Wilhelm I

File:Johann Heusinger Bildnis Prinz Wilhelm (I.) (1797-1888) (C40a).jpg

The future king and emperor was born Wilhelm Friedrich Louis of Prussia ({{lang|de|Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig von Preußen}}) in the {{lang|de|Kronprinzenpalais|italic=no}} in Berlin on 22 March 1797. As the second son of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Prince Frederick William, himself son of King Frederick William II, Wilhelm was not expected to ascend to the throne. His grandfather died the year he was born, at age 53, in 1797, and his father Frederick William III became king. He was educated from 1801 to 1809 by {{Interlanguage link multi|Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Delbrück|de}}, who was also in charge of the education of Wilhelm's brother, the Crown Prince Frederick William. At age twelve, his father appointed him an officer in the Prussian army.{{cite web |url=http://www.dhm.de/lemo/biografie/biografie-wilhelm-i.html |title=Biografie Wilhelm I |language=German |publisher=Deutsches Historisches Museum |access-date=12 June 2013 }}

Wilhelm served in the army from 1814 onward. Like his father, he fought against Napoleon I of France during the part of the Napoleonic Wars known in Germany as the {{lang|de|Befreiungskriege}} ("Wars of Liberation", otherwise known as the War of the Sixth Coalition), and was reportedly a very brave soldier. He was made a captain ({{lang|de|Hauptmann}}) and won the Iron Cross for his actions at Bar-sur-Aube. The war and the fight against France left a lifelong impression on him, and he had a long-standing antipathy towards the French.

In 1815, Wilhelm was promoted to major and commanded a battalion of the 1. Garderegiment. He fought under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battles of Ligny and Waterloo. In 1817, he accompanied his sister Charlotte to Saint Petersburg, when she married Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, becoming Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.Lincoln, Nicholas I Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, p. 66

In 1816, Wilhelm became the commander of the {{lang|de|Stettiner Gardelandwehrbataillon}} and in 1818 was promoted to {{lang|de|Generalmajor}}. The next year, Wilhelm was appointed inspector of the VII. and VIII. Army Corps. This made him a spokesman of the Prussian Army within the House of Hohenzollern. He argued in favour of a strong, well-trained, and well-equipped army. In 1820, Wilhelm became commander of the {{lang|de|1. Gardedivision}} and in 1825 was promoted to commanding general of the III. Army Corps.

Around this time, Wilhelm became romantically linked with his cousin, Polish noblewoman Princess Elisa Radziwill. In 1826, Wilhelm was forced to break off the relationship by his father, who deemed it an inappropriate match. It is alleged that Elisa had an illegitimate daughter by Wilhelm who was brought up by Joseph and Caroline Kroll, owners of the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, and was given the name Agnes Kroll. She married a Carl Friedrich Ludwig Dettman (known as "Louis") and emigrated to Sydney, in 1849. They had a family of three sons and two daughters. Agnes died in 1904.Dettman, E. Belinda, and Stevens, Jane (2017). Agnes the Secret Princess – An Australian Story. ISBN 9781543400755.

In 1829, Wilhelm married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the daughter of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Maria Pavlovna, the sister of Nicholas I. Their marriage was outwardly stable, but not a very happy one.{{cite book|last=Feldhahn|first=Ulrich|title=Die preußischen Könige und Kaiser (German)|publisher=Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg|year=2011|isbn=978-3-89870-615-5|pages=24–26}} In 1834-37 he had the Old Palace in Berlin built as a new family home, in which he continued to live later as king and emperor, while he only used the Berlin Palace for representative purposes.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

On 7 June 1840 his older brother became King of Prussia. Since he had no children, Wilhelm was first in line to succeed him to the throne and thus was given the title {{lang|de|Prinz von Preußen}}. Against his convictions but out of loyalty towards his brother, Wilhelm signed the bill setting up a Prussian parliament in 1847 and took a seat in the upper chamber, the Prussian House of Lords.

File: Frederick Richard Say (1805-60) - Wilhelm I, Prince of Prussia, later King of Prussia and German Emperor (1797-1888) - RCIN 406464 - Royal Collection.jpg, {{circa|1848}}]]

During the Revolutions of 1848, Wilhelm successfully crushed a revolt in Berlin that was aimed at Frederick William IV. The use of cannons made him unpopular at the time and earned him the nickname {{lang|de|Kartätschenprinz}} (Prince of Grapeshot). Indeed, he had to flee to England for a while, disguised as a merchant. He returned and helped to put down an uprising in Baden, where he commanded the Prussian army. In October 1849, he became governor-general of the Rhine Province and Province of Westphalia, with a seat at the Electoral Palace, Koblenz.

During their time at Koblenz, Wilhelm and his wife entertained liberal scholars such as the historian Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker, August von Bethmann-Hollweg and {{Interlanguage link multi|Clemens Theodor Perthes|de}}. Wilhelm's opposition to liberal ideas gradually softened.

