Margraviate of Brandenburg
Encyclopedia
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality
of the Holy Roman Empire
from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg (Mark Brandenburg), it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany
and Central Europe
.
Brandenburg developed out of the Northern March
founded in the territory of the Slavic
Wends
. Its ruling margrave
s were established as prestigious prince-elector
s in the Golden Bull of 1356
, allowing them to vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor
. The state thus became additionally known as Electoral Brandenburg or the Electorate of Brandenburg (Kurfürstentum Brandenburg or Kurbrandenburg).
The House of Hohenzollern
came to the throne of Brandenburg in 1415. Under Hohenzollern leadership, Brandenburg grew rapidly in power during the 17th century and inherited the Duchy of Prussia. The resulting Brandenburg-Prussia
was the predecessor of the Kingdom of Prussia
, which became a leading German state during the 18th century. Although the electors' highest title was "King in/of Prussia
", their power base remained in Brandenburg and its capitals Berlin
and Potsdam
.
Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the great Holy Roman Empire
in 1806, it was replaced with the Prussian Province of Brandenburg
in 1815. Despite its meager beginnings in the "sandbox
" of the Holy Roman Empire, the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia achieved the unification of Germany
and the creation of the German Empire
in 1871. The "Mark Brandenburg" is still used informally today to refer to the federal state
of Brandenburg
in the Federal Republic of Germany
.
and western Poland
. Geographically it encompassed the majority of the present-day German states
Brandenburg
and Berlin
, the Altmark
(the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt
), and the Neumark
(now divided between Poland's Lubusz
and West Pomeranian Voivodeship
s). Parts of the present-day federal state Brandenburg, such as Lower Lusatia
and territory which had been Saxon
until 1815, were not parts of the Mark. Colloquially but not accurately, the federal state Brandenburg is sometimes identified as the Mark or Mark Brandenburg.
The region was formed during the ice age
and characterized by moraine
s, glacial valleys, and numerous lakes. The territory is known as a Mark or march
because it was a border county of the Holy Roman Empire
(see also Margraviate of Meissen).
The Mark is defined by two uplands and two depressions. The depressions are taken up by rivers and chains of lakes with marsh and boggy soil along the shores; once used for peat
collection, the riverbanks are now mostly drained and dry.
The Northern or Baltic Uplands
of the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau have only minor extensions into Brandenburg. The approximately 230 km-long range of hills in the Mark's south begins in the Lausitzer Bergland
(near Żary (Sorau)
) and continues past Trzebiel (Triebel)
and Spremberg
, then to the northwest through Calau
, and ends in the bare and dry Fläming
. The southern depression is generally to the north of this ridge and appears strikingly in the Spreewald
(between Baruth
and Plaue an der Havel). The northern depression, lying almost directly south of the Baltic uplands, is defined by the lowlands of the Noteć
and Warta
Rivers, the Oderbruch
, the valley of the Finow
, the Havelland
moor
, and the Oder River.
Between these two depressions is a low plateau that extends from the Poznań
area westward to Brandenburg through Torzym (Sternberg)
, the Spree
plateau, and the Mittelmark
. From southeast to northwest, this plateau is intersected by the lowland of the Leniwa Obra and the Oder River below the confluence of the Lusatian Neisse
, the lower Spree Valley, and the Havel Valley. Between these valleys rise a series of hills and plateaus, such as the Barnim
, the Teltow
, the Semmelberg near Bad Freienwalde
(157 m), the Müggelberge in Köpenick
(115 m), the Havelberge (97 m), and the Rauen Hills near Fürstenwalde (112 to 152 m).
The region is predominantly marked by dry, sand
y soil, wide stretches of which have pine
trees and erica
plants, or heath. However, the soil is loam
y in the uplands and plateaus and, when farmed appropriately, can be agriculturally productive.
Mark Brandenburg has a cool, continental climate, with temperatures averaging near 0°C in January and February and near 18°C in July and August. Precipitation averages between 500 mm and 600 mm annually, with a modest summer maximum.
_brandenburg_1150.jpg)
By the 8th century, Slavic
Wends
, such as the Sprevjane and Hevelli, started to move into the Brandenburg area. They intermarried with Saxons and Bohemians.
The Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg
were established at the beginning of the 10th century (in 928 and 948, respectively). They were suffragan to the Archbishopric of Mainz
; the Bishopric of Brandenburg reached to the Baltic Sea
.
King Henry the Fowler
started governing in the region in 928–9, allowing Emperor Otto I
to establish the Northern March
under Margrave Gero
in 936 during the German Ostsiedlung
. However, the march and the bishropics were overthrown by a Slavic rebellion in 983; until the collapse of the Liutizian alliance in the middle of the 11th century, the Holy Roman Empire
government through bishoprics and marches came nearly to a standstill for approximately 150 years., even though the bishopric was retained.
