Wilhelm of Prussia (1783-1851)

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Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl of Prussia

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl of Prussia (born July 3, 1783 in Berlin ; † September 28, 1851 there ) was a Prussian officer , most recently a general of the cavalry and governor general of the Rhine provinces and governor of the Mainz fortress .

Life

Prince Wilhelm was the fourth and youngest son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II and Princess Friederike Luise of Hessen-Darmstadt .

Since March 18, 1799, he served as a staff captain in the 1st Guard Battalion and fought in the 1806 campaign at the head of a cavalry brigade near Auerstedt . In order to obtain a lessening of the war burdens imposed on the country by Napoleon Bonaparte , he traveled to Paris in December 1807 , but was only able to effect a slight reduction; he also represented Prussia at the Erfurt Congress in 1808 . At the end of this year he accompanied his brother King Friedrich Wilhelm III. to Saint Petersburg and then took a considerable part in the transformation of Prussia and the army.

During the War of Liberation in 1813 he was at Blücher's headquarters. In the Battle of Großgörschen on May 2, he commanded the reserve cavalry in the left wing of the army and during the Battle of Leipzig he brokered the unification of the Northern Army with Blücher. Later he led the 8th Brigade of Yorck's Army Corps across the Rhine and distinguished himself at Château-Thierry , Laon and before Paris through bravery and general skill. After the Peace of Paris , the prince accompanied the king to London and then attended the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna . In 1815 he commanded the reserve cavalry of the IV Army Corps.

Fischbach Castle around 1860, Alexander Duncker collection - former residence of the brother of the Prussian king. In the background the Falcon Mountains

Since the Second Peace of Paris he lived partly in Paris, partly at his Fischbach Castle near Schmiedeberg in the Giant Mountains .

From 1824 to 1829 he was governor of the Mainz fortress , and from 1830 to 1831 Governor General of the Rhine Province and Westphalia . In this capacity, on September 20, 1831, he ceremoniously opened the first railway line on German soil from Hinsbeck through the Deilbachtal to Leberhof . The line previously known as the "Deilthaler Railway" was then allowed to call itself the " Prince Wilhelm Railway ".

In March 1834 he was appointed general of the cavalry and again governor of the Mainz fortress. He should not be confused with his nephew of the same name, the later Kaiser Wilhelm I , who was also the same in 1854. Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Honored his many years of military service on December 18, 1846 with the award of the oak leaves to the Pour le Mérite .

After the death of his wife Marie Anne († April 14, 1846), daughter of Landgrave Friedrich V Ludwig von Hessen-Homburg , he retired entirely to his Schloss Fischbach in the Hirschberg Valley .

progeny

Marianne of Prussia

Wilhelm married his first cousin Marianne (1785–1846) in Berlin on January 12, 1804 , a daughter of Landgrave Friedrich V von Hessen-Homburg and Landgravine Karoline von Hessen-Darmstadt , with whom he had the following children:

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm von Preußen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Prussia, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prussia, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION third son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II.
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1783
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1851
Place of death Berlin