They referred to their king as the Potato King and this was their reason

In 1756, King Frederick II of Prussia wanted to find a way to end the prolonged suffering and famine that his people were suffering from.

His solution? Potatoes.

He passed a circular order that would ensure the growing of potatoes in the region.

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The ‘new’ crop from South America, seemed to be the answer to his prayers and he hurriedly ordered that potato fields be planted for the people. He made sure to let people know about the many benefits of the new food so that they would be interested and start eating it as well.

However, it wasn’t all going to plan.

Many people turned away from the food because of its weird ‘dirty-looking’ exterior and bland taste,

It seemed that the King’s plan was going to fall through, until he decided to try to turn things around.

He sent guards to ‘protect’ the fields from thieves, which in turn made villagers curious as to what amazing source the guards might be hiding.

The soldiers were told to go easy on robbers and let down their guard so that the crops would then be taken during the night without trouble.

This in turn let potatoes be grown in personal gardens, and be used for consumption by many villagers—which was the King’s plan all along.

To this day, if you visit King Frederick’s grave, you will see potatoes lying on top to remind everyone of when the food was introduced into Germany and what a great service it was to the people.

From the stars,

Dawn.