Adolf Fredrik, King of Sweden
1751-1771 (1710-1771)
Born 14 May 1710 Gottorp
Died 12 April 1771 Stockholm
Married 29 August 1744 Drottningholm
Princess Ulrike of Prussia, daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm
I, King in Prussia 1713-1740 and Princess Sophie Dorothea
von Hannover
Born 24 July 1720 Berlin
Died 16 July 1782 Swartsjo im Malarsee
In 1727, aged only seventeen, he became prince bishop of Luebeck and,
in 1739, administrator of the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. In 1743 Sweden
was defeated by Russia and, in the peace treaty, Tsarina Elisabeth made
it a condition that Adolf Fredrik, uncle of her heir, should become heir
of the childless Fredrik I, King of Sweden.
In 1744 Adolf Fredrik, regarded by some a nonentity, married the brilliant
Princess Ulrike of Prussia, sister of Frederick the Great, and they became
the parents of four children.
In 1751 he became King of Sweden and immediately took the unusual step
of visiting Finland. He showed a keen and informed interest in the navy
and, when forced, asserted the dignity of the impossibly restrained Swedish
crown. Adolf Fredrik and Ulrike were humiliated when their coup, to recover
some power for the crown, failed.
Source: Leo van de Pas
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