A newly crowned king with a small flaw...


On January 18, 1701, the Margrave of Brandenburg, Friedrich III....



... at Königsberg himself to the "King in Prussia" and takes the name Friedrich I.!



Here the coronation insignia…:


The elaborate coronation ceremony was designed by the new king himself...:



Frederick had long worked towards the goal of raising his rank from margrave to king. And unsuccessful for just as long.

But now the German Emperor needs soldiers and political support in the War of the Spanish Succession - and Prussia can offer both!

The price of kingship is the participation of the now Royal Prussian Army in the War of Spanish Succession on the side of the Emperor against France...:



However, the newly crowned king has a stale aftertaste, which the magnificent coronation celebration cannot hide:

He was not allowed to call himself "King of Prussia" because the designation "King of Prussia" would have been understood as a claim to power over all of Prussia, i.e. the Teutonic Order state, which had been divided since 1466. Its western part belongs to Poland!



So the new majesty was left with only the "in Prussia" - Emperor Leopold II ...



...had not been able to bring himself to do more, because he does not want to annoy the Polish King August II, who also rules in Saxony as Elector Friedrich August I ("the Strong") and, as Elector, is entitled to vote in the imperial elections ...:



Well, the successor-successor to the "King in Prussia" Frederick II ("the Great")...



...will rectify the flaw, annex said Polish part of Prussia in 1772 and henceforth call himself "King of Prussia" (which has been the case throughout Europe since the Seven Years' War anyway...)