ABSTRACT
‘Alter Schwede’ is a German expression that mixes respect for a friend with irony. It seems to have its origins in seventeenth-century Prussia, where experienced Swedish soldiers served as instructors in the army of Frederick William I, the Great Elector. Those old Swedes acquired the reputation of being very disciplined and reliable, but sometimes doing the unconventional thing. Similar judgements may also be involved when people nowadays greet each other by saying ‘alter Schwede’, often acknowledging some special trick or feat with a wink of an eye. It is not difficult to imagine Heinz Kurz being addressed in this manner. Given the ethnic origin of the Bavarian tribes and the Southern rallies of the Swedish army in the Thirty Years’ War, it cannot even be excluded that he has a Swedish migration background. The purpose of this paper is not, however, to speculate in these directions, but to make a few comments on the heritage of an old Swede, about whom Heinz has written and spoken with some respect.
