref erred to spend his leisure time at music and playing the flute. About this time theson of the King, later Fredrich the Great, attempted to escape to England. As a result of this, he was placed in the fortress of Kustrin as a prisoner. ( Fred rich the Great wanted to escape from the militar y service of his father.)

Our forebear, of ten sad , pla yed his beloved flute in the bar rack s. Mean while, the you ng prisoner, missing his own flute which had been taken away from him, heard the music of our fore bear during the evening in the dis tance. And, both were thinking of their lost freedom.

The Prince was thinking of his inter rupted trip to England and the student (our forebear ) was year ning the free dom of student lif e. Finally the Prince ordered the young flute player to visit him and so they told each other their sad stories. Af ter that, the you ng sol dier student played frequently to the Prince.

This acquaintanceship decided the f uture of our forebear who shortly could no longer bear the discipline of militar y lif e; he tried to escape and get out of Prussia, The escape failed and he was arrested and appeared before a military tribunal who sentenced him to running the gauntlet. This was tan tamou nt to a cruel death sentence. He had to run with bare back through a small chain of his comrades who struck him on the back while running with all kinds of weapons such as whips, rifle butts, steel hand weapons, etc., causing death in many cases.

The soldiers were posted in the pu blic square in Kustrin. With the cadence of the drum beat, the "death" run was to begin. By this time the Crown Prince had been partly pardoned by the King ( his father ) and was free to roam thecity. Fortu nately the Crown Prince was also Secretary of the War Department. This was in the spring of 1731.

When the drum beat commenced, the Prince heard it and soon appeared at the pu blic square to see what was go ing on. He immediately stopped it and asked the reason. He recognized his flute playing friend who had played for him so man y times in the past. His heart filled with sympathy. The Prince succeeded in having the prisoner par doned and all pu nishment removed; and finally obtained the freedom of the escapee from f urther military service.

Needless to say, the you ng Riedel did not follow the soldier trade anymore. He settled in Kustrin and became the "father " of our Riedel line. W hen he was 30 years old he founded his own business and became an independen t merchant, married and had a family.