Genealogie Wylie » Princess Sophia Dorothea of (Sophia Dorothea, Princess of) Hanover , Queen consort in Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg [[Ch-Wikibio]] sss (-1757)

Persoonlijke gegevens Princess Sophia Dorothea of (Sophia Dorothea, Princess of) Hanover , Queen consort in Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg [[Ch-Wikibio]] sss 


Gezin van Princess Sophia Dorothea of (Sophia Dorothea, Princess of) Hanover , Queen consort in Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg [[Ch-Wikibio]] sss

Waarschuwing Let op: Echtgenoot (Frederick William I of Prussia) is ook haar neef.

Zij is getrouwd met Frederick William I of Prussia.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 28 november 1706 te Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia.


Kind(eren):



Notities over Princess Sophia Dorothea of (Sophia Dorothea, Princess of) Hanover , Queen consort in Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg [[Ch-Wikibio]] sss

As daughter of King George I, this child's descent in at least triple figures from Charlemagne is assured.

This individual is not such a descendant by standard documentation, including here of one of
these individuals, or both, but still...

This Charlemagne descendant is documented on this one extended family site as among
others a 31st-32nd-33rd-34th-35th-36th-37th-38th great grandchild repeatedly so many times
each uniquely as to at least be into the triple figures as such a multi-ancestral path descendant of ,
Charlemagne, first Holy Roman Emperor [HRE]---coronation on 25 December 800 in Rome---
with HREs so created and so serving until August 6, 1806, when the Empire was disbanded.

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WIKIPEDIA
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Source above, includes portraits, paintings, maps and other
items not below; and working links and updates, is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Dorothea_of_Hanover

Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents: These live links at source as follows by clicking into wikibio
found by using above main link, clicking and looking at upper left column
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Contents
1Life
1.1Marriage
1.2Crown Princess in Prussia
1.3Queen in Prussia
1.3.1Anglo-Prussian marriage alliance
1.3.2Escape attempt of the Crown Prince
1.4Queen Dowager
2Issue
3Ancestors
4Notes and sources
5External links
-------
Contents list above are live links at source as follows by clicking into wikibio
found by using above main link, clicking and looking at upper left column

Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
Image
Portrait by Antoine Pesne, 1737
Queen consort in Prussia
Electress consort of Brandenburg
Tenure25 February 1713 – 31 May 1740

Born16 March 1687
Hanover, Principality of Calenberg
Died28 June 1757 (aged 70)
Monbijou Palace, Berlin
SpouseFrederick William I of Prussia

(m. 1706; died 1740)
Issue⦁Prince Frederick Louis
Wilhelmine, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
⦁Prince Frederick William
Frederick II, King of Prussia
⦁Princess Charlotte
Frederica Louise, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Philippine Charlotte, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
⦁Prince Louis
Sophia Dorothea, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Louisa Ulrika, Queen of Sweden
Prince Augustus William
Princess Anna Amalia
Prince Henry
Prince Augustus Ferdinand
HouseHanover
FatherGeorge I, King of Great Britain
MotherSophia Dorothea of Celle
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (26 March [O.S. 16 March] 1687[1][2] – 28 June 1757) was Queen in Prussia and Electress of Brandenburg during the reign of her husband, King Frederick William I, from 25 February 1713 to 31 May 1740. She was the daughter of King George I of Great Britain and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the sister of King George II of Great Britain, and the mother of Frederick the Great (King Frederick II of Prussia).

