Frederick William II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck

Frederick William II
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
Frederick William II of Holstein-Beck
Reign	1728-1749
Born	(1687-06-18)18 June 1687 Potsdam
Died	11 November 1749(1749-11-11) (aged 62) Königsberg
Spouse	Louise Felicity Eleonora of Loß Ursula Anna of Dohna-Schlobitten
House	House of Oldenburg
Father	Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
Mother	Louise Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Frederick William II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (18 June 1687 – 11 November 1749) was a Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. He served as Prussian field marshal and was appointed Governor of Berlin, but never filled the latter position.

Frederick William II was the eldest son of Duke Frederick Louis (1653–1728) and his wife Louise Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1658–1740). His siblings included Dorothea, Peter August, Charles Louis. In 1728, Frederick William II succeeded his father as Duke of Beck. After his death, he was succeeded by his son Frederick William III, who fell in battle in 1757. The title was then inherited by Frederick William II's brother, Charles Louis.

Although he was born in Potsdam, Frederick William was raised in Königsberg and studied in Halle. He served in the Prussian Army as a captain in his father's regiment in 1703 or as a lieutenant colonel in 1704. He distinguished himself during the Siege of Stralsund (1711–1715) and was promoted to colonel in 1713, when he served in the Regiment Holstein. In 1717, King Frederick William I of Prussia rewarded him with Friedrichshof Palace in Ludwigswalde, East Prussia (now in Lesnoye, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). In 1719 the king granted the duke another East Prussian manor, also named Friedrichshof, in Kasebalk. Duke Fredrick William subsequently renamed the second manor Holstein (now in Pregolskiy, Kaliningrad). From 1721, he led the infantry regiment #11, which his father had led before.