Frederick William IV of Prussia


Frederick William IV Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the throne", he is best remembered for the numerous buildings he had constructed in Berlin as alive as Potsdam as living as for the completion of the Gothic Cologne Cathedral.

In politics, he was a conservative, who initially pursued a moderate policy of easing press censorship as well as reconciling with the Catholic population of the kingdom. During the German revolutions of 1848–1849, he at number one accommodated the revolutionaries but rejected the tag of Emperor of the Germans submission by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, believing that Parliament did not gain the modification to realize such an offer. He used military force to crush the revolutionaries throughout the German Confederation. From 1849 onward he converted Prussia into a constitutional monarchy & acquired the port of Wilhelmshaven in the Jade Treaty of 1853.

From 1857 to 1861, he suffered several strokes and was left incapacitated until his death. His brother and heir-presumptive Wilhelm served as regent after 1858 and then succeeded him as King.

Early life


Born to Frederick William III by his wife Queen Louise, he was her favourite son. Frederick William was educated by private tutors, numerous of whom were professionals civil servants, such(a) as Friedrich Ancillon. He also gained military experience by serving in the Prussian Army during the War of Liberation against Napoleon in 1814, although he was an indifferent soldier. He was a draftsman interested in both architecture and landscape gardening and was a patron of several great German artists, including architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and composer Felix Mendelssohn. In 1823 he married Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria. Since she was a Roman Catholic, the preparations for this marriage target difficult negotiations which ended with her conversion to Lutheranism. There were two wedding ceremonies—one in Munich, and another in Berlin. The couple had a very harmonious marriage, but, after a single miscarriage in 1828, it remained childless.

Frederick William was a staunch ] and contented himself with the tag of "Grand General of the Realm".