Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as "the Great Elector" because of his military and political achievements. Frederick William was a staunch pillar of the Calvinist faith, associated with the rising commercial class. He saw the importance of trade and promoted it vigorously. His shrewd domestic reforms gave Prussia a strong position in the post-Westphalian political order of Northern-Central Europe, setting Prussia up for elevation from duchy to kingdom, achieved under his son and successor.
Portrait by Frans Luycx, c. 1650
Frederick William in 1642, portrait by Mathias Czwiczek
Statue of Frederick William at Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin
Painting of his 1646 wedding ceremony by Johannes Mytens
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.
Slavic territories pre-Brandenburg, c. 1150
Siegesallee statue of Albert the Bear, flanked by Bishop Wigger of Brandenburg and Bishop Otto of Bamberg
The Holy Roman Empire from 1273 to 1378: Habsburg lands Luxembourg lands Wittelsbach lands
Religion in Central Europe, c. 1618. Electoral Brandenburg is striped, indicating that its ruler was a Calvinist, while most of his subjects remained Lutheran. Lutherans Calvinists Zwinglians Hussites/Bohemian Brethren Roman Catholics Greek Orthodox Muslims