Contents
1Life
1.1Marriage
1.2Crown Princess in Prussia
1.3Queen in Prussia
1.3.1Anglo-Prussian marriage alliance
1.3.2Escape attempt of the Crown Prince
1.4Queen Dowager
2Issue
3Ancestors
4Notes and sources
5External links
Life[edit]
Sophia Dorothea was born on 16 March 1687 (O.S.), in Hanover. She was the only daughter of George Louis of Hanover, later King George I of Great Britain, and his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle. She was detested by her elder brother, King George II of Great Britain.[3]
After the divorce and imprisonment of her mother, she was raised in Hanover under the supervision of her paternal grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, and educated by her Huguenot teacher Madame de Sacetot.[4]
Marriage[edit]
Sophia Dorothea married her cousin, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, heir apparent to the Prussian throne, on 28 November 1706. They had met as children when Frederick William had spent some time in Hanover under the care of their grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, and though Sophia Dorothea disliked him, Frederick William had reportedly felt an attraction to her early on.[4]
When a marriage was to be arranged for Frederick William, he was given three alternatives: Princess Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz, or Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.[4] The Swedish match was preferred by his father, who wished to form a matrimonial alliance with Sweden, and thus the official Finck was sent to Stockholm under the pretext of an adjustment of the disputes regarding Pomerania, but in reality to observe the princess before issuing formal negotiations: Frederick William, however, preferred Sophia Dorothea and successfully tasked Finck with making such a deterring report of Ulrika Eleonora to his father that he would encounter less opposition when he informed his father of his choice.[4] A marriage alliance between Prussia and Hanover was regarded as a noncontroversial choice by both courts and the negotiations were swiftly conducted. In order for Sophia Dorothea to make as good an impression as possible in Berlin, her grandmother, Electress Sophia, commissioned her niece Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of the Palatinate to procure her trousseau in Paris. Her bridal paraphernalia attracted great attention and was referred to as the greatest of any German Princess yet.
Image
Sophia Dorothea as crown princess
The wedding by proxy took place in Hanover on 28 November 1706, and she arrived in Berlin on 27 November, where she was welcomed by her groom and his family outside of the city gates and before making her entrance into the capital. Thereafter followed a second wedding, the stately torch-dance, and six weeks of banquets and balls.[4]
Crown Princess in Prussia[edit]
Sophia Dorothea was described as tall, with a beautiful slender figure, graceful and dignified with big blue eyes. Though not regarded as strictly beautiful, she was seen as quite attractive at the time of her marriage and described as charming in her manners, making a good impression in Berlin.[4] Frederick William often called her "Fiekchen".[4]
Sophia Dorothea and Frederick William differed from each other in every aspect and the marriage suffered as a result. Sophia Dorothea was interested in art, science, literature and fashion, while Frederick William was described as an unpolished, uneducated and spartan military man with rough manners. Though he was never unfaithful to her, he was unable to win her affection.[4] One of the most important differences between them was that Sophia Dorothea, unlike her husband, loved entertainment, something he regarded to be frivolous.[5] Frederick William contemplated divorcing her the same year they married and, judging by her letters, accused her of not wanting to be married to him.[6] According to Morgenstern, "He had none of that astonishing complaisance by which lovers, whether husbands or friends, seek to win the favor of the beloved object. As far as can be gathered from the words he occasionally let drop, the crossing of his first love might have been the innocent cause of this; and as the object of this passion, by the directions of her mother and grandmother, treated him with harshness, where, then, could he learn to make love?"[4]
The birth of her firstborn son, Frederick Louis, in 1707 was celebrated greatly in Prussia, and Sophia Dorothea successfully asked the king to liberate the imprisoned minister Eberhard von Danckelmann.[4] In 1708, after the death of her firstborn son, the physicians declared that Sophia Dorothea was not likely to conceive again, which prompted the remarriage of her father-in-law.[4] However, she gave birth to several children in the following years, and finally to a son who survived in 1712.
Queen in Prussia[edit]
In 1713, her father-in-law Frederick I died and was succeeded by her spouse Frederick William I, making her queen in Prussia.
At the time of the accession, Prussia was at war with Sweden, and Sophia Dorothea accompanied Frederick William during the campaign of 1715, though she soon returned to Berlin to give birth to her daughter.[4] During the war, the king left directions to his ministers to consult her and take no action without her approval in the case of emergency.[4] In 1717, she hosted Peter the Great on his visit to Berlin at her own palace Monbijou, as per the king's request, which was vandalized as a result. Sophia Dorothea's first favorite was her maid of honor, von Wagnitz, who was dismissed after an intrigue in which Kreutz and her mother tried to make her the king's mistress, as well as being a spy of the French ambassador Rothenburg.[4]
Queen Sophia Dorothea was admired for her gracious manners and nicknamed "Olympia" for her regal bearing, but scarred by smallpox and overweight with time, she was not called a beauty. She was known as extremely haughty, proud, and ambitious, but Frederick William greatly disliked her interference in politics, as it was his belief that women should be kept only for breeding, and kept submissive as they would otherwise dominate their husbands.[7] The king was known for his parsimony and dislike of idleness to such a degree that he would beat people in the street as well as in the palace if he viewed them as lazy.[4] The queen complained about the "horrible avarice" he pressed upon the household and as a result, according to Pollnitz, the queen's table was often so sparingly supplied that he had often given her money so that she could be able to have an omelette for supper.[4]
Frederick William viewed her interests in theater, dancing, jewelry and music as frivolous and resented any sign of her living a life independently from his authority: he particularly disliked her interest in gambling, and it is reported that she and her partners would have coffee beans ready on the table during gambling, so that if the king appeared, they could pretend to be playing with them rather than money.[6] On one occasion, the queen took the opportunity of the king being ill to host a ball at Monbijou with dancing and music, and where she herself gambled while wearing her diamond set. When the king suddenly arrived, the dancing and music stopped immediately, and the queen unclasped her jewels and hid them in her pocket.[4] His manner toward her was described as rough and so noted that when he displayed the opposite, it was seen as a surprise. Upon the death of her mother in 1726, Sophia Dorothea inherited a sum of three million, whereupon it attracted attention that Frederick William suddenly treated her very well: the Imperial ambassador reported that this was merely because he wanted her money, and when she never received it (as her brother refused to release the sum), Frederick William resumed his usual manner toward her.[6] For her part, Sophia Dorothea did not have a high opinion of the king's military interest or skill, and at one occasion, when he spoke disparagingly of the English commanders retorted: "No doubt they must wish to give you the command of their army."[4]
Image
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover in center during the visit of King Augustus II of Poland to Berlin.
Upon the illness of the king in Brandenburg during the campaign of 1719, he sent for Sophia Dorothea and entrusted her with his will, cautioning secrecy.[4] Within the document, she was named regent during the minority of their son, with Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and King George I of Great Britain as guardians to the Crown Prince. The king's favorites, military general Friedrich von Grumbkow and Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau, offered the queen's favorite Madame de Blaspiel a bribe if she procured information for them and influenced the queen in their favor; she in turn informed the queen, who informed the king, who summoned von Grumbkow and the Prince and told them to return to Berlin. They then tasked Madame de Blaspiel's lover, Count de Manteufel, the Saxon ambassador, to acquire the document or at least find out its meaning: the queen did give de Blaspiel the document, and its contents were revealed to Grumbkow and Anhalt.[4] Grumbkow and Anhalt, now wishing to lessen the queen's influence after learning of the will appointing her regent, unsuccessfully tried to accuse her before the king of having borrowed money and pawning a pair of earrings given to her by the king to pay her gambling debts. The queen countered by accusing Grumbkow of plotting against her.[4]
Concurrently, the Clement Affair took place, in which the alleged Hungarian nobleman Clement gained access to the king by use of false letters and convinced him that the courts of Vienna and Dresden were orchestrating a plot to depose him in favor of the crown prince who, under the guardianship of the Emperor, the queen, Grumbkow, and Arnhalt, was to then be raised a Catholic. All were accused of having been implicated in the plot before Clement was exposed as a con artist and summarily executed; another implicated was M. de Troschke, a gentleman of the chamber in service to the king, in whose possession was found a letter from Madame de Blaspiel expressing anger at the king's imprisonment of a suspected accomplice, Monsieur de Kamecke.[4] Grumbkow, suspecting the queen's favorite to have exposed his plot against the queen, delivered the letter to the king, who had de Blaspiel arrested, imprisoned for a year at Spandau, and then banished.[4] Her arrest forced the queen to remove the will of 1719 from the possession of Blaspiel before it was discovered there, to which end her chaplain procured it from the officer commissioned to seal up de Blaspiel's room.[4] After this the queen replaced her as confidant with her daughter, Princess Wilhelmine.
Sophia Dorothea had a very close relationship to her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick, who was harshly treated by his father, who perceived him as effeminate.[4] According to her daughter Wilhelmine, the queen widened the rift between the king and the crown prince by demonstrating that she viewed the king's demands as unfair:
"Whatever my father ordered my brother to do, my mother commanded him to do the very reverse."[4]
Frederick William accused her of having damaged his relationship with his children, and therefore banned them from seeing her without his presence. When the king banned the queen from communicating with her son, she corresponded with him through her daughter Wilhelmine.[4] When he refused to let her see her eldest children, she invited them to her rooms in secrecy; on at least one occasion, Frederick and Wilhelmine were forced to hide in the furniture in her rooms when Frederick William came to her room unexpectedly while they were there.[6][4] At the same time, the queen's favorite, Madame de Ramen, acted as a spy for the king, causing their relationship to deteriorate sharply.[4] Her children were terrorized and frequently beaten by Frederick William, who may have suffered from porphyria.[8][9][3] During the latter years of the king's life, he was often seized by fits of violence during which he hit people with his cane and threw things at his children. This was a difficult situation for his family, as he often forced them to attend him, refusing to let them leave from 9 AM until bedtime.[4]
Anglo-Prussian marriage alliance[edit]
Sophia Dorothea held a longtime ambition to arrange a double marriage of her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick, to Princess Amelia of Great Britain, and her eldest daughter Wilhelmine to Frederick, future Prince of Wales. This was a project that had first been raised during the children's infancy[4] and would result in a strong alliance between Prussia and Great Britain. Her plan was opposed by the king's favorites Grumbkow and Anhalt, who wished to arrange a marriage between Wilhelmine and Anhalt's nephew, Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (the King's first cousin). He was next in line to inherit the throne after the crown prince, whose health was delicate. If he succeeded, Anhalt and Grumbkow hoped to come into a position of power.[4]
In 1723, the queen convinced the king to give his consent to the Prussian-British marriage alliance. In October of that year, they hosted a visit by George I in Berlin, who inspected Wilhelmine and agreed to the double marriage alliance if it was approved by Parliament.[4] One day, Frederick William went to visit George I in Goehr.[where?] Sophia Dorothea did not accompany him, because she gave birth unexpectedly just before they were to leave. Sophia had been unaware of her pregnancy, leading to a rumor that she had tried to hide it. This caused Frederick William to suspect her of adultery. Upon his return, he had to be prevented from beating her by her chief lady-in-waiting, Sophie de Kameke, who held his arm and told him "if he had only come there to kill his wife, he had better have kept away."[4] The king questioned the physician Stahl, his regimental surgeon Holzendorf, and de Kameke about the queen's suspected adultery, upon which de Kameke told him that "if he were not her king she would strangle him on the spot" for his accusation, which resulted in him making an apology to the queen and dismissing the affair.[4]
George I promised that the double marriage alliance would be formally agreed upon in connection with the Treaty of Hanover (1725). Sophia Dorothea accompanied Frederick William to meet George in Hanover to discuss the matter, and was left there to handle the negotiations when he returned to Berlin. However, she failed to accomplish anything, as the matter was avoided by both George I and his ministers.[4] When she returned to Berlin, Frederick William was so discontent with her failure that he had the passage between their apartments walled up (it remained so for six weeks).[4] Frederick, Prince of Wales, sent his agent La Motte to ask whether she would permit a secret visit by him to see his intended bride, Wilhelmine. The queen agreed, but made the mistake of saying so to the British ambassador Dubourguai, which obliged him to inform George I. George recalled Frederick to England, and had La Motte arrested and imprisoned. All this damaged the queen and the prospect of the marriage alliance in the eyes of the king, causing a great row between them.[4]
Image
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
From 1726 until 1735, Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff was the Austrian ambassador in Berlin and the king's favorite. He came to be the main opponent of the queen, due to his opposition to the British-Prussian marriage alliance.[4] The animosity between the queen and Seckendorff was well known and commented on by the king:
"My wife and the whole world are against him; the Prince of Anhalt and my Fritz hate him like the pest, but he is a brave fellow, and loves me."[4]
In 1729, negotiations for the British marriage alliance were disrupted by the activities of Frederick William's army recruiters. Frederick William wanted tall soldiers for his army; his agents went all over Germany paying or even kidnapping such men. They snatched men from Hanover, whose ruler was also the king of Great Britain. This caused diplomatic incidents, and Frederick William stopped all negotiations. But the queen renewed them.[4] When Grumbkow revealed her independent negotiations to the king, the king stated that he would marry Wilhelmine to either a prince of Schwedt or Weissenfels, and that Sophia could consent or be imprisoned for life.[4]
She was advised by Borck to suggest Prince Frederick of Bayreuth as an alternative, which she did. Then she wrote to the queen of Great Britain, claiming illness.[4] The reply was unsatisfactory, and the king learned of her pretense. Frederick William beat Wilhelmine in Sophia's presence, and Sophia agreed to drop the British marriage, provided that Wilhelmine was married to Frederick of Bayreuth, not the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.[4] She fell genuinely ill shortly afterward, and successfully asked him to reconcile with their eldest son and daughter, and afterwards beat them only in private.[4]
Matters changed when the British ambassador Hotham arrived and officially suggested marriage between Wilhelmine and the Prince of Wales, providing the king agreed to marriage between Crown Prince Frederick and Amelia of Great Britain, and the dismissal of his favorite, the anti-British Grumbkow, whom they accused of treason against him.[4] The king agreed to the terms, if proof of Grumbkow's guilt was shown, and if his son was appointed governor of Hanover.[4] Grumbkow allied with Seckendorff to prevent the marriage alliance and thus his own fall, while the latter informed the king that the British suggestion was a result of the queen's intrigues to depose him in favor of his son and make Prussia a de facto British province through "the vain and haughty English daughter-in-law", whose extravagance would ruin the state.[4] When ambassador Hotham returned with the proof of Grumbkow's guilt, the king reportedly flew into a rage and beat the ambassador.[4] The queen had the crown prince write to Hotham and unsuccessfully ask him to reconcile with the king; before departing Prussia, however, he left the evidence against Grumbkow with the queen.[4]
Escape attempt of the Crown Prince[edit]
Sophia Dorothea spent many days talking to her eldest son in the library, and was informed of his plans to escape from his father's custody. In August 1730, during a tour he made with his father through the provinces, Frederick tried to escape from Prussia, and was brought back a prisoner.[4] The king informed the queen of the event through Sophie de Kamecke before their arrival. There were compromising letters by the queen and princess Wilhelmine in Frederick's portefeuille, which was forwarded to them by a friend after the arrest of Frederick's accomplice Katte. They burned the letters and replaced them with fabricated and uncompromising ones.[4] However, "as there were near fifteen hundred of the originals, although we worked very hard, not more than six hundred or seven hundred could be completed in the time". The portefeuille was also filled with ornamental articles.[4] When the portefeuille was later opened, Frederick did not recognize its content. Grumbkow immediately suspected what had transpired and stated: "These cursed women have outwitted us!"[4]
Image
Georg Wenzelaus von Knobelsdorff, Queen Sophia Dorothea von Preussen
When the king returned, he told the queen that her son was dead. She replied: "What! Have you murdered your son?" When given the reply: "He was not my son, he was only a miserable deserter," she became hysterical and screamed repeatedly: "Mon Dieu, mon fils! mon Dieu, mon fils!"[4] The king then started to beat Wilhelmine and would possibly have killed her. Her siblings and ladies-in-waiting intervened. Frederick's accomplice Katte arrived as a prisoner, so the king beat him instead.[4] When Frederick was imprisoned at the fortress in Küstrin, Grumbkow acted as mediator between Frederick and his parents, managing to reconcile them.[4]
The imprisonment was followed by continuous conflict between the king and the queen about the marriage of princess Wilhelmine. While the king pressed for a marriage to the Margrave of Schwedt or the Prince of Weissenfels, the queen exchanged secret messages with her daughter and urged her not to accept any other groom than the Prince of Wales.[4] This conflict caused the king to threaten to beat the queen and have Mademoiselle Sonsfeld publicly whipped.[4] Finally, Wilhelmine was formally offered the choice between the Margrave of Schwedt, the Duke of Weissenfels, or the Prince of Bayreuth. She chose to marry the latter (as she had not seen him but had seen and disliked the other two), on condition that her father free her brother.[4] Her decision was made against the will of her mother, who threatened to disown her for what she considered to be her daughter's lack of courage, and ordered her not to speak to her future groom when he arrived.[4] The king was furious at the cold demeanor of the queen during the following visit of the Prince of Bayreuth.
After the betrothal of Wilhelmine and the Prince of Bayreuth, a message arrived in which George II consented to Wilhelmine marrying the Prince of Wales without her brother marrying his daughter Amelia.[4] This message convinced the queen that a Prussian-British marriage alliance was possible. She therefore made a point of harassing the Prince of Bayreuth to stop the wedding.[4] On the day of the wedding (20 November 1731), Sophia Dorothea tried to delay the ceremony by disarranging her daughter's hair every time it had been dressed, saying she was not satisfied with the effect, in the hope that a British courier might arrive in time to stop the ceremony.[4]
When Frederick was liberated after his sister's wedding, Sophia Dorothea resumed negotiations with Great Britain to marry him to Princess Amelia, and her next daughter, Philippine Charlotte, to the Prince of Wales, which would complete her life project of a Prussian-British marriage alliance.[4] These plans was crushed in 1733, when Frederick William instead announced a marriage alliance with Brunswick by marrying Frederick to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern and Philippine Charlotte to Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
But Sophia continued to pursue a Prussian-British marriage alliance, accomplishing a "reconciliation between the houses of England and Prussia negotiated by the Queen", this time by the marriage of the Prince of Wales to her third daughter Louisa Ulrika:
"La Herwein has conveyed the portrait of Ulrica to the Prince of Wales, and entertained Olympia (the Queen) with false hopes."[4]
This was crushed upon the marriage of the Prince of Wales in 1736 to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Louisa Ulrika went on to become the Queen of Sweden.
Sophia Dorothea favored the French side in the War of the Polish Succession of 1733–36, and disliked the king's participation in the war on the Austrian side. She openly declared her view when the king swore loyalty to Austria: "I shall live to make you, who are so incredulous, believe, and prove to you how you are deceived."[4]
During the last years of the king's life, he was afflicted with fits of illness which often forced him to use a wheelchair, and Sophia Dorothea was ordered to attend to him continuously. On the day of his death, Frederick William ordered himself to be taken to the queen's apartment and told her:
"Rise, I have but a few hours to live, and I would at least have the satisfaction of dying in your arms."[4]
Queen Dowager[edit]
On 31 May 1740, Frederick William died and was succeeded by her son, Frederick II (the Great).
Sophia Dorothea had a very good relationship with her son the king. When she addressed him as "Your Majesty" after the funeral of his father, he interrupted her and told her: "Always call me your son, that title is dearer to me than the royal dignity."[4] Frederick was known for his devotion to her, expressed his gratitude for her having raised him and never blamed her for his traumatic childhood, which he instead blamed on his father, and never allowed anyone to criticize her.[4]
Sophia Dorothea lost no importance as a queen dowager: wary of the great respect the king afforded his mother and his neglect of his wife, the foreign envoys and other supplicants considered attending the audience chamber and receptions as of the queen dowager as even more important than that of the queen.[4] Until her death, he honored her as the first lady of his court and placed her before that of his wife, the queen.[10] It was to his mother's chamber the king paid the first visit on his return from campaigns, summoning the queen to meet him there; he regularly invited his mother to his personal residence at Potsdam, where his wife was never invited, and while he seldom visited his wife, he regularly attended his mother at Monbijou, where he took off his hat and remained standing until she gave him permission to sit.[4] Sophia Dorothea presided at the wedding of her son Prince William in 1742, and her daughter Louisa Ulrika in 1744.
The relationship between Sophia Dorothea and her daughter-in-law queen Elisabeth Christine was not good during the first years of her son's reign, as she resented her daughter-in-law's precedence in rank, though her son assured it to be merely formal, but their relationship improved during the last years of her life. Sophia Dorothea saw her son for the last time after his first campaign in January 1757 during the Seven Years' War. At that point she was well, but soon after his departure, her health rapidly declined, and she died on 28 June 1757.
Issue[edit]
hideIssue
NamePortraitLifespanNotes
Frederick Louis
Prince of PrussiaImage23 November 1707-
13 May 1708Died in infancy
Friedrike Wilhelmine
Margravine of Brandenburg-BayreuthImage3 July 1709-
14 October 1758Married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and had issue
Frederick William
Prince of PrussiaImage16 August 1710-
21 July 1711Died in infancy
Frederick II the Great
King of PrussiaImage24 January 1712-
17 August 1786King of Prussia (1740–1786); married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern but had no issue
Charlotte Albertine
Princess of PrussiaImage5 May 1713-
10 June 1714Died in infancy
Frederica Louise
Margravine of Brandenburg-AnsbachImage28 September 1714-
4 February 1784Married Charles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and had issue
Philippine Charlotte
Duchess of Brunswick-WolfenbüttelImage13 March 1716-
17 February 1801Married Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and had issue
Louis Charles William
Prince of PrussiaImage2 May 1717-
31 August 1719Died in early childhood
Sophia Dorothea
Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Princess in PrussiaImage25 January 1719-
13 November 1765Married Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Prince in Prussia and had issue
Louisa Ulrika
Queen of SwedenImage24 July 1720-
2 July 1782Married Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden and had issue
Augustus William
Prince of PrussiaImage9 August 1722-
12 June 1758Married Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and had issue (including Frederick William II)
Anna Amalia
Abbess of QuedlinburgImage9 November 1723-
30 March 1787Became Abbess of Quedlinburg 16 July 1755
Frederick Henry Louis
Prince of PrussiaImage18 January 1726-
3 August 1802Married Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel but had no issue
Augustus Ferdinand
Prince of PrussiaImage23 May 1730-
2 May 1813Married Margravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt and had issue

Ancestors[edit]
Ancestors of Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
8. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

4. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover

9. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt

2. George I of Great Britain

10. Frederick V, Elector Palatine

5. Sophia, Princess Palatine of the Rhine

11. Elizabeth of England

1. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

12. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (= 8)

6. George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

13. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt (= 9)

3. Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Celle

14. Alexandre II Desmier, Seigneur d'Olbreuse

7. Éléonore Desmier d'Olbreuse

15. Jacquette Poussard de Vendré

Notes and sources[edit]
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^ McKee, Jane; Vigne, Randolph (2014). The Huguenots: France, Exile, & Diaspora. Eastbourne, Great Britain: Sussex Academic Press. p. 68. 1.ISBN 1.9781845196820.
^ 2."Sophia Dorothea of Hanover". Florida Center for Instructional Learning. 2004. Retrieved 2021-04-11 – via University of South Florida.
3.^ 3.Jump up to:a 3.b John David Griffith Davies: A king in toils, L. Drummond, ltd., 1938
4.^ 4.Jump up to:a 4.b 4.c 4.d 4.e 4.f 4.g 4.h 4.i 4.j 4.k 4.l 4.m 4.n 4.o 4.p 4.q 4.r 4.s 4.t 4.u 4.v 4.w 4.x 4.y 4.z 4.aa 4.ab 4.ac 4.ad 4.ae 4.af 4.ag 4.ah 4.ai 4.aj 4.ak 4.al 4.am 4.an 4.ao 4.ap 4.aq 4.ar 4.as 4.at 4.au 4.av 4.aw 4.ax 4.ay 4.az 4.ba 4.bb 4.bc 4.bd 4.be 4.bf 4.bg 4.bh 4.bi 4.bj 4.bk 4.bl 4.bm 4.bn 4.bo 4.bp 4.bq 4.br 4.bs 4.bt Atkinson, Emma Willsher: 4.Memoirs of the queens of Prussia, London : W. Kent
^ 5.The Education of the Enlightened Despots
6.^ 6.Jump up to:a 6.b 6.c 6.d Reiners, Ludwig (Swedish): Fredrik den store (Fredrick the Great). Bokindustri Aktiebolag (1956) Stockholm
^ Thea Leitner: Skandal bei Hof. Ueberreuter, Wien 1993, 7.ISBN 7.3-8000-3492-1
^ W. F. Reddaway: Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia, READ BOOKS, 2008, 8.ISBN 8.1-4437-2467-X
^ Alexander J. Nemeth: Voltaire's tormented soul: a psychobiographic inquiry, Associated University Presse, 2008, 9.ISBN 9.0-934223-92-0
^ Feuerstein-Praßer: Die preußischen Königinnen. 2009, S. 171.
⦁Thea Leitner: Skandal bei Hof, Ueberreuter, 1993, ⦁ISBN ⦁3-8000-3492-1
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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
House of Hanover
Cadet branch of the House of Welf
Born: 26 March 1687 Died: 28 June 1757
German royalty
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Sophia Louise of
Mecklenburg-SchwerinQueen consort in Prussia
Electress consort of Brandenburg
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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
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Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
Image
Portrait by Antoine Pesne, 1737
Queen consort in Prussia
Electress consort of Brandenburg
Tenure25 February 1713 - 31 May 1740

Born16 March 1687
Hanover, Principality of Calenberg
Died28 June 1757 (aged 70)
Monbijou Palace, Berlin
SpouseFrederick William I of Prussia

(m. 1706; died 1740)
Issue⦁Prince Frederick Louis
Wilhelmine, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
⦁Prince Frederick William
Frederick II, King of Prussia
⦁Princess Charlotte
Frederica Louise, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Philippine Charlotte, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
⦁Prince Louis
Sophia Dorothea, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Louisa Ulrika, Queen of Sweden
Prince Augustus William
Princess Anna Amalia
Prince Henry
Prince Augustus Ferdinand
HouseHanover
FatherGeorge I, King of Great Britain
MotherSophia Dorothea of Celle
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (26 March [O.S. 16 March] 1687[1][2] - 28 June 1757) was Queen in Prussia and Electress of Brandenburg during the reign of her husband, King Frederick William I, from 25 February 1713 to 31 May 1740. She was the daughter of King George I of Great Britain and his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the sister of King George II of Great Britain, and the mother of Frederick the Great (King Frederick II of Prussia).

