Historedia
Episode 1 of 1

Death and Accession

When
2 January 1861
Where
Sanssouci Palace
Part of
Death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Accession of Wilhelm I

Friedrich Wilhelm IV died on 2 January 1861 at Sanssouci, leading to Wilhelm I's accession as King of Prussia.

The king died on 2 January 1861 after losing consciousness following a stroke in November 1860. His brother Wilhelm, who had served as regent since 1858, ascended the throne. This transition marked the end of Frederick William's reign and the beginning of Wilhelm I's rule.

Sources

  1. Frederick William IV Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-09
  2. Wilhelm I Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-06
  3. Sanssouci Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.