Since 1867, the presidency ( Bundespräsidium) of the North German Confederation had been a hereditary office of the kings of Prussia. He was afraid that it would overshadow the Prussian crown. But more in general, Wilhelm was unhappy about a crown that looked artificial (like Napoléon's), having been created by a constitution. "Emperor of the Germans", as had been proposed at the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, was ruled out by Wilhelm as he considered himself a king who ruled by divine right and chosen " By the Grace of God", not by the people in a popular monarchy. However, that would have signaled a territorial sovereignty unacceptable to the South German monarchs, as well as a claim to lands outside his realm ( Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc.). Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly on 18 January, having preferred "Emperor of Germany" ( German: Kaiser von Deutschland). The title was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia and Chancellor of the North German Confederation, after discussion which continued until the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as emperor at the Palace of Versailles during the Siege of Paris. Proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, France (painting by Anton von Werner) Frederick Wilhelm believed that only the German princes had the right to make such an offer, in accordance with the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the wake of the revolutions of 1848 and during the German Empire (1848–49), King Frederick Wilhelm IV of Prussia was offered the title "Emperor of the Germans" ( German: Kaiser der Deutschen) by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, but declined it as "not the Parliament's to give". The Holy Roman Emperor is sometimes also called "German Emperor" when the historical context is clear, as derived from the Holy Roman Empire's official name of "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" from 1512.įollowing the revolution of 1918, the head of state was the president of the Reich ( German: Reichspräsident), beginning with Friedrich Ebert. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the official abdication of Wilhelm II on 9 November 1918. The German Emperor ( German: Deutscher Kaiser, pronounced ( listen)) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire.
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