William I (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl; 27 September 1781 – 25 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death.

Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", in 1816. After taking office, he initiated sweeping reforms, resulting in the approval of the Estates of Württemberg to a constitution on 25 September 1819. In his 48-year reign, the kingdom moved from one that was created from different denominational principalities and a heterogeneous agricultural country, into a constitutional state with a common identity and a well-organised management.

In addition to his successful domestic policy, he pursued throughout his reign an ambition focused on German and European foreign policy. Alongside the great powers of Prussia and Austria, he imagined a third major German power in the form of Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover and Württemberg. Although this plan never succeeded, it ensured a consistent, coherent and targeted policy during his reign.

William was the only German monarch who was forced to recognise the Frankfurt Constitution of 1848. After the failure of the March Revolution of 1848, he pursued reactionary policies that counteracted his liberal image from before the revolution. He died in 1864 at Rosenstein Castle in Bad Cannstatt and is buried in the Württemberg Mausoleum.

Life

Born at Lüben (after 1945 Lubin, Poland) on 27 September 1781, Frederick William (known as "Fritz" until the beginning of his reign) was the son of Duke Frederick William Charles of Württemberg (1754–1816) and his wife, Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1764–1788).

The relationship between his mother and father was one of strife and discord. His father had entered the Prussian Army in 1774, then moved shortly after William's birth to the service of the Russian Empress, Catherine the Great, who appointed him Governor of Eastern Finland. Although William's mother gave birth in 1783 to his sister Catharina Frederica, then later that year to Sophia Dorothea, and Paul in 1785, the relationship between the parents continued to deteriorate. Augusta sought sanctuary from her abusive marriage and asked the Empress for protection in 1786. Catherine forced Frederick and his children to leave Russia and placed Augusta in the custody of a former royal huntsman, Reinhold Wilhelm von Pohlmann, by whom she allegedly later became pregnant. In the exhumation ordered by William himself, several years after, this was proven wrong. She died in 1788. In 1790, Frederick and his two sons moved to Ludwigsburg Palace. He made sure that his sons' educators were from Württemberg and their education, at the behest of their father, was regulated and very strict.

Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg died on 24 October 1793. He had ruled for 56 years and as he had no legitimate offspring, the duchy passed to his brothers, Louis Eugene in 1793, then two years later to Frederick II Eugene, who was Frederick William's grandfather. Frederick William's father thus became Hereditary Prince (Erbprinz) in 1795, then duke on 23 December 1797. In 1797, Duke Frederick's father married Charlotte, Princess Royal, the daughter of King George III of Great Britain. They then began to look for a wife for Frederick William and potential brides included the Holy Roman Emperor's sister, Archduchess Maria Amalia, and the Grand Duchesses Alexandra Pavlovna and Maria Pavlovna.

Duke Frederick's relationship with his son also deteriorated. Frederick William often rebelled against his upbringing and his father. In 1799, Frederick William's escape plans were discovered and his father had him temporarily arrested. After his release, Frederick William began studying at the University of Tübingen. After the War of the Second Coalition erupted and France marched under Napoleon in the spring of 1800, Frederick William, who had joined as a volunteer in the Austrian army, participated in the Battle of Hohenlinden in December 1800. In 1803 he attained the rank of Imperial Major General. Contemporaries have credited him with profound military knowledge, courage and bravery.

After returning to Württemberg in 1801, Frederick William and his brother Paul began liaisons with the daughters of the landscape architect, Konradin von Abel. Frederick William fell in love with Therese von Abel, four years his senior. At that time there were clashes between Duke Frederick and the Estates of Württemberg (the Landstände) on domestic and foreign policy issues. Konradin von Abel represented the foreign policy interests of the estates and was supported by Frederick William, who moved against the interests of his father's policies. In 1803 Frederick William fled Württemberg to Paris, Vienna, Schaffhausen and Saarburg. In Saarburg, Therese gave birth to twins, who died shortly after birth. Now Elector of Württemberg, Frederick wanted to bring his son back to Württemberg. Frederick William went in October to Paris, where he was received on 14 October by Napoleon. Elector Frederick prevented the planned marriage of his son with Therese von Abel through diplomatic interventions, though separating the two did not happen until the autumn of 1804. During his time in Paris, Frederick William received financial support from the Landstände and later from Napoleon.

Marriages and issue

He married thrice:

• Firstly on 8 June 1808 in Munich to Caroline Augusta (1792–1873), daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (1756–1825) and Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (1765–1796). They divorced in 1814, without issue;
• Secondly on 24 January 1816 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he married his first cousin Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia (1788–1819),
  daughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia (1754–1801) and Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759–1828) by whom he had two daughters:
  • Princess Marie Friederike Charlotte of Württemberg (1816–1887) who married Alfred, Count von Neipperg (1807–1865);
  • Princess Sophie of Württemberg (1818–1877) who married King William III of the Netherlands (1817–1890).
• Thirdly on 15 April 1820 in Stuttgart he married another first cousin, Duchess Pauline Therese of Württemberg (1800–1873), a daughter of Duke Louis of Württemberg (1756–1817) and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg (1780–1857), by whom he had one son and heir and two further daughters:
  • Princess Catherine of Württemberg (1821–1898) who married Prince Frederick of Württemberg (1808–1870) by whom she was the mother of King William II of Württemberg (born 1848–1921) the last King of Württemberg who succeeded his uncle King Charles I of Württemberg and ruled from 1891 until the abolition of the kingdom in 1918.
  • King Charles I of Württemberg (born 1823–1891), who succeeded his father as king of Württemberg. A homosexual, he married Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, and leaving no issue was succeeded by his nephew King William II of Württemberg (born 1848–1921);
  • Princess Augusta of Württemberg (1826–1898) who married Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1825–1901). One of her daughters, Pauline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, married Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.