Friedrich Wilhelm, Count von Brandenburg (24 January 1792 – 6 November 1850) was a morganatic son of King

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was also the prince-elector of Brandenburg and (through the Orange-Nassau inheritance of his grandfather) sovereign princ ...

and politician who served as

Minister President of Prussia The Minister-President (), or Prime Minister, of Prussia was the head of government of the Prussian state. The office existed from 1848, when it was formed by Frederick William IV of Prussia, King Frederick William IV during the German revolutio ...

from 1848 until his death during the reign of his nephew Frederick William IV.

Early life

Born in the Prussian capital

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, he was the son of King

(1744–1797) from his

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

with Sophie von Dönhoff (1768–1838). He and his younger sister Julie (1793–1848) received the

comital Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

title ''von Brandenburg'' in 1794, and were raised with the sons of ''

Hofmarschall The ''Hofmarschall'' (plural: Hofmarschälle) was the administrative official in charge of a princely German court, supervising all its economic affairs. Historically, every civil service was regarded as court service (e.g. the Russian nobility i ...

'' Valentin von Massow. His sister married Duke Frederick Ferdinand of Anhalt-Köthen in 1816.

Career

On 18 April 1806, Friedrich Wilhelm joined the Prussian Army by entering the '' Gardes du Corps'' regiment and from the next year participated in the Napoleonic

War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...

. In 1812 he achieved the rank of ''

Rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

'' in the staff of Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, leading the Prussian auxiliary forces in support of the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

. In 1839 he was elevated to Lieutenant general of the VI Army Corps. By 1848, he had distinguished himself in several battles and was a cavalry general. BrandenburgManteuffelRadowitz

During the

German revolutions of 1848–49 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, in November 1848, his half-nephew King Frederick William IV called him back to Berlin to succeed Ernst von Pfuel as Prussian minister president. The appointment reflected the king's intention to quell the ongoing uprisings. Jointly with Interior Minister Otto Theodor von Manteuffel, he had the Prussian National Assembly dissolved on 5 December, while on the same day the King unilaterally decreed a

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

that kept the monarch firmly in control but that also included a catalog of fundamental rights and a parliament with a second chamber elected under universal manhood suffrage.

Carl Schurz Carl Christian Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German-American revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He migrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent ...

, ''Reminiscences'' (3 volumes),

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

: The McClure Company, 1907. In Chapter VI of Volume One, Schurz mentions Brandenburg's appointment as prime minister of Prussia as a step of reactionary character. In October 1850, he traveled to the Warsaw Conference to meet with Czar Nicholas and sound out the Russian stance in the Austria-Prussia rivalry. Though he had initially supported the implementation of the Prussian-led

Erfurt Union The Erfurt Union () was a short-lived union of German states under a federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union Parliament (''Erfurter Unionsparlament''), officially lasting from March 20 to April 29, 1 ...

, he shied away from an armed conflict with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

as State Chancellor Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg was able to strengthen the alliance with the Russian Empire isolating the Prussian side. After his return, Friedrich Wilhelm spoke out against mobilising the Prussian Army as advocated by Foreign Minister

Joseph von Radowitz Joseph Maria Ernst Christian Wilhelm von Radowitz (6 February 1797 – 25 December 1853) was a conservative Prussian statesman and general famous for his proposal to unify Germany under Prussian leadership by means of a negotiated agreement among ...

. Shortly afterwards, he took seriously ill and died, it is said from the humiliation of the Czar's abandonment of the Erfurt policy. He was buried in the crypt of

Berlin Cathedral Berlin Cathedral (), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental Protestant Church in Germany, German Protestant church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) at the Lustgarten on the Museum Island ...

.Ferdinand Freiherr von Meerheimb,"Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm, Count" in ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

'', Band 3 (Leipzig, 1876), S. 238-239.

Personal life

On May 24, 1818 Count von Brandenburg married Mathilde Aurora von Massenbach (1795–1885) in Potsdam. They had eight children: * Friedrich (1819–1892), who was a Prussian general. * Wilhelm (1819–1892), who was a Prussian general. * Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav (1820–1909), who was Prussian envoy in Brussels and

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. * Wilhelmine Charlotte Friederike Julie Alexandrine (1821–1902), honorary lady in Heiligengrabe. * Luise Julie (1823–1884), honorary lady in Heiligengrabe. * Friederike Wilhelmine Elisabeth Mathilde (1825–1900), who married Maj. Erdmann Alexander Georg von Pückler in 1847. * Friederike Wilhelmine Georgine Elisabeth (1828–1893) * Alexandra Friederike Wilhelmine Marianne (1834–1885), who was a lady-in-waiting of the Empress Augusta. Count von Brandenburg died on 6 November 1850 in Berlin.

References

External links

Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Brandenburg
at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm, Count 1792 births 1850 deaths Children of Frederick William II of Prussia Generals of Cavalry (Prussia) Prussian politicians People of the Revolutions of 1848 Foreign ministers of Prussia Prussian Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Sons of kings Sons of princes regnant Sons of prince-electors

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links