This article is about the man who was Crown Prince Wilhelm. For German ships of the same name, please see the WWI auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm or the WWI battleship SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm.

{|align=right German Crown Prince Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia (6 May 1882 - 20 July 1951), Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August Ernst, was born 6 May 1882 at Marmorpalais, Potsdam, Germany. He was the son of Wilhelm II of Germany (1859-1941) and his first wife Princess Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Augustenburg (1858-1921), which made him the eldest child of the eldest child of the eldest child of Queen Victoria. He was the last crown prince of Prussia and the German Empire. Around 1901-1906 he had a brief affair, which initiated a lifelong friendship, with opera singer Geraldine Farrar (1882-1967).

On 6 June 1905 at Berlin he married Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (20 September 1886 - 6 May 1954), the daughter of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1851-1897) and his wife Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860-1922).

Their children were:

• Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1906-1940)
• Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1907-1994)
• Prince Hubertus of Prussia (1909-1950)
• Prince Friedrich of Prussia (1911-1966)
• Princess Alexandrine of Prussia (1915-1980)
• Princess Cecilie of Prussia (1917-1975)

As a young man, the Crown Prince became associated with the militaristic clique within Germany's highest circles. A widely acknowledged playboy, he had received little command experience when he was given charge of the Fifth army in August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I. After a quick victory in Ardennes his military reputation rose. During the remainder of the war he served on the western front. While on the Western front he notably headed the Verdun offensive against the French in February 1916.

In 1918 revolution broke out in Germany. Both Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Crown Prince signed the document of abdication. Father and son went into exile in Doorn, Holland. In 1923, the ex-Crown Prince returned to Germany after giving assurances that he would no longer engage in politics. The ex-Crown Prince refused to endorse Adolf Hitler's Nazi party and lived as a private citizen during World War II. In 1951, the former Crown Prince suffered a heart attack and died.

1882 births | 1916 deaths | Prussian princes | Heirs apparent who never acceded | Knights of the Garter

Wilhelm von Preußen (1882–1951) | Wilhelm van Pruisen | Wilhelm von Hohenzollern | Wilhelm (tysk kronprins)