The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born at Cologne, 1620. Died 1688. Aged 68.] Surnamed the Great Elector, and father of the first King of Prussia. He succeeded to the government in 1640, and found his dominions exhausted by war and mismanagement. He restored the public finances, and corrected abuses. In 1655, he joined the Swedes in the invasion of Poland. In 1678, he completed the conquest of Pomerania. He then fought against the Swedes, and involved himself in war with France, because, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he had befriended 20,000 French Protestants who sought protection at his door. In 1686, he helped the Emperor against the Turks, and two years afterwards assisted William of Orange in his invasion of England. He left his territory as rich, fruitful, and well-governed, as he had found it poor and distracted. He has been censured for his frequent change of party, but he deserves his name of “Great,” no less for the victories he won abroad, than for the good services performed at home. He is described as a generous, kind-hearted man. [By Ludwig Wichmann. Bronze. At Treptow.]