en, Frederick William Charles , image = Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Preußen detail.jpg , caption = , house =

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

, father =

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...

, mother =

Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Friederike Luise; 16 October 1751 – 25 February 1805) was Queen of Prussia as the second spouse of King Frederick William II. Life Frederica Louisa was the daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of He ...

, spouse = Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg , issue = , issue-link = #Marriages and issue , issue-pipe = among others... , birth_date = , birth_place =

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

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, religion =

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

Evangelical Christian Church Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

(since 1817) Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl of Prussia (3 July 1783 – 28 September 1851) was the son of

and

Life

Prince William was the fourth and youngest son of King

and Princess Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. He served in the Guards from 1799 and fought in 1806 at the head of a cavalry brigade at Battle of Jena and Auerstedt. In December 1807, he traveled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, to try to reduce the war burdens imposed on

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

; he only managed to obtain a modest reduction. In 1808, he represented Prussia at the Congress of Erfurt. At the end of 1808, he accompanied his brother, King

Frederick William III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

to St. Petersburg. Later, he had a prominent role in the transformation of Prussia and its army. During the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

of 1813, he was stationed in Blücher's headquarters. In the

Battle of Lützen (1813) In the Battle of Lützen (German: ''Schlacht von Großgörschen'', 2 May 1813), Napoleon I of France defeated an allied army of the Sixth Coalition. The Russian commander, Prince Peter Wittgenstein, attempting to forestall Napoleon's captur ...

on 2 May, he commanded the reserve cavalry in the left wing of the army and during the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

, he negotiated the union of the Northern army with Blucher's. Later he led the 8th Brigade of the Yorck's army corps on the Rhine and distinguished himself by bravery and military skills at the battles of

Château-Thierry Château-Thierry () is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne. The origin of the name of the town is unknown. The local tradition att ...

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...

and outside Paris. After the

Treaty of Paris (1814) The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 April between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies. The treaty set the bord ...

, the Prince accompanied the king to London and then attended the negotiations of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...

. In 1815 during the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, but he ...

he commanded the reserve cavalry of the Prussian IV Corps ( Bülow's). After the second Treaty of Paris, he lived mostly in Paris and sometimes at his Fischbach Castle in Kowary in the Riesengebirge mountains. From 1824 to 1829 he was governor of the Confederate Fortress at Mainz; from 1830 to 1831 he was governor-general of the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

and

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

. In this capacity, on 20 September 1831 he opened the first rail line on German soil from Hinsbeck via the Deilbach valley to Nierenhof. Until then, the line had been called ''Deilthaler Eisenbahn'' ("Deil Valley Railway"); after its opening it was allowed to call itself '' Prinz-Wilhelm-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft''. In March 1834 he was appointed general of cavalry and re-appointed as governor of the federal fortress at Mainz. He should not be confused with his nephew of the same name, the future emperor

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, who was governor of the same fortress in 1854. After the death of his wife, Marie Anna, on 14 April 1846, he withdrew from public life at his Fischbach castle.

Marriage and issue

He married his first cousin Landgravine Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg, daughter of

Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Frederick V Louis William Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (30 January 1748, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe – 20 January 1820, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe) was from 1751 to his death landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. He was born under Europe's Ancie ...

, and

Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt (2 March 1746, Buchsweiler – 18 September 1821, Homburg) was Landgravine consort of Hesse-Homburg by marriage to Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. She had seven siblings who survived to adulthood and inter ...

(his mother's sister), together they had nine children: * Princess Amalie ''Friederike'' Luise Karoline Wilhelmine of Prussia (4 July 1805 – 23 November 1805); died in infancy. * Princess Irene of Prussia (born and died 3 November 1806); stillborn. * Unnamed son (born and died 30 August 1809); stillborn. * Prince Friedrich ''Tassilo'' Wilhelm of Prussia (29 October 1811 – 9 January 1813); died in infancy. * Prince Heinrich Wilhelm ''Adalbert'' of Prussia (29 October 1811 – 6 June 1873); married morganatically, in 1850,

Therese Elssler Therese Elssler (german: link=no, Theresia Elßler; 5 April 1808, Vienna - 19 November 1878, Merano) was a dancer. The sisters Therese and Fanny Elssler were both dancers, the former born in 1808, the latter in 1810, both in the Vienna suburb ...

and had issue. * Prince Friedrich Wilhelm ''Tassilo'' of Prussia (15 November 1813 – 9 January 1814); died in infancy. * Princess Marie ''Elisabeth'' Karoline Viktoria of Prussia (18 June 1815 – 21 March 1885); married, in 1836, Prince Karl of Hesse and by Rhine and had issue. * Prince Friedrich Wilhelm ''Waldemar'' of Prussia (2 August 1817 – 17 February 1849), never married. * Princess ''Marie'' Friederike Franziska Hedwig of Prussia (15 October 1825 – 17 May 1889); married, in 1842, King Maximilian II of Bavaria and had issue.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:

Ancestors

Siblings

* Frederica Charlotte (1767–1820), who became Duchess of York by her marriage to

Frederick, Duke of York Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by professi ...

* Frederick William III of Prussia (1770–1840) * Christine (1772–73) * Louis Charles (1773–96) * Frederica Louisa Wilhelmina (1774–1837), wife of William of Orange, afterwards King

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who went ...

* Augusta (1780–1841), wife of

William II, Elector of Hesse William II (german: Wilhelm II; 28 July 1777 – 20 November 1847) was the penultimate Elector of Hesse.After 1806, the title of ''Elector'' was meaningless, since no more Holy Roman Emperors could be elected, because the Empire had been dissolve ...

* Henry (1781–1846)

Notes

References

* * , {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm of Prussia 1783 births 1851 deaths House of Hohenzollern Prussian princes Military personnel from Berlin Prussian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Generals of Cavalry (Prussia) Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Commanders Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Knights Grand Cross of the Military Order of William Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Burials at Berlin Cathedral Sons of kings