Frederick William IV of Prussia
King
Frederick William IV of Prussia (
October 15,
1795 -
January 2,
1861), the eldest son and successor of
Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of
Prussia from
1840 to
1861.
He continued the reactionary policies started by his father. During the
Revolutions of 1848, the
Frankfurt Parliament offered him the Imperial Crown of Germany, but he turned it down, purportedly saying that he would not accept a crown from the gutter. In the following years, he became more and more mentally unstable: in 1858 his brother,
Prince William became Regent. Frederick William died in 1861. As he had no children, his brother succeeded to the throne.
\n{| align="center" cellpadding="2" border="2"\n|-\n| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Friedrich Wilhelm III\n| width="40%" align="center" |
King of Prussia\n| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Wilhelm I\n|}
\n\n\n\n