In 1854, the prince was raised to the rank of a field-marshal and made governor of the federal Fortress of Mainz.{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=William I. of Germany |volume=28 |pages=665–667}} In 1857 Frederick William IV suffered a stroke and became mentally disabled for the rest of his life. In January 1858, Wilhelm became Prince Regent for his brother, initially only temporarily but after October on a permanent basis. Against the advice of his brother, Wilhelm swore an oath of office on the Prussian constitution and promised to preserve it "solid and inviolable". Wilhelm appointed a liberal, Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, as Minister President and thus initiated what became known as the "New Era" in Prussia, although there were conflicts between Wilhelm and the liberal majority in the Landtag on matters of reforming the armed forces.

File:Krönungszug Königsberg (1861).JPG at Königsberg Castle, 18 October 1861]]

On 2 January 1861, Frederick William IV died and Wilhelm ascended the throne as Wilhelm I of Prussia. In July, a student from Leipzig attempted to assassinate Wilhelm, but he was only lightly injured. Like Frederick I of Prussia, Wilhelm travelled to Königsberg and there crowned himself at the Schlosskirche. Wilhelm chose the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, 18 October, for this event, which was the first Prussian coronation ceremony since 1701 and the only coronation of a German king after 1806. Wilhelm refused to comply with his brother's wish, expressed in Frederick William's last will, that he should abrogate the constitution.

Wilhelm inherited a conflict between Frederick William and the liberal Landtag. He was considered to be politically neutral as he intervened less in politics than his brother. In 1862 the Landtag refused an increase in the military budget needed to pay for the already implemented reform of the army. This involved expanding the peacetime army from 150,000 to 200,000 men and the annual number of new recruits from 40,000 to 63,000. However, the truly controversial part was keeping the length of military service (raised in 1856 from two years) at three years.{{cite magazine | last =Oster | first =Uwe A. | title =Friedrich III. – Der 99-Tage-Kaiser | magazine=Damals | volume = 45 | issue = 3/2013 | pages=60–65 | language=de | issn=0011-5908 }} When his request (backed by his Minister of War Albrecht von Roon) was refused, Wilhelm first considered abdicating, but his son, the Crown Prince, advised strongly against it. Then, on the advice of Roon, Wilhelm appointed Otto von Bismarck as Minister President in order to force through the proposals. Under the Prussian constitution, the Minister President was responsible solely to the king, not to the Landtag. Bismarck, a conservative Prussian Junker and loyal friend of the king, liked to see his working relationship with Wilhelm as that of a vassal to his feudal superior. Nonetheless, it was Bismarck who effectively directed affairs, domestic as well as foreign; on several occasions he gained Wilhelm's assent by threatening to resign.{{cite book |author=Munroe Smith |title=Bismarck and German Unity: A Historical Outline |url=https://archive.org/details/bismarckgermanun01smit |year=1898 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bismarckgermanun01smit/page/80 80]–81}}

During his reign, Wilhelm was the commander-in-chief of the Prussian forces in the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864 and the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. After the latter was won by Prussia, Wilhelm wanted to march on to Vienna and annex Austria, but was dissuaded from doing so by Bismarck and his son Crown Prince Frederick. Bismarck wanted to end the war quickly, so as to allow Prussia to ally with Austria if it needed to at a later date; Frederick was also appalled by the casualties and wanted a speedy end to hostilities. During a heated discussion, Bismarck threatened to resign if Wilhelm continued to Vienna; Bismarck got his way. Wilhelm had to content himself with becoming the de facto ruler of the northern two-thirds of Germany. Prussia annexed several of Austria's allies north of the Main, as well as Schleswig-Holstein. Saxe-Lauenburg was already in a personal union with Prussia since 1865 (which became a full union in 1876).{{cn|date=January 2024}}

In 1867, the North German Confederation was created as a federation (federally organised state) of the North German and Central German states under the permanent presidency of Prussia. Wilhelm assumed the Bundespräsidium, the presidium of the Confederation; the post was a hereditary office of the Prussian crown. Not expressis verbis, but in function he was the head of state. Bismarck intentionally avoided a title such as Präsident as it sounded too republican.Michael Kotulla: Deutsches Verfassungsrecht 1806–1918. Eine Dokumentensammlung nebst Einführungen. Vol. 1: Gesamtdeutschland, Anhaltische Staaten und Baden, Berlin 2006, p. 211. Wilhelm became also the constitutional Bundesfeldherr, the commander of all federal armed forces. Via secret treaties with the South German states, he also became commander of their armies in times of war. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Wilhelm was in command of all the German forces at the crucial Battle of Sedan.

File:Kaiser-wilhelm-I.jpg]]

During the Franco-Prussian War, the South German states joined the North German Confederation, which was reorganized as the German Empire (Deutsches Reich). The title of Bundespräsidium was replaced with the title of German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser). This was decided on by the legislative organs, the Reichstag and Bundesrat, and Wilhelm agreed to this on 8 December in the presence of a Reichstag delegation. The new constitution and the title of Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871.Ernst Rudolf Huber: Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Vol. III: Bismarck und das Reich. third edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 750/751.

