2 January 1861 William I became King of Prussia

On 2 January 1861, Frederick William IV of Prussia died and his
brother William (in German: Wilhelm) ascended the throne as
William I of Prussia.

This important event marked a total change in his life as he wasn't
expected to reign over Prussia.

Family

William Frederick Louis of Prussia (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig
von Preussen) was born on 22 March 1797 in the Kronprinzenpalais
in Berlin.

His parents were Prince Frederick William and Louise of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

His paternal grandparents were King Frederick William II of Prussia
and Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt.

His maternal grandparents were Charles II Grand Duke of
Mecklengburg- Strelitz and Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt.

William (Wilhelm) was thus a member of the royal house of
Hohenzollern.

He would have several siblings but one sister Charlotte, became
Empress of Russia.


Early life


In 1797, his father Frederick William III became King of Prussia.
William was educated from 1801 till 1809 by Johann Friedrich
Gottlieb Delbrück.

Military Career

At the age of 12 his father appointed William as officer in the
Prussian army.

In 1806 they saw the defeat of Prussia by France and the end of
the Holy Roman Empire.

William fought against Napoleon Bonaparte of France during the
part of the Napoleonic Wars. He was a very brave soldier. He was
made captain and won the Iron Cross. He had a long-standing
antipathy towards the French.

In 1815 he was promoted o major and commanded a battalion of
the 1st. Garderegiment. He fought under Gebhard Leberecht von
Blücher at the Battles of Ligny and Waterloo. More about von
Blucher on this link. 

In 1817 William accompanied his sister Charlotte to Russia.
She became Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Love and Marriage

In 1826 William was forced to abandon a relationship with Polish
noblewoman Elisa Radziwill.

On 11 June 1829 William married Princess Augusta, the daughter
of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Their
marriage was stable but not a very happy one.


Duty

In  1840 his elder brother became King of Prussia. However he
had no children, so William was given the title Prince von Preussen.

In 1854 the prince was raised to the rank of field marshal and he
was made governor of the federal fortress of Mainz.

In 1857 Frederick William VI had a stroke and he became mentally
disabled for the rest of his life.

In January 1858 William became Prince Regent for his brother.

Reign

In July 1861, a student from Leipzig attempted to assassinate William
but he only was lightly injured.

On 18 October 1861 his coronation took place at the Schlosskirche of
Königsberg.

In 1862 the Landtag refused an increase in the military budget needed
to pay for the already implemented reform of the army. William first
considered abdicating, but his son, the Crown Prince advised strongly
against it. Then William appointed Otto von Bismarck to the Office of
Minister President in order to force through the proposals.

In 1864 the Second Schleswig War against Denmark broke out and in
1866 the Austro-Prussian War. William wanted to march on to Vienna
and annex Austria but Bismarck and Crown Prince Frederic advised
him not to do so.

In 1867 the North German Confederation was created as a federation
and William wanted to become Kaiser von Deutschland (Emperor of
Germany) as he feared that the North German Confederation would
overshadow his own title as King of Prussia.

On 18 January 1871, the day of the foundation of the Empire, William
became German Emperor.

In 1872 he arbitrated a boundary dispute between Great Britain and
the United States, deciding in favour of the USA.

On 11 May 1878, a plumber named Emil Max Hödel failed in an
assassination attempt on William in Berlin.

On 2 June 1878 another assassination attempt took place by
Karl Nobiling. William was severely wounded but he survived this
attack.

On 18 September 1883 a new assassination attempt failed. However
despite these attacks William and his wife were very popular especially
in their later years. They were considered as the personification of the
"old Prussia".



Deutsches Eck

Where the Mosel river joins the Rhine in Koblenz there is an
impressive Equestrian Statue for Emperor William I of Germany.






Source pictures: Wikipedia
own picture of the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz