Prince Augustus William of Prussia

Prince Augustus William of Prussia
Prince Augustus William of Prussia
	Portrait by Antoine Pesne
Born	9 August 1722; Stadtschloss, Berlin, Prussia
Died	12 June 1758 (aged 35); Oranienburg, Prussia
Burial	Berlin Cathedral
Spouse	Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (m. 1742)
Issue	Frederick William II of Prussia; Prince Henry; Wilhelmina, Princess of Orange; Prince Emil
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick William I of Prussia
Mother	Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

Prince Augustus William of Prussia (German: August Wilhelm; 9 August 1722 – 12 June 1758) was the son of King Frederick William I of Prussia and a younger brother and general of Frederick the Great.

Augustus was the second surviving son of Frederick William I and Sophia Dorothea. His older siblings included Wilhelmina (later Margravine of Bayreuth), Frederick II (later King of Prussia), Friedrike Louise (later Margravine of Ansbach) and Louisa Ulrika (later Queen consort of Sweden).

Augustus was favored by his father over Frederick and was popular at the Prussian court. When his brother Frederick became king in 1740, Augustus became heir presumptive and moved into Fredrick's former residence, the Crown Prince's Palace in Berlin. When his older sister Louisa Ulrika married the King of Sweden in 1744, she founded the Ordre de l'Harmonie, of which Augustus was one of the first recipients.

Augustus served his brother as a general in the War of the Austrian Succession and distinguished himself in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg. But in the Seven Years' War, owing to the fatal retreat of Zittau during the Battle of Kolin in 1757, he incurred the wrath of his brother the King, and withdrew from the army. This conflict between the two brothers led to a correspondence, which was published in 1769.^[1]

Death

Augustus died suddenly in 1758 at Oranienburg, according to some of "a broken heart", in reference to his brother Frederick II's harsh treatment of him for his incompetent military leadership in the Battle of Kolin. In reality, he died from a brain tumor.^[2]

Marriage

Augustus married Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Because his older brother had no children, Augustus's oldest son inherited the throne as Frederick William II of Prussia on Frederick's death.

Issue

Frederick William II of Prussia (1744–1797)
- married (1) Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had one child Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (1767–1820), who married Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George III of the United Kingdom.
- married (2) Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt and had issue.
Prince Henry of Prussia (1747–1767) died unmarried.
Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia (1751–1820) married William V, Prince of Orange and had issue.
Prince Emil of Prussia (30 October 1758 – 15 February 1759) died in infancy.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Prince Augustus William of Prussia^[3]

8. Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg

4. Frederick I of Prussia

9. Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau

2. Frederick William I of Prussia

10. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover

5. Sophia Charlotte of Hanover

11. Sophia of the Palatinate

1. Prince Augustus William of Prussia

12. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover (= 10)

6. George I of Great Britain

13. Sophia of the Palatinate (= 11)

3. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

14. George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

7. Sophia Dorothea of Celle

15. Éléonore Desmier d'Olbreuse

References

^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Ripley, George; Dana, Charles A., eds. (1879). "August Wilhelm" . The American Cyclopædia.
^ Robert B. Asprey. Frederick the Great: The Magnificent Enigma. p. 491.
^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 16.

External links

Media related to Prince Augustus William of Prussia (1722–1758) at Wikimedia Commons

This article about a member of the German nobility is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Ripley, George; Dana, Charles A., eds. (1879). "August Wilhelm" . The American Cyclopædia.

[2] Robert B. Asprey. Frederick the Great: The Magnificent Enigma. p. 491.

[3] Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 16.

[1]

[2]

[3]