The Potsdam Giants and Frederick William I’s bizarre human collection

Frederick William I had the ultimate "main character" obsession: he treated humans like limited-edition Funko Pops. He spent his reign collecting "Potsdam Giants," a regiment of men who had to be at least six feet tall—a massive height for the 1700s.

He wasn't just recruiting; he was kidnapping, trading tall soldiers for jewels, and even attempting bizarre "breeding" experiments. It was total "tall king" energy taken to a creepy, royal extreme.

The real tea? He loved his "precious" collection so much he never actually sent them to war. He just made them march through his bedroom to cheer himself up whenever he felt down.

Wait, did he actually try to 'breed' tall babies like show dogs?

Absolutely. He was basically playing The Sims with real lives, forcing his "precious" giants to marry the tallest women in the kingdom. He genuinely thought he could manufacture a master race of super-sized soldiers through sheer willpower and awkward matchmaking.

Spoiler alert: it was a total flop. Genetics doesn't work like a Build-A-Bear workshop. Most of the kids weren't particularly tall, and the whole experiment just left a trail of miserable families and zero giant reinforcements.

It was the ultimate royal overreach—trying to control the literal DNA of his subjects just to satisfy his weird, aesthetic obsession with height.

How did his son react to inheriting this literal human dollhouse?

Frederick the Great was so 'over' his dad’s creepy hobby. Their relationship was the definition of a toxic family dynamic—the old king even once tried to have his son executed. So, the moment his father kicked the bucket, Frederick couldn't wait to rebrand the kingdom.

He immediately ghosted the giant breeding program and downsized the regiment. He preferred the company of philosophers like Voltaire over a bedroom parade of tall guys. The 'Potsdam Giants' became just a cringey relic of his dad's twenty-year obsession.

Hold on, his dad actually tried to execute him? What was the tea there?

It was the ultimate nepo baby rebellion. Frederick was an artsy soul who loved French poetry and the flute, which his drill-sergeant dad absolutely loathed. The drama peaked when Frederick tried to run away to England with his bestie, Hans Hermann von Katte.

They were caught, and the King went full psycho. He forced Frederick to watch from a prison window as Katte was beheaded right in front of him. It was a brutal message to toughen up and stop being soft.

The King wanted Frederick dead too, but other European royals stepped in to stop the execution. It is the definition of a core memory that ruins a family dynamic forever.

Were they really just 'besties' or was there some major secret romance happening?

The "roommates" trope is doing heavy lifting here. Historians believe they were deeply in love. Katte was the only one who truly "got" Frederick’s sensitive soul in a kingdom of toxic masculinity.

Frederick even offered to renounce his throne to save Katte. That’s not "bestie" energy; it's a "star-crossed lovers" tragedy. Losing him so brutally turned Frederick’s heart into a block of ice.

He later married for royal PR but ghosted his wife immediately. He spent his reign at Sanssouci palace, surrounded only by his "inner circle" of men and his dogs.