Friedrich Wilhelm III
| Frederick William III | |
|---|---|
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Frederick William III
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| King of Prussia | |
| Reign | 16 November 1797 – 7 June 1840 |
| Predecessor | Frederick William II |
| Successor | Frederick William IV |
| Elector of Brandenburg | |
| Reign | 16 November 1797 – 6 August 1806 |
| Predecessor | Frederick William II |
| Born | 3 August 1770 Potsdam, Prussia |
| Died | 7 June 1840 (aged 69) Berlin, Prussia |
| Burial | mausoleum at Schloss Charlottenburg |
| Spouses |
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Auguste von Harrach (morganatic) |
| Issue see details... |
See
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| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Frederick William II |
| Mother | Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt |
| Religion |
Calvinism (until 1817) Prussian United (since 1817) |
| Signature |  |
Frederick William III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm III) (3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He ruled Prussia during the difficult times of the Napoleonic Wars and the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Steering a careful course between France and her enemies, after a major military defeat in 1806, he eventually and reluctantly joined the coalition against Napoleon in the Befreiungskriege. Following Napoleon's defeat he was King of Prussia during the Congress of Vienna which assembled to settle the political questions arising from the new, post-Napoleonic order in Europe. He was determined to unify the Protestant churches, to homogenize their liturgy, their organization and even their architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches in the Prussian Union of churches.
Frederick William was born in Potsdam in 1770 as the son of Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was considered to be a shy and reserved boy, which became noticeable in his particularly reticent conversations distinguished by the lack of personal pronouns. This manner of speech subsequently came to be considered entirely appropriate for military officers.
As a child, Frederick William's father (under the influence of his mistress, Wilhelmine Enke, Countess of Lichtenau) had him handed over to tutors, as was quite normal for the period. He spent part of the time living at Paretz, the estate of the old soldier Count Hans von Blumenthal who was the governor of his brother Prince Heinrich. They thus grew up partly with the Count's son, who accompanied them on their Grand Tour in the 1780s. Frederick William was happy at Paretz, and for this reason in 1795 he bought it from his boyhood friend and turned it into an important royal country retreat. He was a melancholy boy, but he grew up pious and honest. His tutors included the dramatist Johann Engel.
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Wikipedia