Photo: Anton Graff / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Frederick the Great is one of history's great contradictions, and that is exactly why I keep returning to him. Born in Berlin in 1712, he turned Prussia into a major European power through hard war, yet the same man played the flute, wrote librettos, collected art, and traded letters with philosophers. A soldier-king who genuinely loved the arts is a rare animal. I do not romanticize the wars he fought, but the refusal to let either the battlefield or the salon define him entirely is what makes him endlessly compelling. Three centuries on, he still reads as a fully drawn, conflicted human being rather than a marble statue.
Overview
Frederick II (German: Friedrich II.; 24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Frederick II of Prussia
- Name (Japanese)
- フリードリヒ2世
- Reading
- ふりーどりひ2世
- Born
- January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Dragon
- Origin
- Berlin, Margraviate of Brandenburg
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- ruler / art collector / monarch / king / librettist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Order of the Black Eagle
- Order of the White Eagle (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth)
- Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
- Order of St. Andrew
- Pour le Mérite
- Royal Order of the Seraphim
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Art collector — see all → · More people from Margraviate of Brandenburg →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.