In the history of public life, Frederick William III of Prussia is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Frederick William III of Prussia as King of Prussia from 1797 to 1840.
Frederick William III of Prussia was born at Potsdam in 1770. His recorded nationality is the Kingdom of Prussia.
The eighteenth century organised knowledge into academies, expeditions and collections, and turned patronage into something closer to a profession.
He worked as composer and monarch.
Political reputations are settled slowly, and rarely by the people who made them.
Recognition followed: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit, Knight of the Order of Saint Michael and Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (1814).
That the work was done from the Kingdom of Prussia matters. Opportunity has never been evenly distributed, and where a person is based shapes which doors open and whose work gets seen.
Frederick William III of Prussia died in 1840, aged 70. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
- Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit
- Knight of the Order of Saint Michael
- Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece — 1814
- Worked as composer and monarch
