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| Frederick William I | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byAntoine Pesne,c. 1733 | |
| King in Prussia Elector of Brandenburg | |
| Reign | 25 February 1713 – 31 May 1740 |
| Predecessor | Frederick I |
| Successor | Frederick II |
| Born | (1688-08-14)14 August 1688 Berlin,Brandenburg–Prussia,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 31 May 1740(1740-05-31) (aged 51) City Palace, Potsdam,Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue more... |
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| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Frederick I |
| Mother | Sophia Charlotte of Hanover |
| Religion | Calvinist |
| Signature |  |
| Prussian Royalty |
| House of Hohenzollern |
|---|
 |
| Frederick William I |
|
Frederick William I (German:Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as theSoldier King (German:Soldatenkönig),[1] wasKing in Prussia andElector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well asPrince of Neuchâtel.
Born in Berlin, he was raised by theHuguenot governessMarthe de Roucoulle. His political awakening occurred during theGreat Northern War's plague outbreak inPrussia, leading to his challenge againstcorruption and inefficiency in government. He initiated reforms, especially in the military, doubling thePrussian Army and increased the officer corps to 3,000.[2] A believer in absolute monarchy, he focused on state development and financial reorganization, imposing taxes and stringent regulations on public servants. He made efforts to reducecrime, corruption and centralized his authority during his 27 years' reign, cementing Prussia as a regional power.
Despite his effective rule, he had a harsh nature, exacerbated by his health issues. He engaged in colonial affairs, but prioritized military expansion over colonial investments. His notable decisions included sellingPrussian overseas colonies and the foundation of theCanton system, as well as the conquest of the port ofStettin.
His death in 1740 marked the end of a reign characterized by military and administrative reform. He was succeeded by his son,Frederick the Great.
Frederick William was born in Berlin to KingFrederick I of Prussia and PrincessSophia Charlotte of Hanover.[3] During his first years, he was raised by the Huguenot governessMarthe de Roucoulle.[4] When theGreat Northern War plague outbreak devastated Prussia, the inefficiency and corruption of the king's favorite ministers and senior officials were highlighted. Frederick William with a party that formed at the court brought down the leading ministerJohann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg and his cronies, following an official investigation that exposed Wartenberg's huge-scale misappropriation and embezzlement. His close associateAugust David zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was imprisoned atSpandau Citadel, fined 70,000 thalers and banished subsequently. The incident exerted great influence on Frederick William, making him resent crime, corruption, wastage and inefficiency and realize the necessity of institutional reform. It also became the first time he actively participated in politics. From then on, Frederick I began to let his son take more power.[5]
His father had successfully acquired the title of king for the Duchy of Prussia for which he had paid the high price of 2 million ducats to EmperorLeopold I, 600,000 ducats to the German clergy and 20,000 thalers to theJesuit order.[6] In addition, Frederick was obligated to provide Leopold with 8,000 soldiers for theWar of the Spanish Succession. To demonstrate his new status, he had theBerlin Palace,Charlottenburg Palace, andKönigsberg Castle doubled in size and furnished at considerable expense. However, in doing so, he had largely ruined the state's finances.[citation needed]
On ascending the throne in 1713, Frederick William therefore dismissed his father's corrupt "Cabinet of Three Counts". He worked persistently to reorganize the finances that had been shattered by his father, furthermore to enhance the economic development of his far-flung countries and to build up one of the largest and best equipped and trained armies in Europe. He would expand the Prussian Army from 38,000 men in 1713 to 80,000 in 1740,[7] with an average of 1 out of every 25 Prussian men serving in the military.[8]He expanded military obligations for the peasant class[9] while replacing mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, and he established schools and hospitals. The king encouraged commerce and farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times and sold it in bad times.
Frederick would also work to expand state income. He increased excise taxes, both on domestic and foreign goods, as well as subjecting the Prussian nobility to a land tax.[10] He dictated the manual of Regulations for State Officials, containing 35 chapters and 297 paragraphs in which every public servant in Prussia could find his duties precisely set out: a minister or councillor failing to attend a committee meeting, for example, would lose six months' pay; if he absented himself a second time, he would be discharged from the royal service. In short, Frederick William I concerned himself with every aspect of his country, ruling anabsolute monarchy with great energy and skill.