Wilhelm, however, hesitated to accept the constitutional title, as he feared that it would overshadow his own title as King of Prussia. He also wanted it to be Kaiser von Deutschland ("Emperor of Germany"), but Bismarck warned him that the South German princes and the Emperor of Austria might protest.{{cite book|author=William Dawson|title=History of the German Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmktDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT355|year=2017|publisher=Merkaba Press|pages=355}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}Ernst Rudolf Huber: Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Band III: Bismarck und das Reich. third edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 750–753. Wilhelm eventually—though grudgingly—relented and on 18 January, he was formally proclaimed as emperor in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The date was chosen as the coronation date of the first Prussian king in 1701. In the national memory, 18 January became the day of the foundation of the Empire (Reichsgründungstag), although it did not have a constitutional significance.

File:Wernerprokla.jpg in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, France flanked by his only son, Frederick and son in law – Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden. Painting by Anton von Werner]]

To many intellectuals, the coronation of Wilhelm was associated with the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire. Felix Dahn wrote a poem, "Macte senex Imperator" ('Hail thee, old emperor') in which he nicknamed Wilhelm Barbablanca (whitebeard), a play on the name of the medieval emperor Frederick Barbarossa (redbeard). According to the King asleep in mountain legend, Barbarossa slept under the Kyffhäuser mountain until Germany had need of him. Wilhelm I was thus portrayed as a second coming of Barbarossa. The Kyffhäuser Monument portrays both emperors.{{cite book |first=John B. |last=Freed |title=Frederick Barbarossa: The Prince and the Myth |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2016 |page=631n |isbn=978-030012276-3 }}

In 1872, he arbitrated a boundary dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States, deciding in favor of the U.S. and placing the San Juan Islands of modern-day Washington within U.S. national territory, thus ending the 12-year bloodless Pig War.{{cite book|author=Mike Vouri|title=The Pig War: Standoff at Griffin Bay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgsHYBCdG_oC&pg=PA248|year=2013|pages=248–250|publisher=Discover Your Northwest|isbn=9780914019626}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In his memoirs, Bismarck describes Wilhelm as an old-fashioned, courteous, infallibly polite gentleman and a genuine Prussian officer, whose good common sense was occasionally undermined by "female influences". This was a reference to Wilhelm's wife, who had been educated by, among others Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and was intellectually superior to her husband. She was also at times very outspoken in her opposition to official policies as she was a liberal. Wilhelm, however, had long been strongly opposed to liberal ideas. Despite possessing considerable power as Kaiser, Wilhelm left the task of governing mostly to his chancellor, limiting himself to representing the state and approving Bismarck's every policy. In private he once remarked on his relationship with Bismarck: It is difficult to be emperor under such a chancellor.{{cite journal |url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/25/2/277/30327?redirectedFrom=fulltext |title= Der Weltkrieg: Vorläufige Orientierung von einem Schweizerischen Standpunkt aus |publisher= Oxford University Press | author=S. von Zurlinden |journal= The American Historical Review |date= January 1920 |volume= 25 |issue= 2 |pages= 277–279 |doi= 10.1086/ahr/25.2.277 | access-date= 13 April 2020 }}{{cite book|author=Ludwig Bamberger|title=Bismarck posthumus p. 8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R652vgAACAAJ|date=2 November 2016|publisher=Hansebooks|isbn=978-3-7433-8831-4}}

File: Wilhelm I and his only daughter.jpg|Wilhem I with his only daughter, Princess Louise, {{circa|1860s}}

File: Wilhelm I German Emperor circa 1870.jpg|Portrait of Wilhelm I, {{circa|1870}}

File: Tsar Alexander II and Kaser Wilhelm I.jpg|Wilhelm I with his nephew, Tsar Alexander II on a hunting trip together, {{circa|1872}}

File: Kaiser Wilhelm I von Preußen und seine Schwester Alexandrine von Mecklenburg.jpg|Wilhelm I with his sister, Princess Alexandrine, {{circa|1882}}

File: König Wilhelm I von Preussischen (1).png|Prince Wilhelm (future Wilhelm I), {{circa|1858}}

File:Caricature of Wilhelm I by Thomas Nast.jpg which appeared in The Fight at Dame Europa's School by Henry William Pullen]]

On 11 May 1878, a plumber named Emil Max Hödel failed in an assassination attempt on Wilhelm in Berlin. Hödel used a revolver to shoot at the then 81-year-old Emperor, while he and his daughter, Princess Louise, paraded in their carriage on Unter den Linden. When the bullet missed, Hödel ran across the street and fired another round which also missed. In the commotion one of the individuals who tried to apprehend Hödel suffered severe internal injuries and died two days later. Hödel was seized immediately. He was tried, convicted, sentenced to death, and executed on 16 August 1878.{{Meyers Online|8|603|603|spezialkapitel=Hödel|kapiteltext=Hödel, Max|bemerkung=|kurz=}} (in German)

