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{{Short description|Prussian marshal and statesman (1678–1739)}}
[[Image:
'''Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow''' (
The cultured Grumbkow was born in [[Berlin]] as the son of [[Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow]], General War Minister of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]]. Educated in [[France]], he married a Mademoiselle de la Chevalerie.<ref name="M44">MacDonogh, p. 44</ref> He took part in the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], fighting in the [[Battle of Malplaquet]] and reaching the rank of ''[[Generalmajor]]''.
King [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] trusted Grumbkow and named him a member of the Privy Council and the head of the ''Generalkriegskommissariat'', or [[General War Commissariat]]. He was known as "Biberius" to his friends, on account of his proclivity to alcohol consumption.<ref>MacDonogh, p. 45</ref> He owned the [[Schloss Schönhausen|Petit Palais]] in Niederschönhausen and a house on Königstraße in Berlin.
Grumbkow rose to the top of the Prussian military and taxation branches, allowing him to aid Frederick William in his efforts to modernize the administration of Prussia. His improvements to the taxation system were vital to the colonization of unsettled lands and to municipal governance. After the creation of the [[General Directory of War and Finance|General Directory]] in 1723, Grumbkow became head of the first department. He was promoted to ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in 1737.
Influenced by the [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] envoy in Berlin, [[Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff]], Grumbkow advised Frederick William I against a marriage of Crown Prince [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick]] with a princess from the [[House of Hanover]]. In serving the interests of [[Habsburg
Frederick William tolerated Grumbkow's being on the payroll of Austria. In a letter to [[Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau]], the king wrote of Grumbkow's corruption, "I know he is like that, but you need such people to do the business honourable people wouldn't want to soil their hands with. I get more out of him in an hour than I acquit with others in three."<ref name="M44"/>
Frederick eventually reached a reconciliation with both Frederick William and Grumbkow. He referred to Grumbkow as "the [[Kashubians|Cassubian]]", because of his [[Pomerania]]n ancestry.<ref>MacDonogh, p. 104</ref> Grumbkow died in Berlin in 1739, barely over a year before Frederick William.
==Notes==
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==References==
*{{cite book|last=MacDonogh|first=Giles|title=Frederick the Great: A Life in Deed and Letters|year=2001|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|pages=436|isbn=0-312-27266-9}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grumbkow, Friedrich Wilhelm von}}
[[Category:1678 births]]
[[Category:1739 deaths]]
[[Category:Field
[[Category:German untitled nobility]]
[[Category:
[[Category:People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg]]
[[Category:German military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession]]
[[Category:Prussian politicians]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Berlin]]
[[Category:Pomeranian nobility]]
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