The King Of Prussia Hired, Kidnapped And Bred Giant Soldiers
The Potsdam Giants were a regiment of extremely tall men
King Frederick William I of the German kingdom of Prussia had big military plans. He became king in 1713 and for the next twenty-seven years, he set about massively expanding his army, from 38,000 soldiers to 83,000. The king paved the way for his son, Frederick the Great, to turn Prussia into a major military force.
However, Frederick William also had a strange obsession with tall men, going so far as to create a personal regiment of them, known as the ‘Potsdam Giants’. Some of these giants joined voluntarily but others were kidnapped or given as gifts. More disturbingly, the king even tried to ‘breed’ tall people in an early attempt at eugenics.
Who were the Potsdam Giants?
They were officially known as ‘The Grand Grenadiers’, but nearly everyone referred to them as the ‘Potsdam Giants’ or ‘Lange Kerle’ (The Long Guys). To join the regiment you simply had to be six Prussian feet tall (about six foot two or 1.88 meters) or above. The taller the better, as the soldiers were paid based on their height.
The ‘Giants’ came from all over the world and Frederick William obsessively obtained them by any means. Some volunteered and…