Contents
1Life
1.1Marriage
1.2Crown Princess in Prussia
1.3Queen in Prussia
1.3.1Anglo-Prussian marriage alliance
1.3.2Escape attempt of the Crown Prince
1.4Queen Dowager
2Issue
3Ancestors
4Notes and sources
5External links
Life[edit]
Sophia Dorothea was born on 16 March 1687 (O.S.), in Hanover. She was the only daughter of George Louis of Hanover, later King George I of Great Britain, and his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle. She was detested by her elder brother, King George II of Great Britain.[3]
After the divorce and imprisonment of her mother, she was raised in Hanover under the supervision of her paternal grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, and educated by her Huguenot teacher Madame de Sacetot.[4]
Marriage[edit]
Sophia Dorothea married her cousin, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, heir apparent to the Prussian throne, on 28 November 1706. They had met as children when Frederick William had spent some time in Hanover under the care of their grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, and though Sophia Dorothea disliked him, Frederick William had reportedly felt an attraction to her early on.[4]
When a marriage was to be arranged for Frederick William, he was given three alternatives: Princess Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz, or Sophia Dorothea of Hanover.[4] The Swedish match was preferred by his father, who wished to form a matrimonial alliance with Sweden, and thus the official Finck was sent to Stockholm under the pretext of an adjustment of the disputes regarding Pomerania, but in reality to observe the princess before issuing formal negotiations: Frederick William, however, preferred Sophia Dorothea and successfully tasked Finck with making such a deterring report of Ulrika Eleonora to his father that he would encounter less opposition when he informed his father of his choice.[4] A marriage alliance between Prussia and Hanover was regarded as a noncontroversial choice by both courts and the negotiations were swiftly conducted. In order for Sophia Dorothea to make as good an impression as possible in Berlin, her grandmother, Electress Sophia, commissioned her niece Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of the Palatinate to procure her trousseau in Paris. Her bridal paraphernalia attracted great attention and was referred to as the greatest of any German Princess yet.
Image
Sophia Dorothea as crown princess
The wedding by proxy took place in Hanover on 28 November 1706, and she arrived in Berlin on 27 November, where she was welcomed by her groom and his family outside of the city gates and before making her entrance into the capital. Thereafter followed a second wedding, the stately torch-dance, and six weeks of banquets and balls.[4]
Crown Princess in Prussia[edit]
Sophia Dorothea was described as tall, with a beautiful slender figure, graceful and dignified with big blue eyes. Though not regarded as strictly beautiful, she was seen as quite attractive at the time of her marriage and described as charming in her manners, making a good impression in Berlin.[4] Frederick William often called her "Fiekchen".[4]
Sophia Dorothea and Frederick William differed from each other in every aspect and the marriage suffered as a result. Sophia Dorothea was interested in art, science, literature and fashion, while Frederick William was described as an unpolished, uneducated and spartan military man with rough manners. Though he was never unfaithful to her, he was unable to win her affection.[4] One of the most important differences between them was that Sophia Dorothea, unlike her husband, loved entertainment, something he regarded to be frivolous.[5] Frederick William contemplated divorcing her the same year they married and, judging by her letters, accused her of not wanting to be married to him.[6] According to Morgenstern, "He had none of that astonishing complaisance by which lovers, whether husbands or friends, seek to win the favor of the beloved object. As far as can be gathered from the words he occasionally let drop, the crossing of his first love might have been the innocent cause of this; and as the object of this passion, by the directions of her mother and grandmother, treated him with harshness, where, then, could he learn to make love?"[4]
The birth of her firstborn son, Frederick Louis, in 1707 was celebrated greatly in Prussia, and Sophia Dorothea successfully asked the king to liberate the imprisoned minister Eberhard von Danckelmann.[4] In 1708, after the death of her firstborn son, the physicians declared that Sophia Dorothea was not likely to conceive again, which prompted the remarriage of her father-in-law.[4] However, she gave birth to several children in the following years, and finally to a son who survived in 1712.
Queen in Prussia[edit]
In 1713, her father-in-law Frederick I died and was succeeded by her spouse Frederick William I, making her queen in Prussia.
At the time of the accession, Prussia was at war with Sweden, and Sophia Dorothea accompanied Frederick William during the campaign of 1715, though she soon returned to Berlin to give birth to her daughter.[4] During the war, the king left directions to his ministers to consult her and take no action without her approval in the case of emergency.[4] In 1717, she hosted Peter the Great on his visit to Berlin at her own palace Monbijou, as per the king's request, which was vandalized as a result. Sophia Dorothea's first favorite was her maid of honor, von Wagnitz, who was dismissed after an intrigue in which Kreutz and her mother tried to make her the king's mistress, as well as being a spy of the French ambassador Rothenburg.[4]
Queen Sophia Dorothea was admired for her gracious manners and nicknamed "Olympia" for her regal bearing, but scarred by smallpox and overweight with time, she was not called a beauty. She was known as extremely haughty, proud, and ambitious, but Frederick William greatly disliked her interference in politics, as it was his belief that women should be kept only for breeding, and kept submissive as they would otherwise dominate their husbands.[7] The king was known for his parsimony and dislike of idleness to such a degree that he would beat people in the street as well as in the palace if he viewed them as lazy.[4] The queen complained about the "horrible avarice" he pressed upon the household and as a result, according to Pollnitz, the queen's table was often so sparingly supplied that he had often given her money so that she could be able to have an omelette for supper.[4]
Frederick William viewed her interests in theater, dancing, jewelry and music as frivolous and resented any sign of her living a life independently from his authority: he particularly disliked her interest in gambling, and it is reported that she and her partners would have coffee beans ready on the table during gambling, so that if the king appeared, they could pretend to be playing with them rather than money.[6] On one occasion, the queen took the opportunity of the king being ill to host a ball at Monbijou with dancing and music, and where she herself gambled while wearing her diamond set. When the king suddenly arrived, the dancing and music stopped immediately, and the queen unclasped her jewels and hid them in her pocket.[4] His manner toward her was described as rough and so noted that when he displayed the opposite, it was seen as a surprise. Upon the death of her mother in 1726, Sophia Dorothea inherited a sum of three million, whereupon it attracted attention that Frederick William suddenly treated her very well: the Imperial ambassador reported that this was merely because he wanted her money, and when she never received it (as her brother refused to release the sum), Frederick William resumed his usual manner toward her.[6] For her part, Sophia Dorothea did not have a high opinion of the king's military interest or skill, and at one occasion, when he spoke disparagingly of the English commanders retorted: "No doubt they must wish to give you the command of their army."[4]
Image
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover in center during the visit of King Augustus II of Poland to Berlin.
Upon the illness of the king in Brandenburg during the campaign of 1719, he sent for Sophia Dorothea and entrusted her with his will, cautioning secrecy.[4] Within the document, she was named regent during the minority of their son, with Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and King George I of Great Britain as guardians to the Crown Prince. The king's favorites, military general Friedrich von Grumbkow and Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau, offered the queen's favorite Madame de Blaspiel a bribe if she procured information for them and influenced the queen in their favor; she in turn informed the queen, who informed the king, who summoned von Grumbkow and the Prince and told them to return to Berlin. They then tasked Madame de Blaspiel's lover, Count de Manteufel, the Saxon ambassador, to acquire the document or at least find out its meaning: the queen did give de Blaspiel the document, and its contents were revealed to Grumbkow and Anhalt.[4] Grumbkow and Anhalt, now wishing to lessen the queen's influence after learning of the will appointing her regent, unsuccessfully tried to accuse her before the king of having borrowed money and pawning a pair of earrings given to her by the king to pay her gambling debts. The queen countered by accusing Grumbkow of plotting against her.[4]
Concurrently, the Clement Affair took place, in which the alleged Hungarian nobleman Clement gained access to the king by use of false letters and convinced him that the courts of Vienna and Dresden were orchestrating a plot to depose him in favor of the crown prince who, under the guardianship of the Emperor, the queen, Grumbkow, and Arnhalt, was to then be raised a Catholic. All were accused of having been implicated in the plot before Clement was exposed as a con artist and summarily executed; another implicated was M. de Troschke, a gentleman of the chamber in service to the king, in whose possession was found a letter from Madame de Blaspiel expressing anger at the king's imprisonment of a suspected accomplice, Monsieur de Kamecke.[4] Grumbkow, suspecting the queen's favorite to have exposed his plot against the queen, delivered the letter to the king, who had de Blaspiel arrested, imprisoned for a year at Spandau, and then banished.[4] Her arrest forced the queen to remove the will of 1719 from the possession of Blaspiel before it was discovered there, to which end her chaplain procured it from the officer commissioned to seal up de Blaspiel's room.[4] After this the queen replaced her as confidant with her daughter, Princess Wilhelmine.
Sophia Dorothea had a very close relationship to her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick, who was harshly treated by his father, who perceived him as effeminate.[4] According to her daughter Wilhelmine, the queen widened the rift between the king and the crown prince by demonstrating that she viewed the king's demands as unfair:
"Whatever my father ordered my brother to do, my mother commanded him to do the very reverse."[4]
Frederick William accused her of having damaged his relationship with his children, and therefore banned them from seeing her without his presence. When the king banned the queen from communicating with her son, she corresponded with him through her daughter Wilhelmine.[4] When he refused to let her see her eldest children, she invited them to her rooms in secrecy; on at least one occasion, Frederick and Wilhelmine were forced to hide in the furniture in her rooms when Frederick William came to her room unexpectedly while they were there.[6][4] At the same time, the queen's favorite, Madame de Ramen, acted as a spy for the king, causing their relationship to deteriorate sharply.[4] Her children were terrorized and frequently beaten by Frederick William, who may have suffered from porphyria.[8][9][3] During the latter years of the king's life, he was often seized by fits of violence during which he hit people with his cane and threw things at his children. This was a difficult situation for his family, as he often forced them to attend him, refusing to let them leave from 9 AM until bedtime.[4]
Anglo-Prussian marriage alliance[edit]
Sophia Dorothea held a longtime ambition to arrange a double marriage of her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick, to Princess Amelia of Great Britain, and her eldest daughter Wilhelmine to Frederick, future Prince of Wales. This was a project that had first been raised during the children's infancy[4] and would result in a strong alliance between Prussia and Great Britain. Her plan was opposed by the king's favorites Grumbkow and Anhalt, who wished to arrange a marriage between Wilhelmine and Anhalt's nephew, Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (the King's first cousin). He was next in line to inherit the throne after the crown prince, whose health was delicate. If he succeeded, Anhalt and Grumbkow hoped to come into a position of power.[4]
In 1723, the queen convinced the king to give his consent to the Prussian-British marriage alliance. In October of that year, they hosted a visit by George I in Berlin, who inspected Wilhelmine and agreed to the double marriage alliance if it was approved by Parliament.[4] One day, Frederick William went to visit George I in Goehr.[where?] Sophia Dorothea did not accompany him, because she gave birth unexpectedly just before they were to leave. Sophia had been unaware of her pregnancy, leading to a rumor that she had tried to hide it. This caused Frederick William to suspect her of adultery. Upon his return, he had to be prevented from beating her by her chief lady-in-waiting, Sophie de Kameke, who held his arm and told him "if he had only come there to kill his wife, he had better have kept away."[4] The king questioned the physician Stahl, his regimental surgeon Holzendorf, and de Kameke about the queen's suspected adultery, upon which de Kameke told him that "if he were not her king she would strangle him on the spot" for his accusation, which resulted in him making an apology to the queen and dismissing the affair.[4]
George I promised that the double marriage alliance would be formally agreed upon in connection with the Treaty of Hanover (1725). Sophia Dorothea accompanied Frederick William to meet George in Hanover to discuss the matter, and was left there to handle the negotiations when he returned to Berlin. However, she failed to accomplish anything, as the matter was avoided by both George I and his ministers.[4] When she returned to Berlin, Frederick William was so discontent with her failure that he had the passage between their apartments walled up (it remained so for six weeks).[4] Frederick, Prince of Wales, sent his agent La Motte to ask whether she would permit a secret visit by him to see his intended bride, Wilhelmine. The queen agreed, but made the mistake of saying so to the British ambassador Dubourguai, which obliged him to inform George I. George recalled Frederick to England, and had La Motte arrested and imprisoned. All this damaged the queen and the prospect of the marriage alliance in the eyes of the king, causing a great row between them.[4]
Image
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
From 1726 until 1735, Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff was the Austrian ambassador in Berlin and the king's favorite. He came to be the main opponent of the queen, due to his opposition to the British-Prussian marriage alliance.[4] The animosity between the queen and Seckendorff was well known and commented on by the king:
"My wife and the whole world are against him; the Prince of Anhalt and my Fritz hate him like the pest, but he is a brave fellow, and loves me."[4]
In 1729, negotiations for the British marriage alliance were disrupted by the activities of Frederick William's army recruiters. Frederick William wanted tall soldiers for his army; his agents went all over Germany paying or even kidnapping such men. They snatched men from Hanover, whose ruler was also the king of Great Britain. This caused diplomatic incidents, and Frederick William stopped all negotiations. But the queen renewed them.[4] When Grumbkow revealed her independent negotiations to the king, the king stated that he would marry Wilhelmine to either a prince of Schwedt or Weissenfels, and that Sophia could consent or be imprisoned for life.[4]
She was advised by Borck to suggest Prince Frederick of Bayreuth as an alternative, which she did. Then she wrote to the queen of Great Britain, claiming illness.[4] The reply was unsatisfactory, and the king learned of her pretense. Frederick William beat Wilhelmine in Sophia's presence, and Sophia agreed to drop the British marriage, provided that Wilhelmine was married to Frederick of Bayreuth, not the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels.[4] She fell genuinely ill shortly afterward, and successfully asked him to reconcile with their eldest son and daughter, and afterwards beat them only in private.[4]
Matters changed when the British ambassador Hotham arrived and officially suggested marriage between Wilhelmine and the Prince of Wales, providing the king agreed to marriage between Crown Prince Frederick and Amelia of Great Britain, and the dismissal of his favorite, the anti-British Grumbkow, whom they accused of treason against him.[4] The king agreed to the terms, if proof of Grumbkow's guilt was shown, and if his son was appointed governor of Hanover.[4] Grumbkow allied with Seckendorff to prevent the marriage alliance and thus his own fall, while the latter informed the king that the British suggestion was a result of the queen's intrigues to depose him in favor of his son and make Prussia a de facto British province through "the vain and haughty English daughter-in-law", whose extravagance would ruin the state.[4] When ambassador Hotham returned with the proof of Grumbkow's guilt, the king reportedly flew into a rage and beat the ambassador.[4] The queen had the crown prince write to Hotham and unsuccessfully ask him to reconcile with the king; before departing Prussia, however, he left the evidence against Grumbkow with the queen.[4]
Escape attempt of the Crown Prince[edit]
Sophia Dorothea spent many days talking to her eldest son in the library, and was informed of his plans to escape from his father's custody. In August 1730, during a tour he made with his father through the provinces, Frederick tried to escape from Prussia, and was brought back a prisoner.[4] The king informed the queen of the event through Sophie de Kamecke before their arrival. There were compromising letters by the queen and princess Wilhelmine in Frederick's portefeuille, which was forwarded to them by a friend after the arrest of Frederick's accomplice Katte. They burned the letters and replaced them with fabricated and uncompromising ones.[4] However, "as there were near fifteen hundred of the originals, although we worked very hard, not more than six hundred or seven hundred could be completed in the time". The portefeuille was also filled with ornamental articles.[4] When the portefeuille was later opened, Frederick did not recognize its content. Grumbkow immediately suspected what had transpired and stated: "These cursed women have outwitted us!"[4]
Image
Georg Wenzelaus von Knobelsdorff, Queen Sophia Dorothea von Preussen
When the king returned, he told the queen that her son was dead. She replied: "What! Have you murdered your son?" When given the reply: "He was not my son, he was only a miserable deserter," she became hysterical and screamed repeatedly: "Mon Dieu, mon fils! mon Dieu, mon fils!"[4] The king then started to beat Wilhelmine and would possibly have killed her. Her siblings and ladies-in-waiting intervened. Frederick's accomplice Katte arrived as a prisoner, so the king beat him instead.[4] When Frederick was imprisoned at the fortress in Küstrin, Grumbkow acted as mediator between Frederick and his parents, managing to reconcile them.[4]
The imprisonment was followed by continuous conflict between the king and the queen about the marriage of princess Wilhelmine. While the king pressed for a marriage to the Margrave of Schwedt or the Prince of Weissenfels, the queen exchanged secret messages with her daughter and urged her not to accept any other groom than the Prince of Wales.[4] This conflict caused the king to threaten to beat the queen and have Mademoiselle Sonsfeld publicly whipped.[4] Finally, Wilhelmine was formally offered the choice between the Margrave of Schwedt, the Duke of Weissenfels, or the Prince of Bayreuth. She chose to marry the latter (as she had not seen him but had seen and disliked the other two), on condition that her father free her brother.[4] Her decision was made against the will of her mother, who threatened to disown her for what she considered to be her daughter's lack of courage, and ordered her not to speak to her future groom when he arrived.[4] The king was furious at the cold demeanor of the queen during the following visit of the Prince of Bayreuth.
After the betrothal of Wilhelmine and the Prince of Bayreuth, a message arrived in which George II consented to Wilhelmine marrying the Prince of Wales without her brother marrying his daughter Amelia.[4] This message convinced the queen that a Prussian-British marriage alliance was possible. She therefore made a point of harassing the Prince of Bayreuth to stop the wedding.[4] On the day of the wedding (20 November 1731), Sophia Dorothea tried to delay the ceremony by disarranging her daughter's hair every time it had been dressed, saying she was not satisfied with the effect, in the hope that a British courier might arrive in time to stop the ceremony.[4]
When Frederick was liberated after his sister's wedding, Sophia Dorothea resumed negotiations with Great Britain to marry him to Princess Amelia, and her next daughter, Philippine Charlotte, to the Prince of Wales, which would complete her life project of a Prussian-British marriage alliance.[4] These plans was crushed in 1733, when Frederick William instead announced a marriage alliance with Brunswick by marrying Frederick to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern and Philippine Charlotte to Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
But Sophia continued to pursue a Prussian-British marriage alliance, accomplishing a "reconciliation between the houses of England and Prussia negotiated by the Queen", this time by the marriage of the Prince of Wales to her third daughter Louisa Ulrika:
"La Herwein has conveyed the portrait of Ulrica to the Prince of Wales, and entertained Olympia (the Queen) with false hopes."[4]
This was crushed upon the marriage of the Prince of Wales in 1736 to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Louisa Ulrika went on to become the Queen of Sweden.
Sophia Dorothea favored the French side in the War of the Polish Succession of 1733-36, and disliked the king's participation in the war on the Austrian side. She openly declared her view when the king swore loyalty to Austria: "I shall live to make you, who are so incredulous, believe, and prove to you how you are deceived."[4]
During the last years of the king's life, he was afflicted with fits of illness which often forced him to use a wheelchair, and Sophia Dorothea was ordered to attend to him continuously. On the day of his death, Frederick William ordered himself to be taken to the queen's apartment and told her:
"Rise, I have but a few hours to live, and I would at least have the satisfaction of dying in your arms."[4]
Queen Dowager[edit]
On 31 May 1740, Frederick William died and was succeeded by her son, Frederick II (the Great).
Sophia Dorothea had a very good relationship with her son the king. When she addressed him as "Your Majesty" after the funeral of his father, he interrupted her and told her: "Always call me your son, that title is dearer to me than the royal dignity."[4] Frederick was known for his devotion to her, expressed his gratitude for her having raised him and never blamed her for his traumatic childhood, which he instead blamed on his father, and never allowed anyone to criticize her.[4]
Sophia Dorothea lost no importance as a queen dowager: wary of the great respect the king afforded his mother and his neglect of his wife, the foreign envoys and other supplicants considered attending the audience chamber and receptions as of the queen dowager as even more important than that of the queen.[4] Until her death, he honored her as the first lady of his court and placed her before that of his wife, the queen.[10] It was to his mother's chamber the king paid the first visit on his return from campaigns, summoning the queen to meet him there; he regularly invited his mother to his personal residence at Potsdam, where his wife was never invited, and while he seldom visited his wife, he regularly attended his mother at Monbijou, where he took off his hat and remained standing until she gave him permission to sit.[4] Sophia Dorothea presided at the wedding of her son Prince William in 1742, and her daughter Louisa Ulrika in 1744.
The relationship between Sophia Dorothea and her daughter-in-law queen Elisabeth Christine was not good during the first years of her son's reign, as she resented her daughter-in-law's precedence in rank, though her son assured it to be merely formal, but their relationship improved during the last years of her life. Sophia Dorothea saw her son for the last time after his first campaign in January 1757 during the Seven Years' War. At that point she was well, but soon after his departure, her health rapidly declined, and she died on 28 June 1757.
Issue[edit]
hideIssue
NamePortraitLifespanNotes
Frederick Louis
Prince of PrussiaImage23 November 1707-
13 May 1708Died in infancy
Friedrike Wilhelmine
Margravine of Brandenburg-BayreuthImage3 July 1709-
14 October 1758Married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and had issue
Frederick William
Prince of PrussiaImage16 August 1710-
21 July 1711Died in infancy
Frederick II the Great
King of PrussiaImage24 January 1712-
17 August 1786King of Prussia (1740-1786); married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern but had no issue
Charlotte Albertine
Princess of PrussiaImage5 May 1713-
10 June 1714Died in infancy
Frederica Louise
Margravine of Brandenburg-AnsbachImage28 September 1714-
4 February 1784Married Charles William Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and had issue
Philippine Charlotte
Duchess of Brunswick-WolfenbüttelImage13 March 1716-
17 February 1801Married Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and had issue
Louis Charles William
Prince of PrussiaImage2 May 1717-
31 August 1719Died in early childhood
Sophia Dorothea
Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Princess in PrussiaImage25 January 1719-
13 November 1765Married Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Prince in Prussia and had issue
Louisa Ulrika
Queen of SwedenImage24 July 1720-
2 July 1782Married Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden and had issue
Augustus William
Prince of PrussiaImage9 August 1722-
12 June 1758Married Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and had issue (including Frederick William II)
Anna Amalia
Abbess of QuedlinburgImage9 November 1723-
30 March 1787Became Abbess of Quedlinburg 16 July 1755
Frederick Henry Louis
Prince of PrussiaImage18 January 1726-
3 August 1802Married Princess Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel but had no issue
Augustus Ferdinand
Prince of PrussiaImage23 May 1730-
2 May 1813Married Margravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt and had issue

