The king, who was about 1.6 meters himself, created a regiment called commonly called "Potsdam Giants", for which the required height was 1.88 meters, well above average then and now. William I loved the regiment - he trained and drilled it every day. He tried to obtain tall soldiers by any means - recruited tall mercenaries from all of Europe, received tall recruits as gifts from other monarchs, and even even kidnapped tall priests and monks.