Frederick William IV

Germany state institutions Monarchy and royalism 1795–1861 ○ Natural causes

King of Prussia who yielded to the Berlin rising of 1848, then dissolved the National Assembly and refused the Frankfurt imperial crown

Born in 1795 to Frederick William III and Queen Louise, he succeeded in 1840, a believer in divine right called the "romanticist on the throne", and raised hopes at first with an amnesty for political prisoners and easier censorship. After the Berlin street fighting of 18 March 1848 he withdrew the troops, on 21 March rode through the city wearing a black, red and gold armband, and appointed the liberal ministry of Camphausen and Hansemann. In November, however, he counter-attacked by making Count Brandenburg minister president, and on 5 December he dissolved the Prussian National Assembly and imposed a constitution. In 1849 he refused the crown of "Emperor of the Germans" offered by the Frankfurt National Assembly and had the risings in Saxony, Baden and the Palatinate crushed. Strokes from 1857 left him incapacitated; his brother Wilhelm became regent, and he died in 1861.

Also known as: Friedrich Wilhelm IV