A second attempt to assassinate Wilhelm I was made on 2 June 1878 by Karl Nobiling. As the Emperor drove past in an open carriage, the assassin fired two shots from a shotgun at him from the window of a house off the Unter den Linden. Wilhelm was severely wounded and was rushed back to the palace. Nobiling shot himself in an attempt to commit suicide. While Wilhelm survived this attack, the assassin died from his self-inflicted wound three months later.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

File:Hodel1.jpg

Despite the fact that Hödel had been expelled from the Social Democratic Party, his actions were used as a pretext by Bismarck to ban the party. To do this, Bismarck partnered with Ludwig Bamberger, a Liberal, who had written on the subject of Socialism, "If I don't want any chickens, then I must smash the eggs." These attempts on Wilhelm's life thus became the pretext for the institution of the Anti-Socialist Laws, which were introduced by Bismarck's government with the support of a majority in the Reichstag on 18 October 1878, for the purpose of fighting the socialist and working-class movement. These laws deprived the Social Democratic Party of Germany of its legal status; prohibited all organizations, workers' mass organizations and the socialist and workers' press; decreed confiscation of socialist literature; and subjected Social-Democrats to reprisals. The laws were extended every 2–3 years. Despite the reprisals the Social Democratic Party increased its influence among the masses. Under pressure of the mass working-class movement the laws were repealed on 1 October 1890.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}{{cite book|author=Friedrich Darmstaedter|title=Bismarck and the Creation of the Second Reich, by F. Darmstaedter |pages=xiv, xvii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2kMmAQAAMAAJ|year=1948|publisher=Russell & Russell}}

File:Beisetzung von Kaiser Wilhelm I 1888 - cropped.jpg

In August 1878, Alexander II of Russia, Wilhelm's nephew, wrote a letter (known as Ohrfeigenbrief) to him complaining about the treatment Russian interests had received at the Congress of Berlin. In response Wilhelm, his wife Augusta, and his son travelled to Russia (against the advice of Bismarck) to mend fences in face-to-face talks. However, by once again threatening to resign, Bismarck overcame the opposition of Wilhelm to a closer alliance with Austria-Hungary. In October, Wilhelm agreed to the Dual Alliance (Zweibund) between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which was directed against Russia.

Another assassination attempt failed on 28 September 1883 when Wilhelm unveiled the Niederwalddenkmal in Rüdesheim. A group of anarchists had prepared an attack using dynamite which failed due to the wet weather.

Image:Wilhelm10mark.jpeg

The Berlin Conference of 1884–85 organized by Otto von Bismarck can be seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa. Claiming much of the left-over territories in Africa and Oceania that were yet unclaimed, Germany managed to build the large German colonial empire.{{cite news |url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article168705897/Diese-deutschen-Woerter-kennt-man-noch-in-der-Suedsee.html |date=17 September 2017 |title=Diese deutschen Wörter kennt man noch in der Südsee |first=Matthias |last=Heine |newspaper=Die Welt |quote=Einst hatten die Deutschen das drittgrößte Kolonialreich[...] }}

Despite the assassination attempts and Wilhelm's unpopular role in the 1848 uprising, he and his wife were very popular, especially in their later years. Many people considered them the personification of "the old Prussia" and liked their austere and simple lifestyle. Wilhelm died on 9 March 1888 in Berlin after a short illness, at age 90. He was buried on 16 March at the Mausoleum at Park Charlottenburg. He was succeeded by his son Frederick, who was already fatally unwell himself (suffering from throat cancer). Frederick spent the 99 days of his reign fighting his illness before dying and being succeeded by his eldest son Wilhelm on 15 June.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

File:William_I_grave.jpg in Berlin]]

To honour him a large number of memorials/statues were erected all over the country over the following years. The best known among them are the Kyffhäuser monument (1890–96) in Thuringia, the monument at Porta Westfalica (1896) and the mounted statue of Wilhelm at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz (1897). The National Kaiser Wilhelm Monument in front of the Berlin Palace was destroyed by the government of East Berlin in 1950.

Wilhelm and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar had two children:

Wilhelm was a Lutheran member of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. It was a United Protestant denomination, bringing together Reformed and Lutheran believers.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Image:Imperial Monogram of Kaiser Wilhelm I.svg

His full title as king of Prussia was Wilhelm, by the Grace of God, King of Prussia; Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern; Sovereign and Supreme Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz; Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen; Duke of Saxony, of Westphalia, of Angria, of Pomerania, Lüneburg, Holstein and Schleswig, of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelders, Cleves, Jülich and Berg, Duke of the Wends and the Kassubes, of Crossen, Lauenburg and Mecklenburg; Landgrave of Hesse and Thuringia; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Prince of Orange; Prince of Rügen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and Pyrmont, of Halberstadt, Münster, Minden, Osnabrück, Hildesheim, of Verden, Cammin, Fulda, Nassau and Moers; Princely Count of Henneberg; Count of Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, Tecklenburg and Lingen, of Mansfeld, Sigmaringen and Veringen; Lord of Frankfurt.Rudolf Graf v. Stillfried: [https://digitale-bibliothek-mv.de/viewer/image/PPN772070954/7/LOG_0005/ Die Titel und Wappen des preußischen Königshauses]. Berlin 1875.

