Frederick III, German Emperor

German Emperor and King of Prussia from March to June 1888

Frederick III[a] (Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; 18 October 1831 – 15 June 1888) was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days from March to June 1888. As the only son of Wilhelm I, he was the Crown Prince of Prussia from 1861 to 1888 and Crown Prince of the German Empire from 1871 to 1888. He was also the father of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor.[1]

Frederick III
Frederick, then Crown Prince, with a thick long beard and moustache and wearing military uniform
Frederick as Crown Prince, 1878
German Emperor
King of Prussia
Reign9 March – 15 June 1888
PredecessorWilhelm I
SuccessorWilhelm II
ChancellorOtto von Bismarck
BornPrince Frederick William of Prussia
(1831-10-18)18 October 1831
New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia
Died15 June 1888(1888-06-15) (aged 56)
New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, Germany
Burial18 June 1888
Spouse
(m. 1858)
Issue
Full name
  • German: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl
  • English: Frederick William Nicholas Charles
HouseHohenzollern
FatherWilliam I, German Emperor
MotherAugusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
ReligionLutheranism (Prussian United)
SignatureFrederick III's signature

In 1858, Frederick married Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. They both had liberal views, despite his family's conservative and militaristic background. They had eight children together named Wilhelm, Charlotte, Henry, Sigismund, Viktoria, Waldemar, Sophia, and Margaret.

After his father's death on March 9, 1888, Frederick became the German Emperor and King of Prussia. During the short time that he was the emperor, Frederick wanted to bring liberal reforms and turn Germany into a limited constitutional monarchy. However, he was already suffering from throat cancer. That made it very hard to fulfill his duties. He lost his voice completely. He was unable to make these changes as his illness became worse.

Frederick died on June 15, 1888, 99 days after becoming emperor. He was succeeded by his eldest son Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor.[2]

  1. Also spelled Friedrich III

References

change
  1. "Friedrich III. deutscher Kaiser und König von Preußen K.u.K.H." prussianmachine.com. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  2. Kiste, John Van der (1981). Frederick III: German Emperor 1888. A. Sutton. ISBN 978-0-904387-77-3.