Friedrich-Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia (1795-1861) and Queen Elisabeth (1801-1873)

[Marengo]

Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia (Berlin, 15 October 1795 - Sans Souci, Potsdam, 2 January 1861); married in Berlin on 29 November 1823 Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria (Munich, 13 November 1801 - Dresden, 14 December 1873)

Dynasty: Hohenzollern

Reign: 1840 -1861

Predecessor: King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia

Successor: Emperor WIlhelm I of Germany, King of Prussia

Children: None

Parents Friedrich-Wilhelm: King Friedrich-Wilhelm III of Prussia and Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Parents Elisabeth: King Maximilian I of Bavaria and Princess Karoline of Baden

Siblings Friedrich-Wilhelm: Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany, King of Prussia; Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia; Princess Frederica of Prussia; Prince Karl of Prussia; Grand Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; Prince Ferdinand of Prussia; Princess Luise of The Netherlands and Prince Albrecht of Prussia

Siblings Elisabeth: Prince Maximilian of Bavaria; Queen Amalie of Saxony; Archduchess Sophie of Austria; Queen Marie Anne of Saxony; Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria and Princess Maximiliana of Bavaria

Half-Siblings Elisabeth: King Ludwig I of Bavaria; Duchess Auguste of Leuchtenberg, Fuerstin of Eichstadt; Princess Amalie of Bavaria; Caroline-Auguste, Holy Roman Empress, Empress of Austria and Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria

 

[Marengo]

King Frederick William IV of Prussia (German: Friedrich Wilhelm IV von Preußen; October 15, 1795 - January 2, 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 1840 to 1861.
Frederick William was educated by private tutors, many of whom were experienced civil servants, such as Friedrich Ancillon. He also gained military experience by serving in the army during the War of Liberation against Napoleon I of France in 1814, though he was an indifferent soldier. He was a draftsman interested in both architecture and landscape gardening and was a patron of several great German artists, including architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He married Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria in 1823, but the couple had no children.
Frederick William was a staunch Romanticist, and his devotion to this movement, which in the German States featured a nostalgia for the Middle Ages, was largely responsible for him developing into a conservative at an early age. In 1815, when he was only 20, the crown prince exerted his influence to structure the proposed constitution of 1815, which was never actually enacted, in such a way that the landed aristocracy would hold the majority of the power. He was firmly against both liberalisation and unification of Germany, preferring to allow Austria to remain the principal power in the German states.

Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of the provincial estates. Despite being a devout Lutheran, his Romantic leanings led him to settle the Cologne church conflict by releasing the imprisoned Archbishop of Cologne, and he patronized further construction of Cologne Cathedral. In 1844, he attended the celebrations marking the completion of the cathedral, becoming the first king of Prussia to enter a Roman Catholic building. When he finally called a national assembly in 1847, it was not a representative body, but rather a United Diet comprising all the provincial estates, which had the right to grant taxes and loans but no right to meet at regular intervals.
When revolution broke out in Prussia in March 1848, part of the larger Revolutions of 1848, the king initially moved to repress it with the army, but later decided to recall the troops and place himself at the head of the movement on March 19. He committed himself to German unification, formed a liberal government, convened a national assembly, and ordered that a Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia be drawn up. Once his position was more secure again, however, he quickly had the army reoccupy Berlin and dissolved the assembly in December. He did, however, remain dedicated to unification for a time, leading the Frankfurt Parliament to offer him the crown of Germany on April 3, 1849, which he refused, purportedly saying that he would not accept "a crown made of mud and clay". He did attempt to establish the Erfurt Union, a union of German states excluding Austria, soon after, but abandoned the idea by the Punctation of Olmütz on November 29, 1850, in the face of Austrian resistance.

Read the entire wikipdia article here.

 

[Marengo]

Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria (November 13, 1801 – December 14, 1873) was a Princess of Bavaria and later Queen consort of Prussia.

