Tags
Augustus William of Prussia, Battle of Breslau, Frederick II of Prussia, Frederick the Great, Frederick William I of Prussia, Knights of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John, Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Princess Friederike-Luise of Prussia, Princess Sophia-Dorothea of Prussia
Prince August-Ferdinand of Prussia (May 23, 1730, Berlin – May 2, 1813, Berlin) was a Prussian prince and general, as well as Master of the Knights of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John. He belonged to the House of Hohenzollern, and was the youngest son of King Friedrich-Wilhelm I of Prussia by his wife, Queen Sophia Dorothea.
Prince August-Ferdinand of Prussia
Prince August-Ferdinand of Prussia was also a younger brother of King Friedrich II the Great of Prussia. As the youngest son King Friedrich-Wilhelm I of Prussia these were some of his other older siblings:
Princess Wilhelmine (1709-1758), married in 1731 to her Hohenzollern kinsman, Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.
Princess Friederike-Luise (1714-1784) married her Hohenzollern kinsman Karl-Wilhelm-Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.
Princess Philippine-Charlotte (1716-1801) was a Duchess consort of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by marriage to Charles I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Princess Sophia-Dorothea (1719-1765) Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Sophia Dorothea married her Hohenzollern kinsman Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, son of Philipp-Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, and Princess Johanna-Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau, daughter of Johann-George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. They are the parents of Prince August-Ferdinand’s wife, Margravine Elisabeth-Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt.
Princess Sophia-Dorothea and Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt.
Princess Louisa-Ulrica (1720-1782), the consort of King Adolph-Friedrich of Sweden.
August-Wilhelm of Prussia (1722-1758) married Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Because his older brother had no children, August-Wilhelm’s oldest son inherited the throne as Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia on the death of Friedrich II.
Princess Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (1723-1787) never married.
Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1726–1802). Prince Friedrich-Heinrich-Ludwig; (1726-1802), commonly known as Heinrich was a Prince of Prussia and the younger brother of Friedrich II the Great. In 1786, he was suggested as a candidate for a monarch for the United States.
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Already at the age of 5, Prince August-Ferdinand joined the Infantry regiment „Kronprinz“. In 1740, his brother named him commander of Infantry regiment Nr 34. In 1756, he became Major General and accompanied his brother the King on his campaigns in Saxony, Bohemia and Silesia. He fought in the Battle of Breslau and the Battle of Leuthen. But in 1758, bad health forced him to leave the army.
Apotheosis of Prince August-Ferdinand (1779) by Anna Dorothea Therbusch.
On September 12, 1763, August-Ferdinand was elected as Master of the Knights of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John, a post he held until 1812. August-Ferdinand is also remembered for having the Schloss Bellevue in the Berliner Tiergarten built.
Marriage and children
He married his niece, Margravine Elisabeth-Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1738-1820) on September 27, 1755. She was a daughter of his older sister Sophia-Dorothea and her husband Margrave Friedrich-Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Schwedt. Despite this family tie, she was only eight years younger than he, due to the significant age difference between him and his sister.
Margravine Elisabeth-Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt
They had seven children:
* Princess Friederike Elisabeth Dorothea Henriette Amalie (1761–1773)
* Prince Friedrich Heinrich Emil Karl (1769–1773)
* Princess Friederike Luise (1770–1836), married to Prince Antoni Radziwiłł. Had issue.
* Prince Friedrich Christian Heinrich Ludwig (1771–1790)
* Prince Louis Ferdinand (1772–1806), killed in the Battle of Saalfeld. No legitimate issue.
* Prince Friedrich Paul Heinrich August (1776)
* Prince Augustus (1779–1843), morganatic marriage (1832-1843) to Polish aristocrat Emilie von Ostrowska.
The biological father of his daughter Princess Friederike-Luise, who was born in 1770, may not have been the daughter of Prince August-Ferdinand, but May have been the daughter of his wife through her affair with Count Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau. Princess Friederike-Luise was described as nice, witty and kind.
Prince August-Ferdinand of Prussia
Augustus died in Berlin on May 2, 1813, as the last surviving grandchild of King George I of Great Britain. Princess Elisabeth-Louise would die seven years later, on February 10, 1820.
European Royal History 