Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Karl Wilhelm

Prussian royalty, a ruler of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, a statesman and a military leader. He succeeded his father as sovereign prince of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, one of the princely states of the Holy Roman Empire. He was a recognized master of the warfare of the mid-18th century who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia. The duke was a cultured and benevolent despot in the model of Frederick the Great.

On 16 January 1764, he married Princess Augusta, a sister of George III of Great Britain. The couple were second cousins to each other, being great-grandchildren of George I of Great Britain. Inbreeding was a possible cause for the fact that the first three of the couple's four sons suffered from physical, mental or psychological disabilities. They had three healthy daughters. The duke also fathered at least one bastard, Forstenburg, who was healthy and began a promising military career before being killed in action during 1793.

Duke Karl died on 10 November 1806, aged 71, in Ottensen, First French Empire.