| Frederick William III | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Portrait of Frederick William III c. 1830-40 | |
| King of Prussia | |
| Reign | 16 November 1797 – 7 June 1840 |
| Predecessor | Frederick William II |
| Successor | Frederick William IV |
| Elector of Brandenburg | |
| Reign | 16 November 1797 – 6 August 1806 |
| Predecessor | Frederick William II |
| Successor | Electorate abolished |
| Born | 3 August 1770 Potsdam, Prussia |
| Died | 7 June 1840 (aged 69) Berlin, Prussia |
| Burial | Mausoleum at Charlottenburg Palace |
| Spouses | |
| Issue see details... | |
| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Frederick William II of Prussia |
| Mother | Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt |
| Religion | Calvinist (until 1817) Prussian United (after 1817) |
| Signature |  |
| Prussian Royalty |
| House of Hohenzollern |
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| Frederick William III |
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Frederick William III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved.
Frederick William III ruled Prussia during the times of the Napoleonic Wars. The king reluctantly joined the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in the German campaign of 1813. Following Napoleon's defeat, he took part in the Congress of Vienna, which assembled to settle the political questions arising from the new, post-Napoleonic order in Europe. His primary interests were internal – the reform of Prussia's Protestant churches. He was determined to unify the Protestant churches to homogenize their liturgy, organization, and architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches in the Prussian Union of Churches.
The king was said to be extremely shy and indecisive. His wife Queen Louise (1776–1810) was his most important political advisor.[citation needed] She led a mighty group that included Baron Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein, Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, Gerhard von Scharnhorst, and Count August Neidhardt von Gneisenau. They set about reforming Prussia's administration, churches, finance, and military. He was the dedicatee of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 1824.