In 1525 the last Grand Master in Prussia, Albert of the Hohenzollern dynasty, transformed the land of the Order into a secular, Protestant duchy. From 1618 it was ruled together with the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Four rulers, each reigning for a long time in succession, brought the territories together and caused them to become a great European power in the 18th century.
Turning his back on the idea of an Order and thus causing a fundamental change, Grand Master Albert succeeded in taking a step towards the future. The Duchy of Prussia, the world's first Protestant state, became a modern state also owing to its university.
Agreement with the nobility and military success influenced the reign of the "Great Elector", who was able to sever the dependency on Poland and thus enabled the coronation of his son Frederick in 1701.
His son Frederick William I brought peace to the country as the "Soldier King". He used the time gained for internal reforms. With his love of everything military and professional civil service, he introduced many things that were later regarded as typically "Prussian". His son Frederick II "the Great" ended East Prussia's isolation through active warfare.
Illustration:
Königsberg, view of the castle from the church square in the old town, 1836 (available in print quality) Königsberg, view of the castle from the church square in the old town, 1836, lithography according to a painting by Carl Hübner (1814-1879)
Already the seat of the marshal of the Order since the 14th century, Königsberg (today’s Kaliningrad) became the seat of the Grand Master in 1457 after losing the Marienburg (today Malbork Castle), and from 1525 the residence of the dukes of Prussia. As electors could only rise to the status of kings outside the borders of the empire, the Königsberg castle church served as the church for the coronation of the Prussian kings, even though the Brandenburg Hohenzollern family ruled from Berlin and Potsdam. Having undergone rebuilding a number of times, the castle shaped the cityscape and served as the seat of the provincial government, the higher regional court and the archaeological museum of the Prussian society. The castle was bombed into ruins during the Second World War and finally blown up in 1968.