Ed Stern
@edstern.bsky.social
4K followers 1.7K following 2.8K posts
Basic Prog Brit Woke Remoaner Centrist Dad. He/Him, Bi, ADHD, the usual. Former Splash Damage game dev. Full-Stack Narrative Designer/Game Writer available for hire: www.sternword.co.uk
![Screengrab from kindle edition of Christopher Clark’s IRON KINGDOM The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947:
“TWO-HEADED STATE
In the summer of 1796, crowds of Berliners swarmed to see the latest theatrical sensation orchestrated by the famous Swabian illusionist Karl Enslen. The show opened with a trio of beautifully fashioned automatons: a Spaniard with a flute, a woman playing the glass-organ and a trumpeter who could also speak. There followed an 'aerial hunt' involving floating animal figures filled with gas, and an android gymnast whose movements were so life-like that one would have taken him for a man, were it not for the muted creaking of the neck-joint. Towards the end of the performance, the lights were extinguished and a loud clap of thunder announced a series of ghostly apparitions culminating in a spectacular trompe-l'oeil.
Then there is seen far off in the distance a bright star; the star widens; and out of it there comes the very exact likeness of Frederick the second, in his usual clothing and posture [... ].
The image grows bigger and bigger, comes nearer and nearer, until it seems to stand as large as life just before the orchestra.
The effect of this apparition on the floor and in the boxes was remarkable. The clapping and jubilation was endless. When Frederick seemed about to retreat to his star many called 'Oh stay with us!' He returned into his star, but after loud cries of encore he had to come back twice.
Here was a theatre of the modern type, where darkness was used to heighten the impact of illusion (a recent innovation), where tickets and seats were set at different prices for different pockets. Men and women, minor officials, craftsmen and clerks mingled in the audience, but people of noble estate were there too, and even members of the royal family - albeit only as paying customers. And here was the figure of the resurrected king summoned back to life to satisfy a crowd hungry for entertainment…”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hfqtj3tf75hs7psfvaxwmlmk/bafkreifvtfhwhw5rdu6dnazwhkvmvgz7oxf5hnpra6rbqsbghxyjrd6mp4)
