Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Frederick Francis IV was the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, reigning from 1897 to 1918, and from February 1918 also regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His state kept one of the most old-fashioned constitutions in Germany, dominated by the noble estates. He abdicated on 14 November 1918, and Mecklenburg-Schwerin became a free state with a parliamentary constitution.