Tourists leave potatoes on Frederick the Great’s grave. They’re perpetuating a German myth

By Stefanie Dazio and Fanny Brodersen

Generations of Germans believe Frederick the Great brought the beloved potato to Germany.

The legend is this: King Frederick II of Prussia wanted his subjects to eat potatoes, introduced to Europe in the 16th century from South America. But the people of Prussia, which later became part of a united Germany, wouldn’t touch the tuber.

So the 18th-century monarch resorted to trickery. He placed royal guards and soldiers along the edge of his palace garden — thus creating the illusion that potatoes were a rare and valuable crop reserved for the royal family and its aristocratic friends. But the guards withdrew from their posts each night, creating an opportunity for enterprising locals to sneak in and “steal” the spuds.

Thus began Germany’s love affair with the humble Kartoffel and Frederick’s rebranding as Der Kartoffelkönig, the potato king.

Except it’s all fake. Bogus. Phony. Falsch! as the Germans