Frederick William IV, the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, was king of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the throne", he was deeply religious and believed that he ruled by divine right. He feared revolutions, and his ideal state was one governed by the Christian estates of the realm rather than a constitutional monarchy.
The 1850 Constitution of Prussia was an amended version of the 1848 Constitution. Unlike the earlier version that King Frederick William IV had unilaterally imposed on the Kingdom of Prussia on 5 December 1848, the 1850 revision was a cooperative effort between the new Prussian Parliament, the King and his ministers. The changes they made to the 1848 Constitution were mostly relatively minor. The king remained in a position of dominance over the three branches of government, and Parliament had no control over the military, but liberal elements such as the catalogue of fundamental rights, the introduction of jury courts and certain limitations on the monarch's power remained in place.
The A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bankverein was a bank in Cologne, initially founded in 1791. In 1848 it was reorganized as a joint stock company, the first to be legally recognised as a bank in what is now Germany. It was purchased in 1914 by the Berlin-based Disconto-Gesellschaft, and its brand finally disappeared in 1929 as the latter was in turn merged with Deutsche Bank.
David Justus Ludwig Hansemann was a Prussian politician and banker, serving as the Prussian Minister of Finance in 1848.
The Landtag of Prussia was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (Herrenhaus) and the lower House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus). After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–19 the Landtag diet continued as the parliament of the Free State of Prussia between 1921 and 1934, when it was abolished by the Nazi regime.
Rudolf Ludwig Cäsar von Auerswald was a German official who served as Prime Minister of Prussia during the Revolution of 1848. Later, during the ministry of Charles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern, he led the government in all but name.
The Prussian National Assembly came into being after the revolution of 1848 and was tasked with drawing up a constitution for the Kingdom of Prussia. It first met in the building of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. On 5 November 1848 the Government ordered the expulsion of the Assembly to Brandenburg an der Havel and on 5 December 1848 it was dissolved by royal decree. King Frederick William IV then unilaterally imposed the 1848 Constitution of Prussia.
Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen was a Prime Minister of Prussia.
Heinrich Alexandervon Arnim(-Suckow) was a Prussian statesman.
The Arnim-Boitzenburg Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King Frederick William IV from March 18 to 29, 1848. The office of Prussian Prime Minister was newly created. The establishment of this liberal-conservative government was the King's attempt to meet the challenges of the March Revolution through slight reforms, which failed after just eleven days.
The Auerswald Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King Frederick William IV from June 25 to September 21, 1848. The March government came into power with the aim of successfully ending the liberal reforms and efforts to create a constitution for Prussia initiated by the Camphausen government. She was also unable to bridge the differences between the left-wing majority in the Prussian National Assembly and the King on the constitutional question and resigned after the defeat in the vote on the implementation of Stone's proposal to combat reactionary efforts in the military.
The Pfuel Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King Frederick William IV from September 21 to November 1, 1848. The cabinet represented the last attempt to bring about a constitutional agreement between the crown and the Prussian National Assembly. After the government resigned, the ministers continued in their positions until the Brandenburg cabinet was formed on November 8, 1848.
The Brandenburg Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King Frederick William IV from November 8, 1848, to November 6, 1850. With this cabinet, Frederick William IV appointed a clear conservative, anti-revolutionary government. The Prussian National Assembly was initially moved to Brandenburg an der Havel and dissolved on December 5, 1848. The King then imposed a constitution on his own authority. The assumption of office of this cabinet marks the beginning of the "New Era" in Prussia.
The Ladenberg Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King Frederick William IV from November 9, 1850, to December 4, 1850, after the death of Friedrich Wilhelm Brandenburg.
The Manteuffel Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King Frederick William IV from December 4, 1850, to November 6, 1858. The cabinet's term of office was characterized by the "New Era".
The Hohenzollern Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by Prince Regent Wilhelm I from November 6, 1858, to March 11, 1862. The transfer of government duties to William I by the ill King Frederick William IV resulted in a change of political course. The newly installed government consisted of liberal-conservative representatives of the Wochenblatt Party. The term in office is referred to as the "New Era", in which, in a certain departure from the reactionary era, public life was liberalized and the government cooperated more closely with the liberal chamber majority. However, the de facto head of the cabinet was not the Prime Minister, but the liberal former Prime Minister of 1848, Rudolf von Auerswald. As a minister without a portfolio, he was de facto deputy to the Prime Minister. In the spring of 1862, the Army reform escalated the Prussian constitutional conflict with the liberal chamber majority over the state parliament's co-determination in military affairs and fundamentally over the of Prussia, which led to the government's resignation and the end of the New Era.
The Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King William I from March 11 to September 23, 1862. After the previous government failed due to the Prussian constitutional conflict with the liberal chamber majority over the state parliament's participation in military affairs and, in principle, the parliamentarization of Prussia, William I installed a more conservative government that tried to agree on a compromise solution with the parliamentary majority, which, however, did not succeed. One week after Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen took office, the cabinet was fundamentally reorganized. The leading head of the cabinet was not the Prime Minister, but Finance Minister August von der Heydt.
The Bismarck-Roon Cabinet formed the Prussian State Ministry appointed by King William I, and his successors Frederick III, and William II, from September 23, 1862, to March 30, 1890.
