Knobelsdorff and Friedrich II.
Knobelsdorff's relationship to Frederick II was a central aspect of his life. Something akin to friendship arose in Neuruppin and Rheinsberg from their joint interest in art and architecture. This almost constant personal contact and focus on only a few subjects important to both of them came to a natural end when the crown prince acceded to the throne as Frederick II in 1740 and concentrated on new areas such as waging war and administering the state, which meant he had to establish and maintain contacts with a much larger circle of advisors and collaborators.
Since Frederick recognized the qualities of Knobelsdorff and expected great things of him he immediately bombarded him with work, but also gave him titles and awards and allocated a magnificent house in Leipziger Strasse for his use while in his service. He was given overall control of all royal buildings, and was also director of plays and musical performances (until 1742). Besides his specific architectural duties he had to carry out administrative tasks and deal with many side issues, such as arranging for fireworks in the Charlottenburg Palace gardens, design decorations for the opera, and deal with horse stables in Berlin. Although Knobelsdorff usually provided only plans and projections and left their realization to experienced architects and technicians, the work was sometimes more than he could manage. This annoyed the impatient king. In 1732 he urged him to work faster, "so that I will have no reason to show my displeasure and to make changes in arrangements for the house I gave you as a residence in berlin.... He does not carry out anything the way I want it and is as lazy as an artillery horse". In the beginning such disagreements were the exception .
But from the start there was a fundamental disagreement which gradually became more and more evident. For Knobelsdorff, who was a serious artist, architecture and painting were at the core of his being. Frederick the Great had a lively interest in both and developed some pertinent expertise, but remained an outsider for whom concern with architecture could not be the main focus of attention. He sometimes compared his interest in these matters with the lighthearted pleasure of a child playing with dolls. Both the king and his architect were uncompromising, occasionally brusque personalities. Accordingly, different views about factual issues increasingly turned into personal tensions. When Knobelsdorff decidedly contradicted the king concerning plans for Sanssouci Palace, he was removed from his position of responsibility for the construction of the palace in April 1746—ostensibly for health reasons. In 1747 complete disorder was discovered in the expense accounts managed by the building controller, Fincke, who had for years been involved in major projects under Knobelsdorff's leadership. Frederick thereupon wrote a letter to his architect which "expressed his extreme displeasure" with the fact that he "no longer pays attention to orderliness and correctness."
This was the start of a permanent estrangement. Although Knobelsdorff continued to receive all types of building assignments—he designed the deer garden colonnade (Marble Colonnade), the Neptune grotto in Potsdam, the Neustadt Gate, several residences, the French Church, the obelisk on the market square and many other objects—for years he kept at a distance to the royal court. An attempt to bridge this gap ended in failure. The king summoned him to Potsdam in summer 1750, but soon got annoyed about some comment of the architect's and ordered him to return to Berlin. Knobelsdorff immediately set out, but halfway to Berlin a Feldjäger (military policeman) caught up with him with the message that he was to return to the court. According to tradition his response was, "The king himself ordered me to return to Berlin. I well known whether I have to follow his orders or those of a Feldjäger", whereupon he continued his journey. After that episode he never saw the king again.
Frederick II had apparently provided sketches of his own for all major buildings on which Knobelsdorff worked, and it is not always possible to determine the extent of his contribution. Whoever wants to evaluate his share in the creative process must also consider that the king's sketches might reflect the results of joint deliberations with his architect. In the beginning the young crown prince regarded Knobelsdorff, who was 13 years older than he, as his mentor in questions of art and architecture, and followed his suggestions. Later he frequently insisted on his own views in particular cases and enforced them with the authority of his superior position. But basically his artistic opinions were in agreement with those of Knobelsdorff. Even after the latter's death he had, for example, the theater room and the marble hall of the Potsdam City Palace, both designed by Knobelsdorff, copied in the New Palace of Sanssouci—which suggests that the tensions which finally arose were not primarily a result of artistic differences but rather of personal touchiness.
Read more about this topic: Georg Wenzeslaus Von Knobelsdorff