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• Prussia:
• Knight of the Black Eagle, 1 January 1807;Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" [https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10362193?page=25 p. 15] with Collar, 1815
• Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, with Swords
• Pour le Mérite (military), 27 July 1849; with Oak Leaves, 4 August 1866; Grand Cross, 11 November 1866{{cite book|last1=Lehmann|first1=Gustaf|title=Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1812–1913|year=1913|trans-title=The Knights of the Order of the Pour le Mérite|language=de|url=https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN135808618|page=423|volume=2|location=Berlin|publisher=Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn}}
• Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
• Iron Cross, 2nd Class, 1813; 1st Class, 1870; Grand Cross, 16 June 1871
• Founder of the Royal Order of the Crown, 18 October 1861Hof- und Staats-Handbuch ... Preußen (1881/82), "Orden und Ehrenzeichen" [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4XYOAAAAYAAJ/page/n75 p. 42]
• Founder of the Military Merit Cross, 27 February 1864{{cite book|last1=Patzwall|first1=Klaus D.|year=1986|title=Das preußische Goldene Militär-Verdienstkreuz|publisher=Militair-Verlag K.D. Patzwall |language=de|isbn=3931533158}}
• Founder of the Duppel Storm Cross, 18 October 1864{{cite web|title=PRUSSIA. Duppel Storm Cross on ribbon for Reserve Troops (PREUSSEN. Düppeler Sturmkreuz am Band für Reservetruppen), 1865|url=http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?products_id=4284|website=Medal-Medaille.com|access-date=25 February 2021}}
• Founder of the Cross of Merit for Women and Girls, 22 March 1871{{cite web|url=https://ordensmuseum.de/historische-oe/verdienstkreuz-fur-frauen-und-jungfrauen/ |title=Verdienstkreuz für Frauen und Jungfrauen 1871 |publisher=Ordensmuseum.de |access-date=26 December 2018}}
• Ascanian duchies: Grand Cross of the Order of Albert the Bear, 31 May 1841Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Herzogtum Anhalt (1867) "Herzoglicher Haus-orden Albrecht des Bären" p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TYEp3N5O48EC&pg=PA16 16]
• Baden:Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1873), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 58, 63, 73
• Grand Cross of the House Order of Fidelity, 1836
• Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1836
• Grand Cross of the Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order, 1849
• Bavaria:
• Knight of St. Hubert, 1842{{Cite book|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Bayern|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJljAAAAcAAJ&q=Hof-%20und%20Staats-handbuch%20des%20K%C3%B6nigreichs%20Bayern&pg=PA8|publisher=Königl. Oberpostamt|date=1867|access-date=15 July 2019|language=de|page=8}}
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph, 21 November 1853{{cite book|last=Ruith|first=Max|title=Der K. Bayerische Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx3bms&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021|page=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx3bms&view=1up&seq=99&skin=2021 83]|location=Ingolstadt|publisher=Ganghofer'sche Buchdruckerei|year=1882|via=hathitrust.org}}
• Brunswick: Grand Cross of the Order of Henry the Lion
• Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, May 1846Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1847), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00244774/Sachsen_Coburg_Gotha_165771801_1847_0045.tif?logicalDiv=jportal_jparticle_00476515 p. 27]
• Hanover:{{cite book|author=Staat Hannover|title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1857|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XAZTAAAAcAAJ|year=1857|publisher=Berenberg|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XAZTAAAAcAAJ/page/n47/mode/2up 32], [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XAZTAAAAcAAJ/page/n77/mode/2up 63]}}
• Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 1826
• Knight of St. George, 1840
• Hesse-Darmstadt:Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" [https://archive.org/details/hofundstaatshan00gergoog/page/n34 pp. 10], [https://archive.org/details/hofundstaatshan00gergoog/page/n72 47], [https://archive.org/details/hofundstaatshan00gergoog/page/n154/mode/2up 130]
• Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 27 June 1838
• Grand Cross of the Merit Order of Philip the Magnanimous, with Swords, 4 November 1849
• Military Merit Cross, 15 March 1871
• Hesse-Kassel: Knight of the Golden Lion, 5 September 1841{{cite book|title=Kurfürstlich Hessisches Hof- und Staatshandbuch: 1856|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_RSAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA11|year=1856|publisher=Waisenhaus|page=11}}
• Hohenzollern: Cross of Honour of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, 1st Class
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Military Merit Cross, 1st Class
• Nassau: Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau, May 1858[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10021632?page=25 Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau] (1866), "Herzogliche Orden" p. 7
• Oldenburg: Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, 16 May 1850; with Swords, 31 December 1870[https://books.google.com/books?id=NpBYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA30 Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg: für das Jahr 1872/73], "Der Großherzogliche Haus-und Verdienst Orden" p. 30
• Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 24 December 1828;Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1830), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00184593/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_11_0015.tif p. 7]{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} with Swords, 1870Staatshandbuch ... Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1885), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00183988/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_15_0020.tif p. 13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801001057/https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00183988/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_15_0020.tif |date=1 August 2019 }}
• Saxony:
• Knight of the Rue Crown, 1840Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen (1867) (in German), "Königliche Ritter-Orden", p. 4
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry, 1870{{cite book|title=Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1873|year=1873|publisher=Heinrich|page=[http://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/title/9530888/ft/bsb11041169?page=57 35]}}
• Württemberg:{{cite book|author=Württemberg|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Württemberg: 1873|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJRYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR1|year=1873|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NJRYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA31 31], [https://books.google.com/books?id=NJRYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA70 70]}}
• Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1836
• Grand Cross of the Military Merit Order, 12 September 1870

