Wilhelm, German Crown Prince

Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (; 6 May 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the eldest child of the Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and Empress Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. As heir, he was the last crown prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, until the abolition of the monarchy.

Wilhelm became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather Frederick III died and his father became emperor. He was crown prince for 30 years until the German Revolution. During World War I, he commanded the 5th Army from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince for the remainder of the war. After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for the reintroduction of the monarchy in Germany. 

After his plans to become president had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported Adolf Hitler's rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship cooled. Wilhelm became head of the House of Hohenzollern in June 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death in July 1951.

 Honours 

 German honoursHandbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat  (1918), Genealogy p.1Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha (1913) pp. 68–69

 Foreign honours

 Foreign military appointments

 During a visit to Russia in January 1903 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Little Russian Dragoon Regiment No. 40.

Notes

 References 

Category:1882 births
Category:1951 deaths
Category:German princes and princesses
Category:Prussian generals
Category:House of Hohenzollern