| Louis I | |
|---|---|
| King of Prussia Prince of Prussia President of East Germany Head of the House of Hohenzollern
| |
| |
| King of Prussia | |
| Reign | 18 January 1981 – 26 September 1994 |
| Coronation | 18 January 1981 |
| Predecessor | Monarchy Reestablished Crown Prince William (as pretender) William II (as monarch) Himself (as head of state) |
| Successor | Michael I |
| President of East Germany | |
| Tenure | 3 May 1966 – 18 January 1981 |
| Inauguration | 16 August 1966 |
| Predecessor | Walter Ulbricht (as Chairman of the State Council) |
| Successor | Position Abolished Himself (as King) |
| Head of the House of Hohenzollern | |
| Period | 20 July 1951 – 26 September 1994 |
| Born | 9 November 1907 Marble Palace, Potsdam, German Empire |
| Died | 26 September 1994 (aged 86) Königsberg, Prussia |
| Burial | 1 October 1994 Königsberg Cathedral, Königsberg, Prussia |
| Spouse | Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia |
| Issue | Prince Friedrich Wilhelm King Michael I of Prussia Princess Marie Cécile Princess Kira Prince Louis Ferdinand Prince Christian-Sigismund Princess Xenia |
| Full name | |
| Louis Ferdinand Victor Edward Albert Michael Hubert | |
| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Crown Prince William of Germany |
| Mother | Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
| Religion | Protestantism |
Louis I (German: Ludwig Ferdinand Viktor Eduard Albrecht Michael Hubertus; 9 November 1907 – 26 September 1994) was a member of the royal House of Hohenzollern and the pretender for almost half-century to the abolished German and Prussian thrones, until the restoration of the Prussian monarchy in 1981.
On the 20th of October in 1962, Louis and his family took shelter in a underground bunker when Bremen was destroyed by a Soviet intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile. In the aftermath of the conflict, Prince Louis and General Wilhelm Mohnke joined together and led a group of West German soldiers and refugees heading towards Berlin. In 1966, Louis and Mohnke led a Anti-Communist revolution against the rule of the Communist Party in East Germany and established a military junta. Under his rule as President of East Germany, Louis passed reforms in hopes of increasing food production and economic growth. Prince Louis' term as President saw the deadliest war fought by a German-speaking state since the Second World War, the Prussian War, as East Germany invaded the Polish Republic of Pomerania and the Soviet survivor state of Kaliningrad SSR. East Germany was victorious in the conflict, and the popularity of the Prince caused the East German government to declare Louis as King of Prussia.
Louis became Louis I when he ascended the reestablished throne of Prussia, becoming the first King of Prussia since the abolition of the monarchy in 1918. His reign as King would pit him against the Prussian parliament over the issue of the Polish and Russian population living in the "reconquered territories" that were gained following the Prussian War. It was proposed that the Slavic population was to be relocated to the Commonwealth of Poland in order to find homes for German refugees of the Nuclear War, as well as restoring the areas to it's pre-World War II German status. Louis believed that the forced expulsions were as immoral as the liquidation of Prussia that occurred between 1945 and 1947. King Louis eventually won in the debate and the expulsions were put to an end by 1985. The King personally signed a law that granted the Polish and Russian people living in the "reconquered territories" civil rights, making them equal to the German population.
By the time of his death, King Louis arranged to have the remains of several Hohenzollern members reinterred at the imperial vault in Potsdam. King Louis died in September 1994 at the age of eighty-six, and he was buried the following month.