page_title: Order of the Black Eagle
section_title: Sovereigns and Masters of the Order
hierarchical_section_title: Order of the Black Eagle / Sovereigns and Masters of the Order
caption_attribution_description: Frederick William IV of Prussia (1795-1861)
context_page_description: The Order of the Black Eagle was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg. In his Dutch exile after World War I, deposed Emperor Wilhelm II continued to award the order to his family. He made his second wife, Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz, a Lady in the Order of the Black Eagle.
context_section_description: Friedrich I of Prussia (1657–1713) — founder of the Order of the Black Eagle; last Elector of Brandenburg and first King in Prussia
  Frederick William I of Prussia (1688–1740) — first member of the Order, inducted in 1701, when he was crown prince; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1713–1740
  Friedrich II (1712–1786) — "Friedrich the Great"; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1740–1786
  Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia (1744–1797) — Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1786–1797
  Frederick William III of Prussia (1770–1840) — King of Prussia during the Napoleonic era; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1797–1840
  Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia (1795–1861) — Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1840–1861
  Wilhelm I (1797–1888) — King of Prussia and first German emperor; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1861–1888
  Friedrich III (1831–1888) — better remembered as "Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm" of Prussia; general during the German wars of unification; briefly German emperor, March to June 1888; Died of throat cancer
  Wilhelm II (1859–1941) — last King of Prussia and last German emperor; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1888–1941
  William, German Crown Prince (1882–1951), Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1941–1951
  Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (1907–1994), Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1951–1994
  Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (born 1976), Sovereign and Master of the Order since 1994
caption: Friedrich Wilhelm IV, wearing the collar and cloak of the Order of the Black Eagle. Original portrait by Krüger
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