Frederick Wilhelm I of Prussia

Frederick William I
Portrait by Samuel Theodor Gericke (1713)
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, Prussia
Died	31 May 1740(1740-05-31) (aged 51) Berlin, Prussia
Burial	Friedenskirche, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam
Spouse	Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
Issue	See Prince Frederick Louis Wilhelmine, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Prince Friedrich William Frederick II Princess Charlotte Albertine Friederike Luise, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach Philippine Charlotte, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Prince Ludwig Charles Wilhelm Sophia Dorothea, Margravine of Schwedt Luise Ulrike, Queen of Sweden Prince August Wilhelm Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg Prince Henry Prince August Ferdinand
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick I
Mother	Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
Religion	Calvinism
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Frederick William I (German: Friedrich Wilhelm I) (14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the 'Soldier King,' was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death, as well as the father of Frederick the Great. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel.

He was born in Berlin to Frederick I of Prussia and Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. During his first years, he was raised by the Huguenot governess Marthe de Roucoulle.

His father had successfully acquired the title King for the margraves of Brandenburg. On ascending the throne in 1713 the new King sold most of his fathers' horses, jewels and furniture; he did not intend to treat the treasury as his personal source of revenue the way Frederick I and many of the other German Princes had. Throughout his reign, Frederick William was characterized by his frugal, austere and militaristic lifestyle, as well as his devout Calvinist faith.

Frederick William I did much to centralize and improve Prussia, both economically and militarily. He replaced mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, established schools and hospitals, and resettled East Prussia (which had been devastated by the plague in 1709).

The king encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times and sold it in bad times. 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.