Frederick William III of Prussia

Frederick William III became King of Prussia on 16 November 1797 and Elector of Brandenburg until the Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806. He ruled through the Napoleonic Wars, reluctant until he finally joined the Sixth Coalition in the German campaign of 1813. After Napoleon's defeat he attended the Congress of Vienna to help settle the post-Napoleonic order. Extremely shy and indecisive, he leaned heavily on his wife Queen Louise, who died in 1810, and the circle of reformers she led: vom Stein, Hardenberg, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau. Together they overhauled Prussia's administration, military, churches, and finance. His primary passion was Protestant church reform - unifying liturgy, organization, and architecture under centralized royal control in the Prussian Union of Churches. Beethoven dedicated the Ninth Symphony to him in 1824. He died 7 June 1840.