Of his two surviving sisters, the eldest, Christiane Eberhardine, became the wife of August II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and the youngest, Eleonore Magdalene, married a distant kinsman, Hermann Frederick, Count of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.

He pursued a military career due to a lack of academic aptitude and participated successfully on the imperial side in numerous battles.

It was intended to be a self-contained city (today in the district of Bayreuth) built in baroque style with a castle in the lake.

On 17 November 1705, he created the Order of the Red Eagle (German: Roter Adlerorden), then known as the Ordre de la Sincérité, and celebrated the anniversary of its foundation every year with splendid festivities.

They had five children: Devastated by the tragedy surrounding his beloved daughter, George William suffered a fatal decline in his health and died only two years later.