Friedrich Wilhelm IV

Frederick William IV
A daguerreotype portrait done by Hermann Biow in 1847.
King of Prussia
Reign	7 June 1840 – 2 January 1861
Predecessor	Frederick William III
Successor	William I
Born	15 October 1795 Crown Prince's Palace, Berlin, Prussia
Died	2 January 1861 (age 65) Potsdam
Burial	Crypt of the Friedenskirche, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam (Heart in the Mausoleum at Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin)
Spouse	Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria
House	House of Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick William III of Prussia
Mother	Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Religion	Lutheranism
Signature

Crypt of the Friedenskirche, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam

Frederick William IV (German: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 1840 to 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the throne", he is best remembered for the many buildings he had constructed in Berlin and Potsdam, as well as for the completion of the Gothic Cologne cathedral. In politics, he was a conservative, and in 1849 rejected the title of Emperor of the Germans offered by the Frankfurt Parliament as not the Parliament's to give. In 1857, he suffered a stroke and was left incapacitated until his death.

Born to Frederick William III by his wife Queen Louise, he was the latter's favourite son. Frederick William was educated by private tutors, many of whom were experienced civil servants, such 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 included 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 childless.