The king also took an interest inPrussian colonial affairs. In 1717, he revoked the charter of theBrandenburg Africa Company (BAC), which had been granted said charter by his father to establish a colony inWest Africa known as theBrandenburg Gold Coast. The king was unwilling to spend money on maintaining either the colony or thePrussian Navy, preferring to utilise state revenues on enlarging the RoyalPrussian Army. In 1717, Frederick William sold the Brandenburg Gold Coast to theDutch West India Company.[11]
In 1732, the king invited theSalzburg Protestants to settle inEast Prussia, which had beendepopulated by plague in 1709. Under the terms of thePeace of Augsburg, the prince-archbishop ofSalzburg could require his subjects to practice the Catholic faith, but Protestants had the right to emigrate to a Protestant state. Prussian commissioners accompanied 20,000 Protestants to their new homes on the other side of Germany. Frederick William I personally welcomed the first group of migrants and sang Protestant hymns with them.[12]
In 1733 he began building theDutch Quarter inPotsdam, where he invited talented Dutch craftsmen to settle.
Frederick William intervened briefly in theGreat Northern War, allied withPeter the Great ofRussia, in order to gain a small portion ofSwedish Pomerania; this gave Prussia new ports on theBaltic Sea coast. More significantly, aided by his close friendLeopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, the "Soldier-King" made considerable reforms to the Prussian army's training, tactics and conscription program—introducing thecanton system, and greatly increasing the Prussian infantry's rate of fire through the introduction of the iron ramrod. Frederick William's reforms left his son Frederick with the most formidable army in Europe, which Frederick used to increase Prussia's power.
Although a highly effective ruler, Frederick William had a perpetually short temper which sometimes drove him to physically attack servants (or even his own wife and children) with a cane at the slightest perceived provocation. His violent, harsh nature was further exacerbated by his inheritedporphyritic disease, which gave himgout, obesity and frequent crippling stomach pains.[13] He also had a notablecontempt for France, and would sometimes fly into a rage at the mere mention of that country, although this did not stop him from encouraging the immigration of FrenchHuguenot refugees to Prussia.
Frederick William died in 1740 at age 51 and was interred at theGarrison Church inPotsdam. During World War II, in order to protect it from advancing allied forces,Hitler ordered the king's coffin, as well as those ofFrederick the Great andPaul von Hindenburg, into hiding, first to Berlin and later to a salt mine outside ofBernterode. The coffins were later discovered by occupying American forces, who re-interred the bodies inSt. Elizabeth's Church, Marburg in 1946. In 1953 the coffin was moved toHohenzollern Castle, where it remained until 1991, when it was finally laid to rest on the steps of the altar in the Kaiser Friedrich Mausoleum in theChurch of Peace on the palace grounds ofSanssouci. The original black marble sarcophagus collapsed at Burg Hohenzollern—the current one is a copper copy.[14]
His eldest surviving son wasFrederick II (Fritz), born in 1712. Frederick William wanted him to become a fine soldier. As a small child, Fritz was awakened each morning by the firing of a cannon. At the age of 6, he was given his own regiment of children to drill as cadets, and a year later, he was given a miniature arsenal.
The love and affection Frederick William had for his heir initially was soon soured due to their increasingly different personalities. Frederick William ordered Fritz to undergo a minimal education, live a simple Protestant lifestyle, and focus on the Army and statesmanship as he had. However, the intellectual Fritz was more interested in music, books and French culture, which were forbidden by his father as decadent and unmanly. As Fritz's defiance for his father's rules increased, Frederick William would frequently beat or humiliate Fritz (he preferred his younger siblingAugustus William). Fritz was beaten for being thrown off a bolting horse and wearing gloves in cold weather.