}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|

• Austria:
• Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 1835{{Citation |title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie |year=1887 |page=[http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1887&page=298&size=45 128] |chapter=Ritter-Orden: St. Stephans-orden |chapter-url=http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1887&page=292&size=45 |access-date=15 September 2020}}
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
• Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 27 April 1851{{cite book|title=Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi|volume=1|author=H. Tarlier|year=1854|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=p35NAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA37 37]|language=fr}}
• Brazil:
• Grand Cross of the Southern Cross
• Grand Cross of the Order of Pedro I
• Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 27 February 1841{{cite book|author=Johann Heinrich Friedrich Berlien|title=Der Elephanten-Orden und seine Ritter: eine historische Abhandlung über die ersten Spuren dieses Ordens und dessen fernere Entwicklung bis zu seiner gegenwärtigen Gestalt, und nächstdem ein Material zur Personalhistorie, nach den Quellen des Königlichen Geheimen-Staatsarchivs und des Königlichen Ordenskapitelsarchivs zu Kopenhagen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BAZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA176|year=1846|publisher=Gedruckt in der Berlingschen Officin|pages=176}}
• France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 14 May 1857{{cite book| author = M. & B. Wattel. | title = Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers |location= Paris |date = 2009 |publisher= Archives & Culture | page = 509 | isbn = 978-2-35077-135-9| ref = M. et B. Wattel}}
• Greece: Grand Cross of the Redeemer
• Hawaii: Grand Cross of the Order of Kamehameha I, 1876{{cite web|url=https://www.crownofhawaii.com/order-of-kamehameha|title=The Royal Order of Kamehameha|website=crownofhawaii.com|publisher=Official website of the Royal Family of Hawaii|access-date=2 December 2019|archive-date=28 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228013523/https://www.crownofhawaii.com/order-of-kamehameha|url-status=dead}}
• Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 8 April 1879{{cite book|author=刑部芳則|title=明治時代の勲章外交儀礼|url=http://meijiseitoku.org/pdf/f54-5.pdf|year=2017|publisher=明治聖徳記念学会紀要|language=ja|page=143}}
• Mexico: Grand Cross of the Mexican Eagle, with Collar, 1865{{citation|title=Almanaque imperial para el año 1866|year=1866|language=es|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOAxAQAAMAAJ|chapter=Seccion IV: Ordenes del Imperio|pages=214–236, 242–243|access-date=29 April 2020}}
• Netherlands:
• Grand Cross of the Military William Order
• Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
• Portugal:
• Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword
• Grand Cross of the Sash of the Three Orders
• Russia:
• Knight of St. George, 4th Class, 3 August 1814;{{cite book|title=Almanach de la cour: pour l'année ... 1817|year=1817|publisher=l'Académie Imp. des Sciences|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZpKAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA144 144]}} 1st Class, 26 November 1869{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYwWAQAAIAAJ|author=V. M. Shabanov|title=Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George: A Nominal List, 1769–1920|year=2004|location=Moscow|isbn=5-89577-059-2}}
• Knight of St. Andrew, 20 June 1817{{cite book|author=Sergey Semenovich Levin|title=Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-called (1699–1917). Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine (1714–1917)|year=2003|chapter=Lists of Knights and Ladies|location=Moscow}}
• Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky, 20 June 1817
• Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class, 20 June 1817{{cite book|title=List of Knights of the Russian Imperial and Tsarist Orders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_QxAQAAMAAJ|chapter=Knights of the Order of Saint Anna|year=1850|page=96|publisher=Printing house of the II branch of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery|language=ru}}
• Knight of St. Vladimir, 1st Class, 30 August 1834{{cite book|title=List of Knights of the Russian Imperial and Tsarist Orders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_QxAQAAMAAJ|chapter=Knights of the Order of Saint Prince Vladimir|year=1850|page=54|publisher=Printing house of the II branch of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery|language=ru}}
• Poland: Knight of the White Eagle, 1829
• Sardinia:
• Knight of the Annunciation, 3 September 1850{{Cite book|title=Notizia storica del nobilissimo ordine supremo della santissima Annunziata. Sunto degli statuti, catalogo dei cavalieri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2aP6enNFoYC&pg=PA113|publisher=Eredi Botta|date=1869|access-date=4 March 2019|language=it|first=Luigi|surname=Cibrario|page=113}}
• Gold Medal of Military Valor, 1866[http://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/12329 "Hohenzollern Re di Prussia Guglielmo I"] (in Italian), Il sito ufficiale della Presidenza della Repubblica. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
• Serbia: Grand Cross of the Cross of Takovo{{Cite book|last=Acović|first=Dragomir|title=Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima|year=2012|location=Belgrade|publisher=Službeni Glasnik|pages=364}}
• Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri, 1 September 1887{{cite report |work=Royal Thai Government Gazette |date=1 September 1887 |url=http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2430/021/167.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213651/http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2430/021/167.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 March 2016 |title=ข่าวพระเจ้าน้องยาเธอ กรมหลวงเทวะวงษวโรปการ ข่าวการเชิญพระราชสาสน์ถวายแด่กษัตริย์ประเทศต่าง ๆ ในยุโรป |language=th |access-date=8 May 2019 |author-link=Royal Thai Government Gazette }}
• Spain:
• Knight of the Golden Fleece, 22 March 1853{{cite book|chapter-url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000941464&search=&lang=es|chapter=Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1887|access-date=21 March 2019|page=146|language=es}}
• Grand Cross of the Military Order of St. Ferdinand{{cite book|chapter-url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000941464&search=&lang=es|chapter=Caballeros Grandes Cruces: Real y militar Orden de San Fernando|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1887|access-date=23 May 2020|page=387|language=es}}
• Sweden:
• Knight of the Seraphim, 8 January 1847{{citation|title=Sveriges statskalender|year=1877|page=368|url=https://runeberg.org/statskal/1877/0392.html|via=runeberg.org|access-date=6 January 2018|language=sv}}
• Knight of the Order of Charles XIII, 1 December 1853{{cite book|title=Sveriges och Norges statskalender|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JhaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA630|year=1874|publisher=Liberförlag|page=630}}
• Special Sword medal in Gold, 1875
• Two Sicilies:
• Knight of St. Januarius, 1847{{citation|url=http://www.socistara.it/studi/Real%20Ordine%20di%20San%20Gennaro.pdf|page=9|language=Italian|title=Vicende e personaggi dell'Insigne e reale Ordine di San Gennaro dalla sua fondazione alla fine del Regno delle Due Sicilie|author=Angelo Scordo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304190749/http://www.socistara.it/studi/Real%20Ordine%20di%20San%20Gennaro.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}
• Grand Cross of St. Ferdinand and Merit
• United Kingdom:
• Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (military), 1 January 1857Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092537418#page/n283/mode/2up p. 192]
• Stranger Knight of the Garter, 12 April 1861Shaw, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092537418#page/n149/mode/2up p. 61]

