Born in Königsberg, Tietz first studied law and worked as a legal trainee in the Prussian judicial service in Berlin.
Already after the suppression of the Uprising in Poland (1830–31) by Russia, which brought the Poles much sympathy among German national liberals, Tietz had positioned himself entirely pro-Russian.
[8] There are numerous files from the unstable 1830s in Tietz's life, which were created due to various activities on his part; it is not always possible to give precise details, as no one has yet analysed the material.
In 1835, incidentally, Tietz had obtained employment "on a trial basis" at the herzogliches Hoftheater in Coburg, but had been dismissed again after a short time "because of unsuitable behaviour in business".
The following had happened: After the unexpectedly early death of her first husband Auguste de Beauharnais, the Portuguese Queen Maria II of Portugal, daughter of the Emperor of Brazil, had married a 19-year-old prince from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Ferdinand, on 9 April 1836.
453-54 (of 28 September) a private letter from Lisbon dated mid-July, in which not only the Portuguese and their queen, but also in particular the Coburg prince Ferdinand, were portrayed in a very bad light, even made fun of.
Without a doubt, Tietz possessed sufficient information about the conditions in Portugal, especially since three years later he also published a study on the contemporary Brazil – at that time an independent empire, but still closely connected to the Portuguese ruling house.
Tietz managed to bring some stars of the time to Königsberg, such as the famous opera singer Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, and concerts by Franz Liszt were also sold out.
Apparently, by this time the Gloria Affair of 1836 had been sufficiently forgotten so that Tietz could now once again enjoy a ducal title, especially since the old Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Ernst I, had meanwhile been deceased for almost ten years.
"[17] Five years later, another correspondent reported on the festive performances and declamations given in Berlin for the birthday of Kaiserin that they were "mostly by Friedrich Tietz", "an enduring old gentleman who exploits with skill for such patriotic outpourings all the old musenal manache from this and the previous century.