His mother was Princess Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau, daughter of Prince John George II of Anhalt-Dessau and Princess Henriette Catherine of Nassau.

In 1755 he acquired the Prinzessinnenpalais in Berlin and in 1785, he contracted the actress Henriette Hendel-Schutz to perform in his Court Theater.

After the birth of two daughters, he and his wife quarreled so often and so violently, that he banned her to Kolberg for the rest of her life.

Between 1760 and 1762, the mathematician Leonhard Euler sent numerous letters in French about mathematical and philosophical subjects to his daughter Frederike.

It was the Age of Enlightenment and Euler tried to explain physical issues and in particular their philosophical background in a generally understandable manner.