Question 1

True or false: Frederick the Great was a lifelong fan of the opera composer Richard Wagner.

Accepted Answer

False. Wagner was born in 1813, long after Frederick’s death in 1786. Frederick favored Baroque composers like Hasse and Graun.

Question 2

True or false: Frederick the Great ordered the construction of the Sanssouci Palace, which means 'without care' in French.

Accepted Answer

True. Built in Potsdam between 1745 and 1747, it was his summer retreat, designed as a private escape from court life.

Question 3

True or false: Frederick the Great personally led his army at the Battle of Leuthen in 1757.

Accepted Answer

True. Frederick the Great commanded Prussian forces at Leuthen, a decisive victory during the Seven Years' War, demonstrating his tactical brilliance.

Question 4

True or false: Frederick the Great wrote extensively in French and considered German a barbaric language.

Accepted Answer

True. He preferred French philosophy and literature, rarely using German in his writings. Voltaire was his close correspondent.

Question 5

True or false: Frederick the Great composed over 100 sonatas and was a skilled flutist.

Accepted Answer

True. Frederick the Great was an accomplished musician who wrote around 121 flute sonatas, along with concertos, and was a dedicated flutist, performing regularly.

Question 6

True or false: Frederick the Great promoted the cultivation of potatoes to prevent famine in Prussia.

Accepted Answer

True. In the 1740s, Frederick the Great issued decrees encouraging potato farming, using trickery to convince peasants to grow the staple crop.

Question 7

True or false: Frederick the Great banned all forms of religious tolerance in Prussia to enforce Lutheranism.

Accepted Answer

False. He famously declared that everyone should be free to worship according to their own conscience, making Prussia a haven for religious refugees.

Question 8

True or false: Frederick the Great never married.

Accepted Answer

False. Frederick the Great married Elisabeth Christine in 1733. The marriage was unhappy and childless, but he was not a lifelong bachelor.

Question 9

True or false: Frederick the Great was an accomplished flutist and composer, writing over 100 sonatas and four symphonies.

Accepted Answer

False. He wrote only one symphony (Sinfonia in D major), not four. He did compose over 100 flute sonatas and four flute concertos.

Question 10

True or false: Frederick the Great was a devout Catholic and often attended Mass.

Accepted Answer

False. Frederick the Great was raised Lutheran and later embraced Enlightenment deism. He was tolerant but not Catholic and rarely attended religious services.

Question 11

True or false: Frederick the Great was the first European monarch to abolish serfdom in his entire kingdom.

Accepted Answer

False. He only abolished serfdom on royal domains, not on private estates. Full abolition in Prussia came later under his successors.

Question 12

True or false: Frederick the Great was the first ruler to introduce a national public schooling system for all children.

Accepted Answer

False. Frederick the Great issued the 1763 General School Regulations, but earlier national compulsory education laws existed, such as Denmark-Norway's 1739 decree under Christian VI. Therefore, he was not the first.

Question 13

True or false: Frederick the Great personally led his troops into battle at the Battle of Kunersdorf, where he was nearly killed.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1759, he was hit by a spent bullet and his horse was shot; he had to be dragged from the field by his officers.

Question 14

True or false: Frederick the Great wrote a book criticizing Machiavelli's political philosophy before he became king.

Accepted Answer

True. As crown prince, Frederick wrote 'Anti-Machiavel' in 1739–40, arguing against deceitful statecraft. It was published with Voltaire's help.

Question 15

True or false: Frederick the Great founded the first public museum in Berlin.

Accepted Answer

False. The Altes Museum in Berlin was built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1830, decades after Frederick the Great's death in 1786.

Question 16

True or false: Frederick the Great was the first leader to use a submarine in combat.

Accepted Answer

False. The first military submarine was the American Turtle in 1776 (during Frederick's reign, not after). Frederick focused on land warfare and never employed submarines.

Frederick the Great Trivia Questions