Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein

Who was Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein?

Karl Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein was a German-Prussian diplomat and later Prime Minister of Prussia.

He was the son of Count Albrecht Konrad Finck von Finckenstein, who was a Field Marshal and Governor of the Crown Prince, the future King Frederick II. Karl Wilhelm studied in Geneva and traveled in France and the Netherlands. In 1735 he was appointed to the Prussian diplomatic service.

Frederick II, who became king in 1740, knew Finckenstein well from his own childhood and had great confidence in him. Frederick sent him as minister to Sweden until 1740, then to Denmark, and in 1742 to Britain. In 1744 he went again to Sweden, when Frederick's sister Louisa Ulrika married King Adolf Frederick of Sweden. In 1747, Finckenstein was made a Minister of state, and became envoy to Russia.

He returned to Prussia in 1749, where he became a Cabinet Minister and henceforth the most trusted advisor to the King.

During the Seven Years War, Frederick issued a secret decree on 10 January 1757, "for the case of his death or capture", which appointed Finckenstein to run the country in that event.

After the end of the Seven Years War, Finckenstein had sole control of Prussia's foreign relations, and had also a prevailing influence on the King. This continued after Frederick's death in 1786, under his successor Frederick William II of Prussia, and right up to Finckenstein's death in 1800.