}}

Wilhelm Island is named after him.

{{ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center

|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;

|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;

|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;

|1= 1. Wilhelm I, German Emperor

|2= 2. Frederick William III of Prussia

|3= 3. Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

|4= 4. Frederick William II of Prussia{{NDB|5|560|563|Friedrich Wilhelm III|Haussherr, Hans|118535986}}

|5= 5. Princess Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt

|6= 6. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz{{NDB|15|500|502|Luise|Backs, Silvia|118575155}}

|7= 7. Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt

|8= 8. Prince Augustus William of Prussia{{NDB|5|558|560|Friedrich Wilhelm II|Haussherr, Hans|11869362X}}

|9= 9. Duchess Luise of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

|10= 10. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt{{cite book|title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans| trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA69|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|page=69}}

|11= 11. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken

|12= 12. Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-StrelitzGenealogie ascendate, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA84 p. 84]

|13= 13. Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen

|14= 14. Prince George William of Hesse-DarmstadtGenealogie ascendate, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA70 p. 70]

|15= 15. Countess Maria Louise Albertine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg

}}

{{notelist}}

• List of monarchs of Prussia
• Emperor William monuments
• Kamerun
• Togoland
• German South West Africa
• German New Guinea
• German East Africa
• German Samoa

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26266157 |jstor=26266157 |title=Second-tier Diplomacy. Hans von Gagern and William I in their Quest for an Alternative European Order, 1813–1818 |last1=De Graaf |first1=Beatrice |journal=Journal of Modern European History / Zeitschrift für Moderne Europäische Geschichte / Revue d'Histoire Européenne Contemporaine |year=2014 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=546–566 }}
• {{cite book |last=Forbes |first=Archibald |title=William of Germany: A Succinct Biography of William I., German Emperor and King of Prussia |publisher=Cassell |year=1888 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XkNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1 }}
• {{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20457340 |jstor=20457340 |title=Splendid Demonstrations: The Political Funerals of Kaiser Wilhelm I and Wilhelm Liebknecht |last1=Hughes |first1=Michael L. |journal=Central European History |year=2008 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=229–253 |doi=10.1017/S0008938908000320 |s2cid=144463141 }}
• {{cite book |last=Röhl |first=John C. G. |title=Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859–1888 |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0521497523 }}
• {{cite journal |doi=10.1353/vpr.2011.0007|title=The Other Kaiser: Wilhelm I and British Cartoonists, 1861-1914 |year=2011 |last1=Scully |first1=Richard |journal=Victorian Periodicals Review |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=69–98 |jstor=23079098 |s2cid=153572848 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23079098 }}
• {{cite thesis |last=Sterkenburgh |first=Frederik Frank |title=William I and monarchical rule in Imperial Germany |publisher=University of Warwick |year=2017 |url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/108226/ }}
• {{cite book |last=Steinberg |first=Jonathan |title=Bismarck: A Life |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-019978252-9 }}
• {{cite book |first=Christian |last=Schwochert |title=Kaiser Wilhelm I |location=Berlin |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-5118-8283-5}}

{{commons|Wilhelm I of Germany}}

{{Wikiquote|Willhelm I, German Emperor}}

• [http://www.archontology.org/nations/german/germ_1871_1918a/wilhelm1.php Archontology.org – William I]
• [http://www.preussen.de Webpage of the House of Hohenzollern] {{in lang|de}}
• {{PM20|FID=pe/023775}}
• {{Wikisource-inline|list=
• Carl Schurz, Kaiser Wilhelm I, 1888

}}

