Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Kingdom of Prussia: The Protestant Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern ruled as Margraves of Brandenburg, Dukes of Prussia, Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia from 1415 until 1918. In November 1700, in exchange for supporting the Holy Roman Empire in the Spanish War of Succession, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor agreed to allow Friedrich III, Duke of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg to make Prussia a kingdom and become its first king. In the aftermath of World War I, Prussia had a revolution that resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia abdicated on November 9, 1918.

The Kingdom of Prussia had territory that today is part of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. All or parts of the following states of today’s Germany were part of the Kingdom of Prussia: Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein.

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Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia

King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia reigned from 1797 to 1840. He was born in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Brandeburg, on August 3, 1770, the eldest child of Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and Friederike Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt. He had six younger siblings:

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Friedrich Wilhelm had a half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which ended in divorce:

He also had several half-siblings from his father’s morganatic marriages to Julie von Voß and Sophie von Dönhoff:

  • Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Brandenburg (1792) – married Mathilde von Massenbach, had issue
  • Sophie (Julie), Countess of Brandenburg (1793) – married Ferdinand, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen, no issue
  • Ulrike Sophie von Berkholz (1774) – died in infancy
  • Christina Sophie von Lützenberg (1777) – died in infancy
  • Count Alexander von der Marck (1779) – died in childhood
  • Countess Marianne von der Marck (1780) – married three times, had four daughters

As was usual for the time, Friedrich Wilhelm was raised by governesses and tutors. Removed from his parents, he grew up for some time at Paretz Palace, the home of his tutor, Count Hans von Blumenthal. He became close friends with Blumenthal’s son and later purchased the palace from him. In addition to his education, Friedrich Wilhelm received military training, working his way up to the rank of Colonel, and participated in the campaigns against France in 1792-1794.

Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. source: Wikipedia

On December 24, 1793, Friedrich Wilhelm married Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was the daughter of Karl II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt. The couple was second cousins, as both were great-grandchildren of Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. They were given several residences – The Crown Prince’s Palace and Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin – and later used Paretz Palace as their primary summer residence. Over the next sixteen years, Friedrich Wilhelm and Luise had nine children:

Auguste von Harrach. source: Wikipedia

Friedrich Wilhelm’s first wife died in 1810, and fourteen years later, he married for a second time. On November 9, 1824, at Charlottenburg Palace, the King married Countess Auguste von Harrach, who he had first met two years earlier at a spa in Teplitz.

Thirty years younger than her husband, Auguste was from a lower-ranked noble family which was considered unsuitable for marriage into the royal house. She was also Catholic (she later converted in 1826). All of this led to the marriage being kept secret initially. Upon marriage, she was created Princess von Leignitz and Countess von Hohenzollern, which permitted her to attend court, however, she still ranked far behind the rest of the Prussian royal family. The couple had no children, and Auguste remained the King’s steadfast companion for the rest of his life, while not participating in any formal or official role. Following the King’s death, Auguste received a large financial settlement and lived in the New Pavilion (link in German), which the King had built for her next to Charlottenburg Palace to use as her dower home. She also retained a residence at the Princesses Palace in Berlin and had a home – Villa Liegnitz (link in German) – in Sanssouci Park.

Friedrich Wilhelm III became King on November 16, 1797, upon his father’s death. He immediately implemented changes – cutting the expenses of the royal court, dismissing many of his father’s ministers, and taking on much of the responsibilities himself. This caused great inconsistency during his reign, as he was hesitant to delegate any responsibility to his own ministers. He also made efforts to restore the moral dignity of the Prussian royal court – long plagued during his father’s reign with “political intrigues and sexual affairs”.

Initially remaining neutral in the Napoleonic Wars, he led Prussia into the war in October 1806. The French soon occupied Berlin, causing the Royal Family to flee to Memel, in East Prussia, under the care of Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia. The French were very harsh in their treatment of Prussia, which lost much of its Polish territories and was assessed with large financial settlements. Following Napoleon’s defeat of Russia in 1813, Friedrich Wilhelm entered into an alliance with the Russian Emperor, and together the two countries contributed to Napoleon’s eventual defeat. At the subsequent Congress of Vienna, the King succeeded in regaining significant territories for his country.

King Friedrich Wilhelm III died in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany, on June 7, 1840. He is buried in the Mausoleum on the grounds of Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, alongside his first wife. His second wife, who survived him by 33 years, is also buried in the crypt there, although there is no stone or marker.

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