Ancestors[edit]
hideAncestors of Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
8. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

4. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover

9. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt

2. George I of Great Britain

10. Frederick V, Elector Palatine

5. Sophia, Princess Palatine of the Rhine

11. Elizabeth of England

1. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

12. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (= 8)

6. George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

13. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt (= 9)

3. Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Celle

14. Alexandre II Desmier, Seigneur d'Olbreuse

7. Éléonore Desmier d'Olbreuse

15. Jacquette Poussard de Vendré

Notes and sources[edit]
ImageThis article cites its sources but does not provide page references. You can help to improve it by introducing citations that are more precise. (March 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
^ McKee, Jane; Vigne, Randolph (2014). The Huguenots: France, Exile, & Diaspora. Eastbourne, Great Britain: Sussex Academic Press. p. 68. 1.ISBN 1.9781845196820.
^ 2."Sophia Dorothea of Hanover". Florida Center for Instructional Learning. 2004. Retrieved 2021-04-11 - via University of South Florida.
3.^ 3.Jump up to:a 3.b John David Griffith Davies: A king in toils, L. Drummond, ltd., 1938
4.^ 4.Jump up to:a 4.b 4.c 4.d 4.e 4.f 4.g 4.h 4.i 4.j 4.k 4.l 4.m 4.n 4.o 4.p 4.q 4.r 4.s 4.t 4.u 4.v 4.w 4.x 4.y 4.z 4.aa 4.ab 4.ac 4.ad 4.ae 4.af 4.ag 4.ah 4.ai 4.aj 4.ak 4.al 4.am 4.an 4.ao 4.ap 4.aq 4.ar 4.as 4.at 4.au 4.av 4.aw 4.ax 4.ay 4.az 4.ba 4.bb 4.bc 4.bd 4.be 4.bf 4.bg 4.bh 4.bi 4.bj 4.bk 4.bl 4.bm 4.bn 4.bo 4.bp 4.bq 4.br 4.bs 4.bt Atkinson, Emma Willsher: 4.Memoirs of the queens of Prussia, London : W. Kent
^ 5.The Education of the Enlightened Despots
6.^ 6.Jump up to:a 6.b 6.c 6.d Reiners, Ludwig (Swedish): Fredrik den store (Fredrick the Great). Bokindustri Aktiebolag (1956) Stockholm
^ Thea Leitner: Skandal bei Hof. Ueberreuter, Wien 1993, 7.ISBN 7.3-8000-3492-1
^ W. F. Reddaway: Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia, READ BOOKS, 2008, 8.ISBN 8.1-4437-2467-X
^ Alexander J. Nemeth: Voltaire's tormented soul: a psychobiographic inquiry, Associated University Presse, 2008, 9.ISBN 9.0-934223-92-0
^ Feuerstein-Praßer: Die preußischen Königinnen. 2009, S. 171.
⦁Thea Leitner: Skandal bei Hof, Ueberreuter, 1993, ⦁ISBN ⦁3-8000-3492-1
External links[edit]
Image Media related to Sophia Dorothea of Hannover at Wikimedia Commons
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
House of Hanover
Cadet branch of the House of Welf
Born: 26 March 1687 Died: 28 June 1757
German royalty
Preceded by
Sophia Louise of
Mecklenburg-SchwerinQueen consort in Prussia
Electress consort of Brandenburg
1713-1740Succeeded by
Elisabeth Christine
of Brunswick-Bevern

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Children of George I of Great Britain

William King of Prussia. He is not to be confused with Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg or Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.
Frederick III
Image
Crown Prince Frederick William,
c. 1878
German Emperor
King of Prussia
Reign9 March 1888 – 15 June 1888
PredecessorWilhelm I
SuccessorWilhelm II
ChancellorOtto von Bismarck

BornPrince Frederick William of Prussia
18 October 1831
New Palace, Potsdam,ngdom of Prussia
Died15 June 1888 (aged 56)
New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire
Burial18 June 1888
Friedenskirche, and then in a mausoleum attached to the church, Potsdam
SpouseVictoria, Princess Royal

