Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia

Frederick William II (; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inheritance of his grandfather) sovereign prince of the Canton of Neuchâtel. As a defensive reaction to the French Revolution, Frederick William II ended the German Dualism between Prussia and Austria. Domestically, he turned away from the enlightened style of government of his predecessor and introduced a tightened system of censorship and religious control. The King was an important patron of the arts especially in the field of music. As a skilled cellist he enjoyed the dedication of various cello-centric compositions by composers Mozart, Haydn, Boccherini and Beethoven. He was also responsible for some of the most notable architecture in Prussia, including the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and the Marble Palace and Orangery in the New Garden, Potsdam. Early life Frederick William was born in Berlin on 25 September 1744, the eldest son of the Prussian Prince Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758) and Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Initially, Frederick William was second in line to the Prussian throne after his father. Due to his childlessness, King Frederick II had designated his next younger brother Augustus Wilhelm, Frederick Wilhelm's father, as Prince of Prussia in 1744. Frederick William was born into a time of war, for Prussia had again been at war (1744-1745) with Austria since 10 August 1744. Since 1740, or the death of Emperor Charles VI of the Habsburg dynasty, Vienna had been without a male heir to the throne. Although Charles VI had appointed his daughter Maria Theresa as heir with the Pragmatic Sanction, this document contradicted the previously valid Salic law, which only provided for male heirs to the throne. Frederick II of Prussia took advantage of the Austrian succession crisis to annex Habsburg Silesia. He thus began the first of a total of three Silesian Wars which, with brief interruptions, were to last until 1763. On 11 October 1744, Frederick William was baptised in the predecessor of today's Berlin Cathedral. In addition to members of the Prussian royal family, Emperor Charles VII, Tsarina Elisabeth of Russia, Louis XV of France and the Swedish heir to the throne Adolf Frederick were chosen as godparents in keeping with his status.