{{S-start}}

{{s-hou|House of Hohenzollern|22 March|1797|9 March|1888}}

{{s-reg}}

|-

{{S-bef

| before = Frederick William IV

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = King of Prussia

| years = 2 January 1861 – 9 March 1888

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Frederick III

| rows = 2

}}

{{s-new|creation

| reason = Unification of Germany

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = German Emperor

| years = 18 January 1871 – 9 March 1888

}}

{{S-bef

| before = Christian IX of Denmark

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg

| years = 1864–1876

}}

{{s-non

| reason = Incorporated into the
Prussian crown

| rows = 6

}}

{{s-break}}

{{s-vac|last=Christian IX of Denmark|reason=Treaty of Vienna}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Duke of Schleswig and Holstein

| years = 1864–1888

}}

{{S-bef

| before = Adolphe of Luxembourg

| as = Duke of Nassau

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Prince of Nassau

| years = 1866–1888

}}

{{S-bef

| before = Frederick William of Hesse

| as = Elector of Hesse

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Landgrave of Hesse
Prince of Fulda

| years = 1866–1888

}}

{{S-bef

| before = Karl Fellner

| as = Elder Mayor of Frankfurt

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Lord of Frankfurt

| years = 1866–1888

}}

{{S-bef

| before = George V of Hanover

| as = King of Hanover

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Prince of East Friesland, Osnabrück,
Hildesheim and Verden
Count of Lingen and Tecklenburg

| years = 1866–1888

}}

{{s-off}}

{{S-bef

| before = Francis Joseph I of Austria

| as = Head of the Präsidialmacht of the German Confederation

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Holder of the Bundespräsidium of the North German Confederation

| years = 1 July 1867 – 18 January 1871

}}

{{s-non

| reason = Confederation abolished

| reason2 = German Empire proclaimed

}}

{{S-end}}

{{Rulers of Prussia}}

{{German monarchs}}

{{Prussian princes}}

{{German Confederations 1806-1871}}

{{Heads of State of Germany}}

{{GermanUnification}}

{{Recipients of the Grand Cross}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:William 01, German Emperor}}

Category:1797 births

Category:1860s in Prussia

Category:1870s in Germany

Category:1870s in Prussia

Category:1880s in Germany

Category:1880s in Prussia

Category:1888 deaths

Category:19th-century German people

Category:19th-century kings of Prussia

Category:19th-century monarchs in Europe

Category:19th-century Prussian military personnel

Category:19th-century regents

Category:Burials at the Charlottenburg Palace Park Mausoleum, Berlin

Category:Children of Frederick William III of Prussia

Category:Colonel generals of Prussia

Category:Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg

Category:Extra Knights Companion of the Garter

Category:German Calvinist and Reformed Christians

Category:German emperors

Category:German hunters

Category:19th-century German landowners

Category:German people of the Franco-Prussian War

Category:German Protestants

Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour

Category:Grand Crosses of the Military Order of Maria Theresa

Category:Grand Crosses of the Military Order of Max Joseph

3

3

3

Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary

Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Category:House of Hesse-Kassel

Category:House of Hohenzollern

Category:Kings of Prussia

Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Military Order of William

Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain

Category:Knights of the Order of Charles XIII

Category:Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand

Category:Members of the Prussian National Assembly

Category:Military personnel from Berlin

Category:Prussian Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars

Category:Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor

Category:Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross

Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class

Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the First Degree

Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion

Category:Regents of Prussia

Category:German shooting survivors

Category:German Freemasons

Category:Sons of prince-electors