(m. 1858)
IssueWilhelm II, German Emperor
Charlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen
Prince Henry
Prince Sigismund
Viktoria, Princess Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe
Prince Waldemar
Sophia, Queen of the Hellenes
Margaret, Landgravine of Hesse
HouseHohenzollern
FatherWilliam I, German Emperor
MotherPrincess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
ReligionLutheranism (Prussian United)
SignatureImage

Prussian Royalty
House of Hohenzollern
Image
Frederick III
Children
Wilhelm II
Charlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen
Prince Henry
Prince Sigismund
Princess Viktoria
Prince Waldemar
Sophia, Queen of the Hellenes
Margaret, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel
Grandchildren
Prince Waldemar
Prince Sigismund
Prince Heinrich
Great Grandchildren
Princess Barbara
Prince Alfred
v
t
e
Frederick III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; 18 October 1831 – 15 June 1888) or Friedrich III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days between March and June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors. Known informally as "Fritz",[1] he was the only son of Emperor Wilhelm I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service. Although celebrated as a young man for his leadership and successes during the Second Schleswig, Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars,[2][3] he nevertheless professed a hatred of warfare and was praised by friends and enemies alike for his humane conduct. Following the unification of Germany in 1871 his father, then King of Prussia, became the German Emperor. Upon Wilhelm's death at the age of ninety on 9 March 1888, the thrones passed to Frederick, who had by then been German Crown Prince for seventeen years and Crown Prince of Prussia for twenty-seven years. Frederick was suffering from cancer of the larynx when he died, aged fifty-six, following unsuccessful medical treatments for his condition.
Frederick married Victoria, Princess Royal, oldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The couple were well-matched; their shared liberal ideology led them to seek greater representation for commoners in the government. Frederick, in spite of his conservative militaristic family background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Bonn. As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, particularly in speaking out against Bismarck's policy of uniting Germany through force, and in urging that the power of the Chancellorship be curbed. Liberals in both Germany and Britain hoped that as emperor, Frederick would move to liberalise the German Empire.
Frederick and Victoria were great admirers of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. They planned to rule as co-monarchs, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and to reform what they saw as flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself. The office of Chancellor, responsible to the Emperor, would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick "described the Imperial Constitution as ingeniously contrived chaos."[4] According to Michael Balfour:
The Crown Prince and Princess shared the outlook of the Progressive Party, and Bismarck was haunted by the fear that should the old Emperor die—and he was now in his seventies—they would call on one of the Progressive leaders to become Chancellor. He sought to guard against such a turn by keeping the Crown Prince from a position of any influence and by using foul means as well as fair to make him unpopular.[5]
However, Frederick's illness prevented him from effectively establishing policies and measures to achieve this, and such moves as he was able to make were later abandoned by his son and successor, Wilhelm II. The timing of Frederick's death and the length of his reign are important topics among historians. His premature demise is considered a potential turning point in German history;[6] and whether or not he would have made the Empire more liberal if he had lived longer is still a popular discussion among historians.