At age 16, Frederick seems to have embarked upon a youthful affair withPeter Karl Christoph von Keith, a 17-year-oldpage of his father. Rumors of the liaison spread in the court, and the "intimacy" between the two boys provoked the comments of his sister,Wilhelmine, who wrote, "Though I had noticed that he was on more familiar terms with this page than was proper in his position, I did not know how intimate the friendship was."[15] Rumors finally reached King Frederick William, who cultivated an ideal of ultramasculinity in his court, and derided his son's supposedlyeffeminate tendencies. As a result, Keith was dismissed from his service to the king and sent away to a regiment by the Dutch border, while Frederick was sent to the king's hunting lodge atKönigs Wusterhausen in order to "repent of his sin".[16]
After the prince attempted to flee to England with his tutor,Hans Hermann von Katte, the enraged king had Katte beheaded before the eyes of the prince, who himself was court-martialled.[17] The king may have thought that Frederick's relationship with Katte was also romantic, a suspicion that may have played a role in Katte receiving a death sentence.[18]In any case, the court declared itself not competent in the case of the crown prince. Whether it was the king's intention to have his son executed as well (asVoltaire claims[19]) is not clear. However, theHoly Roman EmperorCharles VI intervened, claiming that a prince could only be tried by theImperial Diet of theHoly Roman Empire itself. Frederick was imprisoned in the Fortress ofKüstrin from 2 September to 19 November 1731 and exiled from court until February 1732, during which time he was rigorously schooled in matters of state. After achieving a measure of reconciliation, Frederick William had his son married to PrincessElisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, whom Frederick had contempt for, but then grudgingly allowed him to indulge in his musical and literary interests again. He also gifted him a stud farm in East Prussia, andRheinsberg Palace. By the time of Frederick William's death in 1740, he and Frederick were on at least civil terms with each other. However, his son Frederick did not mourn or grieve when his father died and made no public statements about it.[20]
Although the relationship between Frederick William and Frederick was clearly hostile, Frederick wrote in his memoirs that his father "penetrated and understood great objectives and knew the best interests of his country better than any minister or general."[21]
Frederick William married his first cousinSophia Dorothea of Hanover,George II's younger sister (daughter of his uncle, KingGeorge I of Great Britain andSophia Dorothea of Celle) on 28 November 1706.[3] Frederick William was faithful to his wife[22]but they did not have a happy marriage: Sophia Dorothea feared his unpredictable and sometimes violent temper and resented him, both for allowing her no influence or independence at court, and for refusing to marry her children to their English cousins. She also abhorred his cruelty towards their son and heir Frederick (with whom she was close), although rather than trying to mend the relationship between father and son she quietly spurred Frederick on in his defiance. They had fourteen children, including:
| Name | Portrait | Lifespan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick Louis Prince of Prussia |  | 23 November 1707 – 13 May 1708 | Died in infancy |
| FriedrikeWilhelmine Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth |  | 3 July 1709 – 14 October 1758 | MarriedFrederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and had issue |
| Frederick William Prince of Prussia |  | 16 August 1710 – 21 July 1711 | Died in infancy |
| Frederick II the Great King of Prussia |  | 24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786 | King in Prussia (1740–1772); King of Prussia (1772–1786); marriedElisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern but had no issue[23] |
| Charlotte Albertine Princess of Prussia |  | 5 May 1713 – 10 June 1714 | Died in infancy |
| Frederica Louise Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach |  | 28 September 1714 – 4 February 1784 | MarriedCharles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and had issue |
| Philippine Charlotte Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |  | 13 March 1716 – 17 February 1801 | MarriedCharles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and had issue |
| Louis Charles William Prince of Prussia | .png) | 2 May 1717 – 31 August 1719 | Died in early childhood |
| Sophia Dorothea Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt Princess in Prussia |  | 25 January 1719 – 13 November 1765 | MarriedFrederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Prince in Prussia and had issue |
| Louisa Ulrika Queen of Sweden |  | 24 July 1720 – 2 July 1782 | MarriedAdolf Frederick, King of Sweden and had issue |
| Augustus William Prince of Prussia |  | 9 August 1722 – 12 June 1758 | MarriedDuchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and had issue (includingFrederick William II)[3] |
| Anna Amalia |  | 9 November 1723 – 30 March 1787 | BecameAbbess of Quedlinburg 16 July 1755 |
| FrederickHenry Louis Prince of Prussia |  | 18 January 1726 – 3 August 1802 | MarriedPrincess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel but had no issue |
| AugustusFerdinand Prince of Prussia |  | 23 May 1730 – 2 May 1813 | MarriedMargravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt and had issue |
He was the godfather of the Prussian envoyFriedrich Wilhelm von Thulemeyer and of his grand-nephew,Prince Edward Augustus of Great Britain.
| Ancestors of Frederick William I of Prussia[24] |
|---|
Königs Wusterhausen Castle, the king's hunting lodge and garden, were his favourite place to stay and to indulge in hunting when he wanted to relax from his state duties, which he performed at theBerlin Palace and theCity Palace, Potsdam. His children also had to spend their holidays here regularly. Frederick the Great had a strong dislike for the place, but the two youngest sons, in old age, after Frederick's death, returned together a few times out of sentimental memories to where they spent so much time growing up.
Today the castle, southeast of the Berlin city limits not far from Berlin Airport, is a museum of thePrussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg. Numerous valuable objects of baroque paintings and handicrafts are on display, mostly with connections to Frederick William and his family, many pieces of the original interior, as well as a large collection of portraits, mainly of officers, which the "Soldier King" painted himself.
Media related toFrederick William I of Prussia at Wikimedia CommonsFrederick William I of Prussia Born: 14 August 1688 Died: 31 March 1740 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King in Prussia Elector of Brandenburg Prince of Neuchâtel 1713–1740 | Succeeded by |
| Duchy of Prussia (1525–1701) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918) | ||
1alsoElector of Brandenburg;2alsoGerman Emperor | ||
