Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg

Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg

Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg (January 24, 1792 – November 6, 1850) was a German soldier and politician. He was the son of King Frederick William II of Prussia and Countess Sophie von Dönhoff. He and his sister were made count and countess in 1794, and he was raised with the sons of Field Marshal von Massow. In 1807, he entered the regiment Gardes du Corps. By 1848, he had distinguished himself in several battles and was a cavalry general. In November 1848, the king called him to Berlin to be Prussian prime minister, signaling the king's intention to quell the ongoing uprising. In 1850, he traveled to Warsaw to meet with Czar Nicholas. Shortly after his return, he took ill and died, it is said from the humiliation of the Czar's abandonment of the Erfurt policy.

References

• Ferdinand Freiherr von Meerheimb, “Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm, Count” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Band 3 (Leipzig, 1876), S. 238-239. (German)
• Carl Schurz, Reminiscences (3 volumes), New York: The McClure Company, 1907. In Chapter VI of Volume One, Schurz mentions Brandenburg's appointment as prime minister of Prussia as a step of reactionary character.