Contents
1Personal life
1.1Early life and education
1.2Marriage and family
1.3Religion
2Crown Prince of Prussia
3Crown Prince of the German Empire
4Illness and decline
5Brief reign and death
6Legacy
7Titles, styles and honours
7.1Titles and styles
7.2Honours
8Issue
9Ancestry
10See also
11Notes
12References
13Further reading
14External links
Personal life[edit]
Early life and education[edit]
Image
Frederick William, ca. 1841
Frederick William was born in the New Palace at Potsdam in Prussia on 18 October 1831.[7] He was a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, rulers of Prussia, then the most powerful of the German states. Frederick's father, Prince William, was the second son of King Frederick William III and, having been raised in the military traditions of the Hohenzollerns, developed into a strict disciplinarian. William fell in love with his cousin Elisa Radziwill, a princess of the Polish nobility, but the court felt Elisa's rank was not suitable for the bride of a Prussian prince and forced a more suitable match.[8] The woman selected to be his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, had been raised in the more intellectual and artistic atmosphere of Weimar, which gave its citizens greater participation in politics and limited the powers of its rulers through a constitution;[9][10] Augusta was well known across Europe for her liberal views.[11] Because of their differences, the couple did not have a happy marriage and,[9][10] as a result, Frederick grew up in a troubled household, which left him with memories of a lonely childhood.[9][12] He had one sister, Louise (later Grand Duchess of Baden), who was seven years his junior and very close to him. Frederick also had a very good relationship with his uncle, the future King Frederick William IV, who has been called "the romantic on the throne".[13]
Image
Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, 1867, by Oskar Begas
Frederick grew up during a tumultuous political period as the concept of liberalism in Germany, which evolved during the 1840s, was gaining widespread and enthusiastic support.[14] The liberals sought a unified Germany and were constitutional monarchists who desired a constitution to ensure equal protection under the law, the protection of property, and the safeguarding of basic civil rights.[15] Overall, the liberals desired a government ruled by popular representation.[10] When Frederick was 17, these emergent nationalistic and liberal sentiments sparked a series of political uprisings across the German states and elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, their goal was to protect freedoms, such as the freedom of assembly and freedom of the press, and to create a German parliament and constitution.[14][16] Although the uprisings ultimately brought about no lasting changes, liberal sentiments remained an influential force in German politics throughout Frederick's life.[17]
Despite the value placed by the Hohenzollern family on a traditional military education, Augusta insisted that her son also receive a classical education.[12] Accordingly, Frederick was thoroughly tutored in both military traditions and the liberal arts. His private tutor was Ernst Curtius, a famous archaeologist.[13] Frederick was a talented student, particularly good at foreign languages, becoming fluent in English and French, and studying Latin. He also studied history, geography, physics, music and religion, and excelled at gymnastics; as required of a Prussian prince, he became a very good rider.[18] Hohenzollern princes were made familiar with the military traditions of their dynasty at an early age; Frederick was ten when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the First Infantry Regiment of Guards. As he grew older, he was expected to maintain an active involvement in military affairs.[19] However, at the age of 18, he broke with family tradition and entered the University of Bonn where he studied history, law and governance, and public policy. During his time at Bonn (1850–1852), his teachers included Ernst Moritz Arndt and Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann.[13] His time spent at the university, coupled with the influence of less conservative family members, were instrumental in his embrace of liberal beliefs.[20]
In 1853, Frederick was initiated into Freemasonry by his father, then Prince William of Prussia, and would later become Master of the Order of the Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany.[21] During his brief reign, he would serve as the patron of the German Freemasons.
Marriage and family[edit]
See also: Rulers of Germany family tree
Image
Victoria, Princess Royal—eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom—whom Frederick married in 1858
Image
Frederick and his son, Wilhelm, in October 1863 at Balmoral castle
Royal marriages of the 19th century were arranged to secure alliances and to maintain blood ties among the European nations. As early as 1851, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her German-born husband, Prince Albert, were making plans to marry their eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal, to Frederick. The royal dynasty in Britain was predominantly German; there was little British blood in Queen Victoria, and none in her husband.[22] They desired to maintain their family's blood ties to Germany, and Prince Albert further hoped that the marriage would lead to the liberalization and modernization of Prussia. King Leopold I of Belgium, uncle of both Victoria and Albert, also favoured this pairing; he had long treasured Baron Stockmar's idea of a marriage alliance between Britain and Prussia.[23] Frederick's father, Prince William, had no interest in the arrangement, hoping instead for a Russian grand duchess as his daughter-in-law.[22] However, Princess Augusta was greatly in favour of a match for her son that would bring closer connections with Britain.[1] In 1851, his mother sent Frederick to England, ostensibly to visit the Great Exhibition but in truth, she hoped that the cradle of liberalism and home of the industrial revolution would have a positive influence on her son. Prince Albert took Frederick under his wing during his stay but it was Albert's daughter, only eleven at the time, who guided the German prince around the Exhibition. Frederick only knew a few words of English, while Victoria could converse fluently in German. He was impressed by her mix of innocence, intellectual curiosity and simplicity, and their meeting proved to be a success. A regular exchange of letters between Victoria and Frederick followed.[13]
Frederick proposed to Victoria in 1855, when she was 14 years old. The betrothal of the young couple was announced on May 19, 1857, at Buckingham Palace and the Prussian Court,[24] and their marriage took place on 25 January 1858 in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace, London. To mark the occasion, Frederick was promoted to major-general in the Prussian army. Although it was an arranged marriage, the newlyweds were compatible from the start and their marriage was a loving one;[25][26] Victoria too had received a liberal education and shared her husband's views. Of the two, Victoria was the dominant one in the relationship.[13] The couple often resided at the Crown Prince's Palace and had eight children: Wilhelm in 1859, Charlotte in 1860, Henry in 1862, Sigismund in 1864, Victoria in 1866, Waldemar in 1868, Sophia in 1870 and Margaret in 1872. Sigismund died at the age of 2 and Waldemar at age 11,[27] and their eldest son, Wilhelm, suffered from a withered arm—probably Erb's Palsy due to his difficult and dangerous breech birth, although it could have also resulted from a mild case of cerebral palsy.[28][29] Wilhelm, who became emperor after Frederick's death, shared none of his parents' liberal ideas; his mother viewed him as a "complete Prussian".[30] This difference in ideology created a rift between Wilhelm and his parents (which was exacerbated by Bismarck's interference), and relations between them were strained throughout their lives.[30][31]
Religion[edit]
Emperor Frederick III was a Lutheran member of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. It was a United Protestant denomination, bringing together Reformed and Lutheran believers.
Crown Prince of Prussia[edit]
Image
William allowed Frederick few official duties, such as attending balls and socializing with dignitaries (painting by Anton von Werner).
When his father succeeded to the Prussian throne as King William I on 2 January 1861, Frederick became the Crown Prince. Already twenty-nine years old, he would be Crown Prince for a further twenty-seven years. The new king was initially considered politically neutral; Frederick and Prussia's liberal elements hoped that he would usher in a new era of liberal policies. The liberals managed to greatly increase their majority in the Prussian Diet (Landtag), but William soon showed that he preferred the conservative ways. On the other hand, Frederick declared himself in complete agreement with the "essential liberal policy for internal and foreign affairs".[32] As a crown prince of prussia, he had conflicts with Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor who his father appointed.[33]
Because William was a dogmatic soldier and unlikely to change his ideas at the age of sixty-four,[34] he regularly clashed with the Diet over policies. In September 1862, one such disagreement almost led to Frederick being crowned and replacing his father as king; William threatened to abdicate when the Diet refused to fund his plans for the army's reorganization. Frederick was appalled by this action, and said that an abdication would "constitute a threat to the dynasty, country and Crown".[35] William reconsidered, and instead on the advice of Minister of War Albrecht von Roon appointed Otto von Bismarck, who had offered to push through the military reform even against the majority of the Diet, as Minister-President. The appointment of Bismarck, an authoritarian who would often ignore or overrule the Diet, set Frederick on a collision course with his father and led to his exclusion from affairs of state for the rest of William's reign. Frederick insisted on bloodless "moral conquests", unifying Germany by liberal and peaceful means, but it was Bismarck's policy of blood and iron that prevailed.[20] His protests against William's rule peaked at Danzig on 4 June 1863, where at an official reception in the city he loudly denounced Bismarck's restrictions on freedom of the press.[36][37][38] He thereby made Bismarck his enemy and his father extremely angry.[13] Consequently, Frederick was excluded from positions of political power throughout his father's reign. Retaining his military portfolio, he continued to represent Germany and its Emperor at ceremonies, weddings, and celebrations such as Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.[39] Frederick would spend a large portion of time in Britain, where Queen Victoria frequently allowed him to represent her at ceremonies and social functions.[40]
Frederick fought in the wars against Denmark, Austria and France. Although he had opposed military action in each case, once war had started he supported the Prussian military wholeheartedly and took positions of command. Since he had no political influence at all, these were opportunities to prove himself.[13] Frederick experienced his first combat in the Second Schleswig War. Appointed to supervise the supreme German Confederation commander Field Marshal Wrangel and his staff, the Crown Prince tactfully managed disputes between Wrangel and the other officers. The Prussians and their Austrian allies defeated the Danes and conquered the southern part of Jutland, but after the war, they spent two years politicking to assume leadership of the German states. This culminated in the Austro-Prussian War. Frederick "was the only member of the Prussian Crown Council to uphold the rights of the Duke of Augustenberg and oppose the idea of a war with Austria which he described as fratricide." Although he supported unification and the restoration of the medieval empire, "Fritz could not accept that war was the right way to unite Germany.".[41]
However, when war with Austria broke out, he accepted command of one of Prussia's three armies. He commanded the Second Army, with General Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal as his chief of staff. At first, Second Army defeated the Austrian Army in the Battle of Trautenau on 27 June 1866.[42] However, next day, Frederick ordered his divisions to attack the Austrian X Corps from early in the morning, which brought Prussia's victory. His plan was successful, leading the victory of Battle of Burkersdorf. On that day, when the two battles (Battle of Burkersdorf, and Battle of Skalitz) were fought by his Second Army, he was at Kosteletz in order to reach the battlefield easily.[43] On 29 June, Frederick ordered advance to his army. He established his headquarters in Kaile. Now he reached the Elbe.[44] On June 30, Helmuth von Moltke ordered him to station his army in the Elbe.[45] As Moltke's command, he didn't ordered advance but, from the 8 o'clock of July 3rd, his troops started advance.[46] The timely arrival of his army was crucial to the Prussian victory in 1866 at the decisive Battle of Königgrätz, which won the war for Prussia.[47] Nevertheless, the bloodshed caused him great dismay.[13] A few days before Königgrätz, Frederick had written to his wife, expressing his hope that this would be the last war he would have to fight. On the third day of the battle he wrote to her again: "Who knows whether we may not have to wage a third war in order to keep what we have now won?"[48]
Image
20 August 1870, Illustrated London News celebrates the Crown Prince's Franco-Prussian War achievements
Four years later Frederick was in action again, this time during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, in which he was once more paired with Blumenthal and commanded the Third Army, consisting of troops from the southern German states by some political reasons.[49][50][51] He was praised for his leadership after defeating the French at the battles of Wissembourg and Wörth,[51] and met with further successes at the Battle of Sedan and during the siege of Paris. Frederick was promoted to field marshal on 28 October 1870. Frederick's humane treatment of his country's foes earned him their respect and the plaudits of neutral observers.[52] After the Battle of Wörth, a London journalist witnessed the Crown Prince's many visits to wounded Prussian soldiers and lauded his deeds, extolling the love and respect the soldiers held for Frederick. Following his victory, Frederick had remarked to two Paris journalists, "I do not like war gentlemen. If I should reign I would never make it."[3] One French journalist remarked that "the Crown Prince has left countless traits of kindness and humanity in the land that he fought against."[52] For his behaviour and accomplishments, The Times wrote a tribute to Frederick in July 1871, stating that "the Prince has won as much honour for his gentleness as for his prowess in the war".[52] After the war, Frederick was awarded with Grand Cross of the Iron Cross.[33]
Crown Prince of the German Empire[edit]
Image
Frederick as crown prince, 1874, by Heinrich von Angeli
Image
Friedrich III in Garter Ceremonial Robes
In 1871, following Prussia's victories, the German states were united into the German Empire, with William as the Emperor and Frederick as heir-apparent to the new German monarchy. Although William thought the day when he became Emperor the saddest of his life, Frederick was excited to be witness to a great day in German history.[13] Bismarck, now Chancellor, disliked Frederick and distrusted the liberal attitudes of the Crown Prince and Princess. Often at odds with his father's and Bismarck's policies and actions, Frederick sided with the country's liberals[53] in their opposition to the expansion of the empire's army.[54] The Crown Prince also became involved in many public works projects, such as the establishment of schools and churches in the area of Bornstedt near Potsdam.[55][56] To assist his father's effort to turn Berlin, the capital city, into a great cultural centre, he was appointed Protector of Public Museums; it was largely due to Frederick that considerable artistic collections were acquired, housed in Berlin's new Kaiser Friedrich Museum (later known as the Bode Museum) after his death.[57] In 1878, when his father was incapacitated by injury from an assassination attempt, Frederick briefly took over his tasks but was soon relegated to the sidelines once again. His lack of influence affected him deeply, even causing him to contemplate suicide.[13]
Image
Anton von Werner's depiction of William's proclamation as Emperor. Frederick is standing behind his father, while his brother-in-law, the Grand Duke of Baden leads the cheering.
During an effort led, between 1879 and 1881, by the völkisch historian Heinrich von Treitschke and the court chaplain, Adolf Stoecker, to dis-emancipate German Jews,[58] the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were in opposition, Victoria writing that she saw "Treitschke and his supporters as lunatics of the most dangerous sort", and opining that Pastor Stoecker properly belonged in an insane asylum.[59] She went on to write that she felt ashamed of her adopted country because people like Treitschke and Stoecker "behave so hatefully towards people of a different faith and another race who become an integral part (and by no means the worst) of our nation!".[59] Clad in the uniform of a Prussian field marshal Frederick, together with Victoria, attended a synagogue service in Berlin in 1880 to show support for tolerance in contrast to what Victoria called Treitschke's "disgraceful attacks".[59] Shortly afterward, Frederick gave a speech denouncing the anti-Semitic movement in Germany as "a shameful blot on our time", adding that "We are ashamed of the Judenhetze [agitation against Jews] which has broken all bounds of decency in Berlin, but which seems to flourish under the protection of the Court clerics."[59] In 1881, Frederick and Victoria again attended a synagogue service, this time in Wiesbaden "to demonstrate as clearly as we can what our convictions are".[59] Frederick followed this up by giving a speech in which he spoke out for "poor, ill-treated Jews" of Europe.[59] Frederick's mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, wrote to thank him for his speech, saying she was proud that her daughter had married someone like him, but within Junker circles, Frederick was widely criticised for his actions in support of the Jews.[59] Prominent among the Crown Prince's critics was his eldest son, Wilhelm, who called his father a weak, cowardly man controlled by his British wife and the Jews.[59] Beyond Wilhelm, many of the "reactionary and 'chauvinistic' circles in Germany" had, in the words of the British historian John C. G. Röhl come to the "...conviction that the Crown Prince and his liberal English wife were an alien, un-German force that must not be allowed to accede to the throne".[59]
Illness and decline[edit]
Image
Morell Mackenzie, whose treatment of Frederick caused controversy
Frederick had been a heavy smoker for many years.[60] At a ball held by William on 31 January 1887, a guest reported the Crown Prince "was so hoarse that he could hardly say a word."[60] His hoarseness continued through February, and was diagnosed as a thickening of the mucous membrane over the vocal cords, caused by "a chronic laryngeal catarrh."[60] On 7 February, Frederick consulted a doctor, Karl Gerhardt, who scraped a wire across the membrane for 10 days in an attempt to remove thickened tissue. After the procedure proved unsuccessful, Gerhardt cauterised the left vocal cord with an electric wire on 15 March in an attempt to remove what was then thought to be a vocal fold nodule.[60] Due to Frederick's highly inflamed throat, Gerhardt was unable to remove the entire growth. After several cauterisations, and with no signs of improvement, Frederick and his wife went to the spa of Bad Ems, where he drank the mineral waters and underwent a regimen of gargles and inhaling fresh air, with no effect.[60]
On 17 May, Gerhardt and other doctors, including Ernst von Bergmann, diagnosed the growth as laryngeal cancer.[60] Bergmann recommended consulting a leading British cancer specialist, Morell Mackenzie; he also recommended a thyrotomy to gain better access to the inside of the larynx, followed by the complete removal of the larynx – a total laryngectomy – if the situation proved serious. While Victoria was informed of the need for an immediate operation, Frederick was not told.[61] Despite the tentative diagnosis of cancer, the doctors hoped the growth would prove to be a benign epithelioma. A room on the top floor of the Crown Prince's palace was then equipped as an operating theatre, but Bergmann elected to put the operation on hold until Mackenzie could provide his assessment.[61] Mackenzie arrived in Berlin on 20 May, but after examining Frederick recommended a biopsy of the growth to determine whether or not it was malignant. He conducted the biopsy the following morning, after which he sent tissue samples to the distinguished pathologist Rudolf Virchow for microscopic examination. When Virchow was unable to detect any cancerous cells despite several separate analyses, Mackenzie declared his opposition to a laryngectomy being performed, as he felt it would be invariably fatal, and said he would assume charge of the case. He gave his assurance that Frederick would fully recover "in a few months."[62] While Gerhardt and Physician-General August Wegner concurred with Mackenzie, Bergmann and his colleague Adalbert Tobold held to their original diagnosis of cancer. In addition to Mackenzie's opinion, Bismarck strongly opposed any major operation on Frederick's throat, and pressed the Kaiser to veto it.[62] On 9 June, Mackenzie again biopsied the growth and sent the samples to Virchow, who reported the following day that he was again unable to detect any signs of cancer.[62]
On 13 June, the Crown Prince left Potsdam for London to attend his mother-in-law's Golden Jubilee and to consult Mackenzie. He never saw his father alive again. He was accompanied by Victoria and their three younger daughters, along with Gerhardt; on 29 June, Mackenzie reported that he had successfully operated at his Harley Street clinic, and had removed "nearly the entire growth."[63] Frederick spent July with his family at Norris Castle on the Isle of Wight. However, when Frederick visited Mackenzie's office on 2 August for a follow-up examination, the growth had reappeared, necessitating its cauterisation the same day, and again on 8 August – an ominous indication that it was indeed malignant. Felix Semon, a distinguished German throat specialist with a practice in England, and who had been closely following Frederick's case, submitted a report to the German Foreign Secretary in which he strongly criticised Mackenzie's cauterisations, and gave his opinion that the growth, if not malignant, was suspect, and should continue to be biopsied and examined.[64] On 9 August, Frederick travelled to Braemar in the Scottish Highlands with Dr. Mark Hovell, a senior surgeon at the Throat Hospital in London. Although a further examination by Mackenzie on 20 August revealed no sign of a recurrent growth, Frederick said he had the "constant feeling" of something "not right inside"; nonetheless, he requested Queen Victoria to knight Mackenzie, who duly received a knighthood in September.[65]
Despite the operations on his throat and having taken the sea air at Cowes, Frederick remained hoarse and was advised by Mackenzie to spend the coming winter on the Italian Riviera. In August, following reports that his father was gravely ill, he considered returning to Germany, but was dissuaded by his wife, and went to Toblach in South Tyrol with his family, where Victoria had rented a house.[66] He arrived in Toblach on 7 September, exhausted and hoarse.[66] Concerned by Frederick's lack of visible improvement after a brief meeting with Frederick in Munich, Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg, consulted the distinguished laryngologist Max Joseph Oertel, who urged a drastic and thorough operation on Frederick's throat, and said he suspected a benign tumour which could soon become malignant.[67] By this time, Mackenzie's treatment of Frederick was generating strong criticism. After a fortnight in Toblach, Mackenzie arrived to reexamine Frederick, who had continued to suffer from colds and hoarseness; in public, however, the doctor remained largely unconcerned, and attributed the hoarseness to a "momentary chill." However, he recommended that Frederick should leave Toblach for Venice, to be followed by Victoria. The weather soon turned cold, and Frederick's throat caused him pain, for which he received cocaine injections.[68]
