Career
At the time, Fredersdorf was four years older than the heir to the throne. Both contemporaries and historians have speculated that Fredersdorf and Frederick II had a homosexual relationship, yet there is no definitive proof. Voltaire would later describe the relationship in his Memoires as, "This soldier, young, handsome, well made, and who played the flute, served to entertain the prisoner in more than one fashion." Frederick named Fredersdorf his valet, then director of the royal theatre, and eventually chancellor of Prussia.
This last move shocked Prussian snobs, as Fredersdorf had been the heir of a peasant and the title of chancellor brought with it an estate.
Fredersdorf eventually sought to marry, a move which disenchanted the king.