King Frederick II, "The Great" of Prussia, son of Frederick William I

  Last Update: 6 March 2003

Children of Frederick William I Hohenzollern, King "in"Prussia m. Sophia Dorothea (b. 1687 d. 1757) dau. of George I, King of Gr. Btitain Issue continued

CHILD 4.

King Frederick II "The Great" of Prussia

Brief History:

• 1712 was born
• 1740 - Succeeded his father as King of Prussia
• Cultivated music , philosophy and poetry
• 1740  - Opened the War of Austrian Succession with a surprise attack on Empress Maria Theresa Hapsburg of Austria- Hungary [The Holy Roman Empire]
• 1745 - Secured Silesia and made peace with Austria
• Prussia became the military power in Europe
• Developed a new concept of troop mobility in the field
• 1772 - Prime mover of the First Partition of Poland - A great many Germans migrated into this  new [East] Prussian land
• 1778 to 1779 - Established the League of Princes [Fuerstenbund] 
• died 1786

Frederick II "The Great" built his famous palace Sans Souci in 1745-1747  in Postdam which is outside of Berlin near the earlier Hohenzollern residence "Stadtschloss".  Some called it "the Prussian Versailles".  

San Souci

Potsdam / Berlin, Germany 1994

San Souci remains but the "Stadtschloss" turn into rumble in WW II bombings.

The other old Hohenzollern palace  which did not survive was the royal residence at Under den Linden which the communist tore down and built a government building, the Palace of the Republic in 1950.

The great French writer Voltaire left us written impression of Frederick II "The Great", his family, and others.

The ancestor of Judy A. Remmick-Hubert, Count [Baron]  Frederick von der Trenck left us his own impression Frederick II "The Great" and others  in his autobiography, which was quite popular and translated into seven languages, including English. See  Trenck's Tale