Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg

Germany state institutions Counter-revolutionary forces 1792–1850 ○ Natural causes

General of royal blood who became Prussian minister-president in November 1848, dissolved the National Assembly and imposed a constitution

Born in Berlin in 1792 to King Frederick William II of Prussia by his morganatic marriage to Sophie von Dönhoff, he was given the title of Count of Brandenburg. He joined the Gardes du Corps in 1806, fought in the Napoleonic Wars, commanded the VI Army Corps from 1839 and became a general of cavalry in 1848. In November 1848 his nephew Frederick William IV called him to succeed Ernst von Pfuel as minister-president in order to quell the uprisings. With the interior minister Otto von Manteuffel he had the National Assembly moved from Berlin to Brandenburg and then dissolved on 5 December, the day the king decreed a constitution. His appointment marked the start of the era of reaction. In October 1850 he went to Warsaw to sound out Tsar Nicholas I, and he spoke against mobilising against Austria. He fell ill soon afterwards and died on 6 November 1850.

Also known as: Count of Brandenburg