Friedrich I of Prussia

\nFriedrich I of Prussia, Kurfürst of Brandenburg, King of Prussia (Fredrick I, July 11, 1657 -- February 25, 1713), Hohenzollern, was the first king of Prussia, reigning from January 18, 1701, until his death. He died in Berlin. Born in Königsberg, Friedrich became the Kurfürst (Elector) of Brandenburg, in 1688, upon the death of Friedrich Wilhelm I. At the time, Friedrich I was known as Friedrich III. He became "Friedrich I", when he became King. Actually Friedrich I was never called "king of Prussia". His title was "king in Prussia": Most of Friedrich's territories were part of the "Holy Roman Empire of German Nation". And this country had a Habsburg king. Habsburg was mighty and Brandenburg/Prussia was small and poor, so Friedrich could not leave the Roman Empire and start a Brandenburg kingdom of his own. \nFinally the Kurfürst (elector) of Brandenburg convinced the German king to allow him to become king of Prussia which had never belonged to the "Holy Roman Empire of German Nation". To indicate that Friedrich's royalty was limited to Prussia and did not reduce the rights of the German king in Friedrich's German territories, he had to call himself "king in Prussia". (1697 elector August II of Saxony became King of Poland; 1714 The Hanoverian elector became King George I of England) His son Frederick William I, born in 1688, succeeded him. {| align="center" cellpadding="2" border="2"\n|-\n| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
—\n| width="40%" align="center" | King of Prussia\n| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Friedrich Wilhelm I\n|} \n\n\n\n