Image
Professor Ernst von Bergmann, who attended to Frederick throughout his illness
Upon arriving in Venice, Frederick again caught cold; privately, Mackenzie was growing seriously concerned, having observed a continued tendency for Frederick's throat and larynx to swell. He forbade Frederick from speaking at any length, noting that if the Crown Prince insisted on speaking and contracted further colds, he could give him no more than three months to live.[68] At the beginning of October, Victoria noted that "Fritz's throat is giving no cause for fresh anxiety & he really does take a little more care and speaks a little less."[69] On 6 October, Frederick, his family and Mackenzie left for a villa at Baveno on the shore of Lake Maggiore, with Mackenzie leaving Baveno on 8 October, after predicting Frederick's recovery "in 3 or 4 months," wrote Victoria.[69] Their elder son Wilhelm joined them at Baveno on 17 October for Frederick's 56th birthday the following day.[69] At the end of October, Frederick's condition abruptly worsened, with Victoria writing to her mother on 2 November that Frederick's throat was again inflamed, but not due to any cold, and that he was "very hoarse again" and easily became depressed about his health. General Alfred von Waldersee observed that Frederick's health had grave implications as if William died soon and his son succeeded, "a new Kaiser who is not allowed to speak is a virtual impossibility, quite apart from the fact that we desperately need a highly energetic one." His son Wilhelm reported to King Albert of Saxony that his father was frequently short-tempered and melancholic, though his voice appeared to have slightly improved, and that Frederick's throat was being treated by "blowing in a powder twice a day to soothe the larynx."[69]
On 3 November, Frederick and his entourage departed for San Remo.[69] At San Remo two days later, on 5 November, Frederick entirely lost his voice and experienced severe pain throughout his throat.[70] Upon examination, Dr. Hovell discovered a new growth under the left vocal cord; when the news reached William and the German government, it caused great consternation. The following day, Mackenzie issued a bulletin stating that while there was no immediate danger to the Crown Prince, his illness had "unfortunately taken an unfavourable turn," and that he had requested advice from other specialists, including the Austrian professor of laryngology Leopold Schrötter and Dr. Hermann Krause of Berlin.[70] On 9 November, Schrötter and Krause diagnosed the new growth as malignant, and said it was unlikely Frederick could live another year.[70] All the doctors in attendance, including Mackenzie, now concluded that Frederick's disease was indeed laryngeal cancer, as new lesions had appeared on the right side of the larynx, and that an immediate and total laryngectomy was required to save his life; Moritz Schmidt, one of the doctors, subsequently said that the earlier growths found in May had also been cancerous.[71] Frederick was devastated by the news, bursting into tears upon being informed by Mackenzie and crying, "To think I should have such a horrid disgusting illness ... I had so hoped to have been of use to my country. Why is Heaven so cruel to me? What have I done to be thus stricken and condemned?"[72][71] Even at this stage, however, Frederick, in a private discussion with his wife, decided against the laryngectomy as it was itself highly risky. He sent his doctors a written statement that he would remain in Italy and would only submit to a tracheotomy if he was at risk of suffocating due to his condition.[71] The news was greeted with shock in Berlin and generated further hatred against Victoria, now seen as a domineering "foreigner" who was manipulating her husband. Some politicians suggested that Frederick be made to relinquish his position in the line of succession in favour of his son Wilhelm, but Bismarck firmly stated that Frederick would succeed his ailing father "whether he is ill or not, [and] whether the K[aiser] is then unable permanently to perform his duties," would then be determined per the relevant provisions of the Prussian Constitution.[73] Despite the renewed diagnosis of cancer, Frederick's condition appeared to improve after 5 November, and he became more optimistic; through January 1888 there remained some hope that the diagnosis was incorrect. Both Frederick and Victoria retained their faith in Mackenzie, who re-examined Frederick's throat several times in December and gave a good prognosis, again doubting whether the growths had been cancerous.[74]
On 26 December 1887, Frederick wrote that his "chronic catarrh" appeared to be taking "a turn for the better", and that "a further bond has been forged between our people and myself; may God preserve it by giving me, when I resume my duties, the capacity to prove myself worthy of the great trust that has been shown me!"[74] A week later, however, on 5 January 1888, his hoarseness and the swelling under his left vocal cord returned, with the previously unaffected right side of his throat becoming inflamed.[75] He ran high fevers and began coughing violently, with his breathing becoming more laboured. The doctors diagnosed perichondritis, an infection of the throat membrane.[75] Frederick again became unable to speak, and suffered violent headaches and insomnia.[75] On 29 January, Mackenzie returned to San Remo from a trip to Spain, and after examining his patient recommended an immediate tracheotomy.[76][77] The operation was conducted at 4 p.m. on 8 February, by which time Frederick was continually suffering from insomnia and "embarrassing bouts of suffocation".[77] A tracheal tube was fitted to allow Frederick to breathe;[78] for the remainder of his life he was unable to speak and often communicated through writing.[79] During the operation, Bergmann almost killed Frederick by missing the incision in the trachea and forcing the cannula into the wrong place.[76] Frederick started to cough and bleed, and Bergmann placed his forefinger into the wound to enlarge it. The bleeding subsided after two hours, but Bergmann's actions resulted in an abscess in Frederick's neck, producing pus which would give Frederick discomfort for the remaining months of his life.[78] Later, Frederick would ask "Why did Bergmann put his finger in my throat?"[78] and complain that "Bergmann ill-treated [me]".[78]
Even after the tracheotomy, Frederick continued to run high fevers and suffered from headaches and insomnia. His violent coughing continued, bringing up bloody sputum. Apart from Mackenzie, the other doctors, led by Bergmann, now held the firm opinion that the Crown Prince's disease was cancer and that it had possibly spread to his lungs. The diagnosis of laryngeal cancer was conclusively confirmed on 6 March, when the anatomist Professor Wilhelm Waldeyer, who had come to San Remo, examined Frederick's sputum under a microscope and confirmed the presence of "so-called cancroid bodies...from a cancerous new growth" in the larynx. He further said that there were no signs of any growths in the lungs.[77] Though it finally settled the question, Waldeyer's diagnosis threw all of Mackenzie's treatment of Frederick into doubt.[77] The diagnosis and treatment of Frederick's fatal illness caused some medical controversy well into the next century.[80]
Brief reign and death[edit]
Image
Post mortem portrait of Emperor Frederick III, 1888
Three days after Frederick was confirmed to be suffering from cancer, his father Emperor William I died aged 90 at 8:22 a.m. on 9 March 1888, upon which Frederick became German Emperor and King of Prussia.[81] His son Wilhelm, now Crown Prince, telegraphed the news to his father in Italy. Later the same day, Frederick wrote in his diary that he had received the telegram upon returning from a walk, "...and so I have ascended the throne of my forefathers and of the German Kaiser! God help me fulfill my duties conscientiously and for the weal of my Fatherland, in both the narrower and the wider sense."[81] Germany's progressive elements hoped that William's death, and thus Frederick's succession, would usher the country into a new era governed along liberal lines.[54][82] Logically, Frederick should have taken as his regnal name either Frederick I (if the Bismarckian empire was considered a new entity) or Frederick IV (if it was considered a continuation of the old Holy Roman Empire, which had had three emperors named Frederick); he himself preferred the latter. However, on the advice of Bismarck that this would create legal problems, he opted to simply keep the same regnal name he had as king of Prussia.[81] The new emperor reached Berlin at 11 p.m. on the night of 11 March; those who saw him were horrified by his "pitiful" appearance.[83] The question now was how much longer the mortally ill emperor could be expected to live, and what, if anything, he could hope to achieve.[81] In spite of his illness, Frederick did his best to fulfill his obligations as emperor. Immediately after the announcement of his accession, he took the ribbon and star of his Order of the Black Eagle from his uniform tunic and pinned it on the dress of his wife; he was determined to honor her position as empress.[84] Too ill to march in his father's funeral procession, he was represented by Wilhelm, the new crown prince, while he watched, weeping, from his rooms in the Charlottenburg Palace.[83]
As the German Emperor, he officially received Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (his mother-in-law) and King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, and attended the wedding of his son Prince Henry to his niece Princess Irene. However, Frederick reigned for only 99 days,[85] and was unable to bring about much lasting change.[86] The majority of the German ruling elite viewed Frederick III's reign as merely a brief interim period before the accession of his son Wilhelm II to the throne.[87] An edict he penned before he ascended to the throne that would limit the powers of the chancellor and monarch under the constitution was never put into effect,[88] although he did force Robert von Puttkamer to resign as Prussian Minister of the Interior on 8 June, when evidence indicated that Puttkamer had interfered in the Reichstag elections. Dr. Mackenzie wrote that the emperor had "an almost overwhelming sense of the duties of his position".[89] In a letter to Lord Napier, Empress Victoria wrote "The Emperor is able to attend to his business, and do a great deal, but not being able to speak is, of course, most trying."[90] Frederick had the fervour but not the time to accomplish his desires, lamenting in May 1888, "I cannot die ... What would happen to Germany?"[91]
From April 1888, Frederick became so weak he was unable to walk, and was largely confined to his bed; his continual coughing brought up large quantities of pus. In early June, the cancer spread to and perforated his esophagus, preventing him from eating.[92] He suffered from bouts of vomiting and ran high fevers, but remained alert enough to write a last diary entry on 11 June: "What's happening to me? I must get well again; I have so much to do!"[92] Frederick III died in Potsdam at 11:30 a.m. on 15 June 1888, and was succeeded by his 29-year-old son Wilhelm II.[92] Frederick III is buried in a mausoleum attached to the Friedenskirche in Potsdam.[93] After his death, William Ewart Gladstone described him as the "Barbarossa of German liberalism".[94] Empress Victoria went on to continue spreading Frederick's thoughts and ideals throughout Germany, but no longer had power within the government.[95]
Legacy[edit]
Image
Kaiser-Friedrich-Mausoleum (Potsdam): Frederick is entombed in this sarcophagus, which bears his likeness on top.
Image
Frederick as crown prince, by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky, 1870 (The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada)
Frederick believed a state should not act against the popular opinion of its inhabitants.[36][96] He had a long history of liberalism, and had discussed his ideas and intentions with Victoria and others before his reign. Admiring Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the British parliamentary system,[54][97] Frederick and his wife planned to rule as co-monarchs and liberalize Germany through the appointment of more liberal ministers.[98] They intended to severely limit the office of Chancellor,[88] and reorganize Germany to include many elements of British liberalism. Many historians, including William Harbutt Dawson and Erich Eyck, consider that Frederick's early death put an end to the development of liberalism within the German Empire.[9] They believe that, given a longer reign and better health, Frederick might indeed have transformed Germany into a more liberal democratic country, and prevented its militaristic path toward war.[85][99][100] Dr. J. McCullough claims that Frederick would have averted World War I—and by extension the resulting Weimar Republic[100]—while other historians such as Michael Balfour go even further by postulating that, as the end of World War I directly affected the state of the world's development, the liberal German Emperor might also have prevented the outbreak of World War II.[101] Author Michael Freund states outright that both world wars would have been averted had Frederick lived longer.[102] Frederick's life inspired historian Frank Tipton to speculate: "What would have happened had his father died sooner or if he himself had lived longer?"[103]
Image
United States magazine Puck mourning the passing of Frederick
Other historians, including Wilhelm Mommsen and Arthur Rosenberg, oppose the idea that Frederick could have, or would have, liberalized Germany.[9] They believe that he would not have dared to oppose both his father and Bismarck to change Germany's course; a natural soldier, he was steeped in his family's strong military tradition, and had happily reported to his father since he joined the army at the age of ten.[1] Andreas Dorpalen notes that Frederick had complied with most of William's and Bismarck's policies early in his life, and would have been unlikely to change his behaviour.[97][104] According to Arthur Rosenberg, despite his liberal tendencies Frederick still firmly believed in Bismarck and his system,[105] with Dorpalen adding that in any case Frederick had too weak and ineffectual a character to have brought about real change, regardless of how long he reigned.[82][106] James J. Sheehan states that the political climate and party system of Germany during that period were too steeped in the old ways for Frederick to overcome with liberalization.[107] Dorpalen also observes that Frederick's liberal persona may have been exaggerated after his death, to keep the liberal movement strong in Germany,[108] and he points out that the many mistakes made by Wilhelm II helped to paint his father in a more favorable light.[109]
Frederick's children—Wilhelm in particular—held various political positions and greatly influenced Europe. Unlike his father, Wilhelm had not personally experienced the horrors of war, and he enthusiastically embraced his family's military heritage, coming under Bismarck's tutelage. The Chancellor, who disapproved of Frederick's and Victoria's liberal ways, felt bound to increase the tensions between Wilhelm and his parents.[110] Wilhelm grew up full of disdain for their opinions on government; shortly after his father's death he proclaimed that he would follow the path of his grandfather, William I, and made no reference to Frederick III.[111] Wilhelm II abandoned all of his father's policies and ideas, and eventually led Germany into World War I.[9][109]
Bismarck's plan of undermining Frederick and Victoria, and of using Wilhelm II as a tool for retaining his own power, led to his own downfall. As it turned out, Wilhelm did share his father's conviction that the position of the chancellor was too strong and should be modified in favour of a more powerful Emperor.[13] Bismarck only realized this when Wilhelm II was about to dismiss him:
All Bismarck's resources were deployed; he even asked Empress Victoria to use her influence with her son on his behalf. But the wizard had lost his magic; his spells were powerless because they were exerted on people who did not respect them, and he who had so signally disregarded Kant's command to use people as ends in themselves had too small a stock of loyalty to draw on. As Lord Salisbury told Queen Victoria: 'The very qualities which Bismarck fostered in the Emperor in order to strengthen himself when the Emperor Frederick should come to the throne have been the qualities by which he has been overthrown.' The Empress, with what must have been a mixture of pity and triumph, told him that her influence with her son could not save him for he himself had destroyed it.[112]
Churches honouring Frederick include the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin and the former Kalthof Church in Königsberg. Mount Frederick William in the Jervis Inlet area of the British Columbia Coast in Canada is named in his honour.[113]
Titles, styles and honours[edit]
Titles and styles[edit]
⦁18 October 1831 – 2 January 1861: His Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of Prussia⦁[114]
⦁2 January 1861 – 18 January 1871: His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Prussia⦁[115]
⦁18 January 1871 – 9 March 1888: His Imperial and Royal Highness The German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia⦁[116]
⦁9 March 1888 – 15 June 1888: His Imperial and Royal Majesty The German Emperor, King of Prussia⦁[117]
Honours[edit]
German decorations[118]
Image ⦁Prussia:
Knight of the Black Eagle, 18 October 1841; with Collar, 1849⦁[119]
⦁Grand Commander's Cross of the ⦁Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 1851; with Star, 11 September 1869; with Swords, 1873⦁[119]
Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, with Oak Leaves, 18 October 1861; with Swords, 1864⦁[119]
⦁Knight of the ⦁Royal Crown Order, 1st Class, 18 October 1861⦁[119]
Pour le Mérite (military), 29 June 1866; with Oak Leaves, 3 August 1866; Grand Cross, 20 September 1866; with Oak Leaves, 2 September 1873⦁[119]
Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, 22 March 1871⦁[120]
⦁Service Award Cross
Image ⦁Hohenzollern: Cross of Honour of the ⦁Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, 1st Class with Swords
Image ⦁Ascanian duchies: Grand Cross of the ⦁Order of Albert the Bear, 14 February 1853; with Swords, 12 September 1864⦁[121]
Image ⦁Baden:⦁[122]
⦁Knight of the ⦁House Order of Fidelity, 1850
Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1850
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order, 1867
Image ⦁Bavaria:
Knight of St. Hubert, 1853⦁[123]
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military Order of Max Joseph, 28 August 1870⦁[124]
Image ⦁Brunswick: Grand Cross of the ⦁Order of Henry the Lion
Image Image Image ⦁Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the ⦁Saxe-Ernestine House Order, November 1854⦁[125]
Image ⦁Hanover:⦁[126]
Knight of St. George, 1858
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Royal Guelphic Order, 1858
Image ⦁Hesse-Kassel: ⦁Knight of the Golden Lion, 16 April 1853⦁[127]
Image ⦁Hesse-Darmstadt:⦁[128]
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Ludwig Order, 11 October 1855
⦁Military Merit Cross for 1870/71, 15 March 1871
Image ⦁Mecklenburg:
Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore
Military Merit Cross, 1st Class (⦁Schwerin)
⦁Cross for Distinction in War (⦁Strelitz)
Image ⦁Nassau: ⦁Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau, March 1861⦁[129]
Image ⦁Oldenburg: ⦁Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, 17 April 1859; with Swords, 31 December 1870⦁[130]
Image ⦁Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: ⦁Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 15 December 1848;⦁[131] with Swords, 1870⦁[132]
Image ⦁Saxony:
Knight of the Rue Crown, 1857⦁[133]
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military Order of St. Henry, 1870⦁[134]
Image ⦁Schaumburg-Lippe: Military Merit Medal
Image ⦁Württemberg:⦁[135]
Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1867
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military Merit Order, 23 October 1870
Foreign decorations[118]
Image ⦁Austria:
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1852⦁[136]
⦁Knight of the ⦁Military Order of Maria Theresa, 1864⦁[136]
⦁Service Medal for Officers (25 years)
Image ⦁Belgium: Grand Cordon of the ⦁Order of Leopold, 6 May 1853⦁[137]
Image ⦁Brazil: ⦁Grand Cross of the Southern Cross
Image ⦁Denmark: ⦁Knight of the Elephant, 19 August 1873⦁[138]
Image ⦁France: Grand Cross of the ⦁Legion of Honour, December 1856⦁[139]
Image ⦁Greece: ⦁Grand Cross of the Redeemer
Image ⦁Hawaii: Grand Cross of the ⦁Order of Kamehameha I
Image ⦁Japan: Grand Cordon of the ⦁Order of the Chrysanthemum, 20 May 1880⦁[140]
Image ⦁Mexico: Grand Cross of the ⦁Imperial Order of Guadalupe
Image ⦁Netherlands:
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military William Order, 23 August 1878⦁[141]
Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
Image ⦁Ottoman Empire:
Order of Distinction, in Diamonds
Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class
⦁Gold ⦁Imtiyaz Medal
Image ⦁Tunisia: Husainid Family Order
Image ⦁Persia: Order of the August Portrait, in Diamonds
Image ⦁Portugal:
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Sash of the Two Orders
Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, with Swords
Image ⦁Qing dynasty: ⦁Order of the Double Dragon, Class I Grade I
Image ⦁Romania: ⦁Grand Cross of the Star of Romania, with Swords
Image ⦁Russia:
Knight of St. Andrew, September 1843⦁[142]
Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, September 1843
Knight of the White Eagle, September 1843
Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, September 1843
Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class, September 1843
Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 1869; 2nd Class, 1870⦁[143]
Image ⦁San Marino: Commander of the ⦁Order of San Marino
Image ⦁Sardinia:
Knight of the Annunciation, 11 June 1850⦁[144]
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military Order of Savoy
Gold Medal of Military Valour, 3 July 1866⦁[145]
Image ⦁Holy See: ⦁Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Image ⦁Serbia:
Grand Cross of the Cross of Takovo
Grand Cross of the White Eagle
Image ⦁Siam: ⦁Grand Cross of the White Elephant
Image ⦁Spain:
Knight of the Golden Fleece, 29 January 1862⦁[146]
⦁Grand Cross of the ⦁Military Order of St. Ferdinand
Image Image ⦁Sweden-Norway:
⦁Knight of the ⦁Order of Charles XIII, 3 May 1858⦁[147]
Knight of the Seraphim, 8 January 1861⦁[148]
Grand Cross of St. Olav, 5 August 1873⦁[149]
Image ⦁Two Sicilies: ⦁Grand Cross of St. Ferdinand and Merit
Image ⦁United Kingdom:
Stranger Knight of the Garter, 28 January 1858⦁[150]
Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (military), 25 January 1883⦁[151]
Image ⦁Venezuela: Collar of the ⦁Order of the Liberator
Issue[edit]
ImageNameBirthDeathNotes
ImageWilhelm II, German Emperor27 January 18594 June 1941married (1), 27 February 1881, Princess Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein; died 1921; had issue
(2), 9 November 1922, Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, no issue
ImageCharlotte, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen24 July 18601 October 1919married, 18 February 1878, Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen; had issue
ImagePrince Henry of Prussia14 August 186220 April 1929married, 24 May 1888, his first cousin Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine; had issue
ImagePrince Sigismund of Prussia15 September 186418 June 1866died of meningitis at 21 months. First grandchild of Queen Victoria to die.
ImageViktoria, Princess Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe12 April 186613 November 1929married (1), 19 November 1890, Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe; he died 1916; no issue
(2), 19 November 1927, Alexander Zoubkov; no issue
ImagePrince Waldemar of Prussia10 February 186827 March 1879died of diphtheria at age 11
ImageSophia, Queen of the Hellenes14 June 187013 January 1932married, 27 October 1889, Constantine I, King of the Hellenes; had issue
ImageMargaret, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel, Queen of Finland22 April 187222 January 1954married, 25 January 1893, Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, king-elect of Finland, later Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel; had issue
Ancestry[edit]
hide
Ancestors of Frederick III, German Emperor
8. Frederick William II of Prussia[154]