Elisabeth was born in Munich, the daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria and his Queen Friederike Karoline Wilhelmine Margravine of Baden. She was the twin sister of Queen Amalie of Saxony, consort of King John I of Saxony, and sister of Archduchess Sophie of Austria, mother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary; as well as Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria, mother of Franz Josef's consort, Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (Sisi). She was known within her family as Elise.
On November 29, 1823, she married the future King Frederick William IV of Prussia and supported his intellectual interests, namely his attempts at artwork, which he held dear to his heart. In 1830 Elisabeth converted to Protestantism.
Becoming Queen consort of Prussia in 1840, she was never without influence in Prussian politics, where she was active in preserving the close friendship between Prussia and the Austrian Empire.
To Frederick William IV, she was an exemplary wife and, during his long illness, a dedicated nurse. After his death on January 2, 1861, Elisabeth lived quietly at her seats at Sanssouci, Charlottenburg, and Stolzenfels and dedicated herself to charity work in memory of her late husband . Her brother-in-law, Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany, held her in high regard as a true friend.
During a visit to her sister, Queen Amalie of Saxony, Elisabeth died in 1873 in Dresden. She was buried next to her husband on December 21 at the Friedenskirche in Potsdam.

The text is from this wikipedia article.

 

[Kalafrana]

Friedrich Wilhelm's principal interest was architecture, and he designed a number of buildings in Potsdam, in particular the Fremdenkirche. This church contains a superb Byzantine mosaic, which Friedrich Wilhelm purchased when travelling in Italy as Crown Prince. Hearing that the church it was in was about to be demolished, he bought the mosaic, had it dismantled and shipped home, and designed and built the Fremdenkirche to accommodate it.

 

[PssMarie-Elisabeth]

19th century Royalty in Fashion Magazines

Color lithograph of King Friedrich-Wilhelm & Queen Elisabeth c.1842, from a Royal Court Supplement (Ackermann's Ladies Fashions ?).

 

[Kalafrana]

Fremdenkirche? It should have been Friedenkirche.

Somewhere I have a postcard of the mosaic, and will put it on here if I can find it.

Very sad that such an intelligent and talented man as Friedrich Wilhelm had to be put under a regency when only in his early sixties.

 

[theresa_225]

Fredrick William IV met Princess Elise in a bath and refused to marry anyone but her. It caused some problems because she was a Catholic and refused to convert. I don't know if I should ask this , but does he know that she's a barren? (Again I am sorry )

Because he had an illegitimate child (different case with Elise's sister, Maria Anna and the King of Saxony). And, if it is not too much, can anyone tell me more about this illegitimate child ?

 

[theresa_225]

Actually he should be Kaiser, but he said this "crown is made of dirt and clay" because the democratic people of 1848 asked him to become an emperor. Later he said that he was too modest or was melancholy but the real reason is he thought that his kingdom is made by God and no people can intervere.

Fredrich Wilhelm IV also liked to sketch himself in the shape of a plump fish (and his family nickname was butt !)

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1842 Friedrich Wilhelm IV gave his father's menagerie at Pfaueninsel to the new Berlin zoo, which opened in 1844.
​

Friedrich Wilhelm IV especially liked the medieval fantasies of Fouque.
​

 

[GavinGlandt]

Fredrick William IV and Illegitimate Child

Fredrick William IV met Princess Elise in a bath and refused to marry anyone but her. It caused some problems because she was a Catholic and refused to convert. I don't know if I should ask this , but does he know that she's a barren? (Again I am sorry ?)

Because he had an illegitimate child (different case with Elise's sister, Maria Anna and the King of Saxony). And, if it is not too much, can anyone tell me more about this illegitimate child ?

Hi Theresa! My name is Gavin Glandt, I am new to this website as of today, as I happened to stumble across it while doing my routine genealogical research! I am 17 years old, I was born in Two Rivers, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, USA. I currently work as a Marketing-Assistant at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA.

I am contacting you because I noticed this comment you made back in 2012 I believe...

My 4th Great Grandmother Adélaïde "Etta" Meunier dit Belrose (1825-1920)
The family legend passed down to me through 4 Generations, is that she was an Illegitimate child of Fredrick William IV, and I have a wedding gift to Etta from Queen Victoria of England somewhere in my collection!

 

[Blog Real]

Frederick William IV in 1847.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Friedrich_Wilhelm_IV_of_Prussia_(1847).jpg

The crypt containing the Sarcophagi of Frederick William IV and his wife Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria in the Church of Peace, Sanssouci Park in Potsdam.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Friedenskirche_potsdam_sarkophag2.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

1843 Miniature of Elisabeth von Bayern
http://www.alamy.com/1843-elisabeth-von-bayern-image209986217.html