He was a son of Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia and Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt, and was a nephew of King Frederick the Great.

On the occasion of the military review at Petershagen, Louis Ferdinand was promoted to lieutenant general on 2 June 1799, with a patent from 20 May 1799.

Louis Ferdinand was in command of 8,300 men when he advanced against marshall Jean Lannes' V Corps as they attempted to break out from the passes of Thuringian Forest.

[3] Anton Reicha's massive variation cycle, L'art de varier, was also written for Louis Ferdinand.

[6] His close friendships with Tieck, Schlegel, and Wackenroder, all founding figures of German Romanticism, may have had an influence on his worldview and consequently his music.

In 1842, Franz Liszt wrote an Élégie sur des motifs du Prince Louis Ferdinand de Prusse, S. 168, for piano solo.

The following is a complete list of compositions by Prince Louis Ferdinand with opus numbers:[7] Ludwig von Wildenbruch was the elder of two illegitimate children born to Henriette Fromme.