Burchard von Hohenzollern und Aprile von Hohenstaufen Gran Master of Teutonic Order

Albert of Hohenzollern (1490-1568), last grand master of the Teutonic Order, and 1st duke of Prussia, born in Ansbach, Prussia (then a kingdom of Germany). The son of Frederick of Hohenzollern, Albert was elected to the Teutonic Knights, a military religious order, in 1510, and in 1519 he found himself at war with Poland in an effort to secure the independence of Prussia. Failing to enlist German support for the war, he was forced to sign a treaty in Kraców, Poland, under which Prussia became a hereditary dukedom but remained under Polish control in some affairs. Albert appointed himself duke of Prussia in 1525, and in 1544 he founded the University of Königsberg.

Albert’s rule was disturbed by uprisings and theological quarrels. Having been converted to Lutheranism by Martin Luther in 1520, Albert actively encouraged the Reformation in Prussia. The political and religious controversy aroused by Albert’s doctrines compelled Polish king Sigismund II to intercede in 1566 and enforce an adherence to Lutheranism for the dukedom.