The Coat of Arms Hall was also the scene of a royal drama. At the end of October 1730, the Prussian court martial convened here. Three officers were accused of desertion. In the militaristic Prussia, desertion was a sin punished by hanging or death by the sword. Among the young men caught on the run was Crown Prince Frederick. The 18-year-old soldier, who later became King Frederick "the Great", suffered under his disciplinarian father since childhood. Monotonous discipline, despotic drill and public humiliation had driven him to flee in August 1730 - his destination was the English royal family. The heir to the throne, a deserter! The disgrace for the so-called "soldier king" could not have been greater. But to execute a crown prince? The court of high military officers balked at such a sentence, but King Frederick William I reacted indignantly and harshly. His son Frederick and his deserter friend Hans Hermann von Katte were imprisoned at he fortress of Küstrin. On November 6, 1730, the firing squad was ready: von Katte was executed in front of his closest friend. Prince Friedrich had to watch the violent death of a loved one but was spared himself.