4. Frederick William III of Prussia[152]

9. Princess Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt[154]

2. William I, German Emperor

10. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz[155]

5. Princess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz[152]

11. Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt[155]

1. Frederick III, German Emperor

12. Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach[156]

6. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach[153]

13. Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt[156]

3. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

14. Paul I of Russia[157]

7. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia[153]

15. Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg[157]

See also[edit]
⦁"⦁A Legend of Old Egypt"—an 1888 ⦁short story by ⦁Bolesław Prus, inspired by Frederick III's tragic premature death.
Notes[edit]
1.^ 1.Jump up to:a 1.b 1.c MacDonogh, p. 17.
^ Kollander, p. 79.
3.^ 3.Jump up to:a 3.b 3.The Illustrated London News
^ Balfour, p. 69.
^ Balfour, p. 70.
^ Tipton, p. 175.
^ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Bavaria: Historical Commission. 1875.
^ Van der Kiste, p. 10.
9.^ 9.Jump up to:a 9.b 9.c 9.d 9.e 9.f Dorpalen, p. 2.
10.^ 10.Jump up to:a 10.b 10.c Kollander, p. 1.
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14.^ 14.Jump up to:a 14.b Palmowski, p. 43.
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^ Mueller-Bohn, p. 44.
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^ Speth, George William. 21.Royal Freemasons. Masonic Publishing Company, 1885, pp. 24–29.
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^ Röhl 1998, p. 12.
^ MacDonogh, p. 22.
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^ Pakula, p. 69.
^ Balfour, pp. 66–67.
^ 42.Wagner 1899, pp. 26–30.
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77.^ 77.Jump up to:a 77.b 77.c 77.d Röhl 1998, pp. 778–782.
78.^ 78.Jump up to:a 78.b 78.c 78.d Sinclair, p. 204.
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^ 114."The London Gazette, Issue 22089, Page 483". 2 February 1858.
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^ 120."Eisernen Kreuz vom 1870", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (in German), vol. 3, Berlin: Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei, 1877, p. 120.5 – via hathitrust.org
^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Herzogtum Anhalt (1867) "Herzoglicher Haus-orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 121.17
^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1873), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 59, 63, 73
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^ Ruith, Max (1882). 124.Der K. Bayerische Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden. Ingolstadt: Ganghofer'sche Buchdruckerei. p. 124.83 – via hathitrust.org.
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^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" p. 44
^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch ... Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" pp. 10, 130
^ Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau (1866), "Herzogliche Orden" p. 129.9
^ 130.Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg: für das Jahr 1872/73, "Der Großherzogliche Haus-und Verdienst Orden" p. 31
^ Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1855), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" 131.p. 11
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^ 145."Hohenzollern Principe Federico Guglielmo" (in Italian), Il sito ufficiale della Presidenza della Repubblica. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
^ 146."Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1887. p. 146. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
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^ 148.Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1877, p. 368, retrieved 2018-01-06 – via runeberg.org
^ 149.Sveriges och Norges statskalender. Liberförlag. 1874. p. 704.
^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, 150.p. 60
^ Shaw, 151.p. 198
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153.^ 153.Jump up to:a 153.b Goetz, Walter (1953), 153."Augusta", 153.Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 451–452; (153.full text online)
154.^ 154.Jump up to:a 154.b Haussherr, Hans (1961), 154."Friedrich Wilhelm III", 154.Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 5, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 560–563; (154.full text online)
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156.^ 156.Jump up to:a 156.b Wülcker, Ernst (1882), "156.Karl Friedrich (Großherzog von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach)", 156.Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 15, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 355–358
157.^ 157.Jump up to:a 157.b Helmolt, Hans Ferdinand (1907). 157.The World's History: South-eastern and eastern Europe. W. Heinemann. chart between pp. 582–583.
References[edit]
⦁Balfour, Michael (1964). ⦁The Kaiser and his Times. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-393-00661-2. ⦁OCLC ⦁807459.
⦁Cecil, Lamar (1989). Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor 1859-1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-8078-1828-2.
⦁Chalat, Ned (October 1984). ⦁"Sir Morell Mackenzie Revisited". The Laryngoscope. 94 (10): 1307–1310. ⦁doi:⦁10.1288/00005537-198410000-00009. ⦁PMID ⦁6384708. ⦁S2CID ⦁9353853.
⦁Corti, Egon (1957). ⦁The English Empress: A Study in the Relations Between Queen Victoria and Her Eldest Daughter, Empress Frederick of Germany. London: Cassell. ⦁OCLC ⦁60222037.
⦁Dorpalen, Andreas (October 1948). "Emperor Frederick III and the German Liberal Movement". The American Historical Review. 54 (1): 1–31. ⦁doi:⦁10.2307/1841754. ⦁JSTOR ⦁1841754.
Dyos, H.; Michael Wolff (1999). ⦁The Victorian City, Volume 1. London: Routledge. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-415-19323-8.
⦁Hitz, Charles W. (2004). Through the Rapids - The History of Princess Louisa Inlet. Kirkland, Washington: Sikta 2 Publishing. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-9720255-0-8.
Farago, Ladislas; ⦁Andrew Sinclair (1981). Royal Web: The Story of Princess Victoria and Frederick of Prussia. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
⦁Feuchtwanger, Edgar (2002). ⦁Bismarck. London: Routledge. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-415-21614-2.
⦁Freund, Michael (1966). Das Drama der 99 Tage (in German). Cologne: Kiepenheuer und Witsch.
⦁Howard, Michael (2001). ⦁The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870–1871. London: Routledge. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-415-26671-0.
⦁Judd, Denis (1976). ⦁Eclipse of Kings: European Monarchies in the Twentieth Century. New York: Stein and Day. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-685-70119-5. ⦁OCLC ⦁2074280.
Kitchen, Martin (1996). ⦁The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-521-45341-7. ⦁OCLC ⦁46909896.
⦁Kollander, Patricia (1995). ⦁Frederick III: Germany's Liberal Emperor. London: Greenwood Publishing Group. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-313-29483-9.
Lord, John (2004). ⦁Beacon Lights of History Volume X. Montana: Kessinger Publishing. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-1-4191-0920-1.
⦁MacDonogh, Giles (2003). ⦁The Last Kaiser: The Life of Wilhelm II. London: Macmillan. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-312-30557-4.
Mackenzie, Morell (1888). ⦁The case of Emperor Frederick III.: full official reports by the German physicians and by Sir Morell Mackenzie. New York: Edgar S. Werner.
⦁McCullough, J. (March 1930). ⦁"An Imperial Tragedy: Frederick III and the Letters of the Empress". The Canadian Medical Association Journal. 22 (3): 403–409. ⦁PMC ⦁381777.
⦁Müller, Frank Lorenz (2012). ⦁'Our Fritz': Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁9780674062696.
⦁Mueller-Bohn, Hermann (1900). ⦁Kaiser Friedrich der gütige: Vaterländisches Ehrenbuch (in German). Berlin: Verlag Von Paul Kittel. ⦁OCLC ⦁11475860.
⦁Nichols, J. (1987). ⦁The Year of the Three Kaisers: Bismarck and the German Succession, 1887–88. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-252-01307-2.
⦁Oster, Uwe A. (2013). "Zur Untätigkeit verdammt" [Condemned to Inactivity]. ⦁Damals (in German). 45 (3): 60–65.
⦁Pakula, Hannah (1995). ⦁An Uncommon Woman – The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm. New York: Simon and Schuster. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-684-80818-5. ⦁OCLC ⦁59592048.
⦁Palmowski, Jan (1999). ⦁Urban Liberalism in Imperial Germany. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-19-820750-4.
Röhl, John (1994). The Kaiser and His Court. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
⦁Röhl, John (1998). ⦁Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859–1888. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-521-49752-7.
Rosenberg, Arthur (1931). ⦁The Birth of the German Republic 1871-1918. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sheehan, James (1978). ⦁German Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-1-57392-606-5.
Sinclair, Andrew (1981). The Other Victoria: The Princess Royal and the Grand Game of Europe. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-297-77987-2. ⦁OCLC ⦁8845833.
Sperber, Jonathan (1994). ⦁The European Revolutions, 1848-1851. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-521-38685-2.
"The Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia". ⦁The Illustrated London News. 20 August 1870. p. 185 – via Wikimedia Commons.
⦁Tipton, Frank (2003). ⦁A History of Modern Germany Since 1815. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-8264-4910-8.
Van der Kiste, John (1981). ⦁Frederick III: German Emperor 1888. Gloucester: Alan Sutton. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-904387-77-3. ⦁OCLC ⦁10605825.
⦁Wanckel, Regine (2008). ⦁"Evangelische Friedenskirchgemeinde Potsdam" (in German). Evkirchepotsdam.de. Archived from ⦁the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
⦁Westman, Stephan (1968). Surgeon with the Kaiser's Army. London. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0718300210.
Further reading[edit]
The War Diary of the Emperor Frederick III, (1870–1871) Written by Frederick III, translated and edited by Alfred Richard Allinson. New York, ⦁Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1927. – This is the translated collection of the then Crown Prince Frederick William's war diaries that he kept during the Franco-Prussian War.
Life of the Emperor Frederick Edited from the German of Margaretha Von Poschinger. New York and London, Harper & Brothers, 1901.
Van der Kiste, John (2001). Dearest Vicky, Darling Fritz: Queen Victoria's eldest daughter and the German Emperor. Sutton Publishing, Stroud. ⦁ISBN ⦁978-0-750-93052-9.
⦁Wagner, Arthur (1899). The Campaign of Königgrätz: A Study of the Austro-Prussian Conflict in the Light of the American Civil War.
External links[edit]
ImageWikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick III, German Emperor.
Works by or about Frederick III, German Emperor at ⦁Internet Archive
1888 Friedrich III. (in German) Information about Frederick III from Preussen.de.
"Myths and Counter-Myths", Frank Lorenz Müller, ⦁Berfrois, 6 February 2012
Newspaper clippings about Frederick III, German Emperor in the ⦁20th Century Press Archives of the ⦁ZBW
Frederick III, German Emperor
House of Hohenzollern
Born: 18 October 1831 Died: 15 June 1888
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  • Of u kleine letters of hoofdletters intypt maak niet uit.
  • Wanneer u niet zeker bent over de voornaam of exacte schrijfwijze dan kunt u een sterretje (*) gebruiken. Voorbeeld: "*ornelis de b*r" vindt zowel "cornelis de boer" als "kornelis de buur".
  • Het is niet mogelijk om tekens anders dan het alfabet in te voeren (dus ook geen diacritische tekens als ö en é).

De getoonde gegevens hebben geen bronnen.

Historische gebeurtenissen

  • Van 1702 tot 1747 kende Nederland (ookwel Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden) zijn Tweede Stadhouderloze Tijdperk.
  • In het jaar 1706: Bron: Wikipedia
    • 17 mei » Paus Clemens XI creëert twintig nieuwe kardinalen, onder wie de curieprelaat Lorenzo Corsini.
    • 23 mei » De hertog van Marlborough verslaat de Fransen in de Slag bij Ramillies.
    • 7 juni » Paus Clemens XI creëert één nieuwe kardinaal, de Italiaanse nuntius in Portugal Michelangelo dei Conti.


Dezelfde geboorte/sterftedag

Bron: Wikipedia


Over de familienaam Hanover

  • Bekijk de informatie die Genealogie Online heeft over de familienaam Hanover.
  • Bekijk de informatie die Open Archieven heeft over Hanover.
  • Bekijk in het Wie (onder)zoekt wie? register wie de familienaam Hanover (onder)zoekt.

De publicatie Genealogie Wylie is opgesteld door .neem contact op
Wilt u bij het overnemen van gegevens uit deze stamboom alstublieft een verwijzing naar de herkomst opnemen:
Kin Mapper, "Genealogie Wylie", database, Genealogie Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/genealogie-wylie/I382175.php : benaderd 24 juni 2024), "Princess Sophia Dorothea of (Sophia Dorothea, Princess of) Hanover , Queen consort in Prussia, Electress consort of Brandenburg [[Ch-Wikibio]] sss (-1757)".