Wilhelm Malte I, Prince of Putbus, as a young man

• Portrait by an unknown artist
• around 1813/1815
• oil on canvas, carved lime frame
• height: 252 cm
• donated by the princely family of Putbus

The Swedish King Gustav IV elevated Wilhelm Malte of Putbus to the rank of prince on 25 May 1807. The portrait shows the young prince (1783-1854) in the uniform of a Swedish Royal Dragoon as testimony to Rügen's 'Swedish era', which lasted until 1815. Wilhelm Malte was the last governor general of the Province of Swedish Pomerania before it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815 as New Western Pomerania and Rügen. He had actually been picked to continue running the affairs of the province under its new rulers. The brassard worn by the prince on his upper left sleeve indicates that he fought with the allies at the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig. It was there that the allies, comprising Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden, defeated the French armies under Napoleon Bonaparte, hence emerging as victors from the German Campaign of 1813 against the French empire. Wilhelm Malte of Putbus commissioned construction of the Granitz hunting lodge. His selection of Putbus as seat of residence and establishment of the 'Fredrich-Wilhelmsbad' spa made him an early patron of seaside tourism in Rügen.