Prince Pribislav of the Hevelli came to power at the castle of Brenna (Brandenburg an der Havel
) in 1127. During Pribislav's reign, in which he cultivated close connections with the German nobility
, Germans succeeded in binding to the Holy Roman Empire
the Havolanie region from Brandenburg an der Havel to Spandau
. The disputed eastern border continued between the Hevelli and the Sprewane, recognized as the Havel-Nuthe line. Prince Jaxa of Köpenick (Jaxa de Copnic) of the Sprewaner lived in Köpenick east of the dividing line.
began the expansionary eastern policy of the Ascanian
s. From 1123–5 Albert developed contacts with Pribislav, who served as the godfather for the Ascanian's first son, Otto
, and gave the boy the Zauche region as a christening present in 1134. In the same year Emperor Lothair III
named Albert margrave of the Northern March
and raised Pribislav to the status of king
, although that was later rescinded. Also in 1134, Albert succeeded in securing for the Ascanians the inheritance of the childless Pribislav. After the latter's death in 1150, Albert received the Havolanie residence of Brenna, or Brandenburg an der Havel
. The Ascanians also began to build the castle
of Spandau
.
In contrast to their leaders who had accepted Christianity, the Havolanie population still worshipped old Slavic deities and opposed Albert's assumption of power. Jaxa of Köpenick, a possible relative of Pribislav and a claim-holder to Brandenburg, occupied Brandenburg through guile, violence, and Polish help, and seized the Havelland. Older historical research dates this conquest to 1153, although there are no definite sources for the date. More recent researchers, such as Lutz Partenheimer, date it to spring 1157, as it is doubtful that Albert would not have responded to Jaxa's actions for four years.
With bloody victories on 11 June 1157, Albert the Bear was able to reconquer Brandenburg, exile Jaxa, and found a new lordship. Because he already held the title of margrave, Albert styled himself as Margrave of Brandenburg (Adelbertus Die gratia marchio in Brandenborch) on 3 October 1157, thereby beginning the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
The territorial limits of the original margraviate differed from the area of the current Bundesland Brandenburg
, consisting merely of the Havelland and Zauche regions. In the following 150 years the Ascanians succeeded in winning the Uckermark
, Teltow
, and Barnim
regions east of the Havel and Nuthe, thereby extending the Mark to the Oder River. The Neumark
("New March") east of the Oder was acquired gradually through purchases, marriages, and aid to the Piast dynasty
of Poland.
Because of the sandy soil prevalent in Brandenburg, the agriculturally meager principality was denigrated as "the sandbox
of the Holy Roman Empire
". Albert invited colonists to settle the new territory
, many of whom came from the Altmark
("Old March", a later name for the original Northern March), the Harz
, Flanders
(hence the Fläming
region), and the Rhineland
. After the capture of territory along the Elbe and Havel Rivers in the 1160s, Flemish
and Dutch settlers from flooded regions in Holland used their expertise to build dikes in Brandenburg. Initially, the Ascanians protected the country by settling knight
s in villages; castle
s fortified with knights were mostly located in the border region of the Neumark. After a 14th-century decline in imperial power, however, knights began constructing castles throughout the principality, granting them more independence.
After Albert's death in 1170, his son succeeded him as Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg
. The Ascanians pursued a policy of expanding to the east and the northeast with the goal of connecting their territories through Pomerania
to the Baltic Sea
. This policy brought them into conflict with the Kingdom of Denmark
. After the Battle of Bornhöved (1227)
, Margrave John I staked his claim to Pomerania, receiving it as a fief from Emperor Frederick II
in 1231. The middle of the 13th century was a time of important developments for the Ascanian House, as it won Stettin (Szczecin)
and the Uckermark
(1250), although the former was later lost to the Duchy of Pomerania
. Henry II, the last Ascanian margrave, died in 1320.
Having defeated the Habsburg
s, the Wittelsbach
Emperor Louis IV
, an uncle of Henry II, granted Brandenburg to his oldest son, Louis I
(the "Brandenburger") in 1323. As a consequence of the murder of Provost Nikolaus von Bernau in 1325, Brandenburg was punished with a papal interdict
. From 1328 onwards, Louis was in war against Pomerania
which he claimed as a fiefdom and the conflict did not end before 1333. The rule of Margrave Louis I was rejected by the domestic nobility of Brandenburg, and, after the death of Emperor Louis VI in 1347, the margrave was confronted with the False Waldemar
, an imposter of the deceased Margrave Waldemar
. The pretender was recognized as Margrave of Brandenburg on 2 October 1348 by the new emperor, Charles IV
of Luxembourg
, but was exposed as a fraud after a peace between the Wittelsbachs and Luxembourgs at Eltville
. In 1351 Louis gave the Mark to his younger half-brothers Louis II
(the "Roman") and Otto V
in exchange for the sole rule over Upper Bavaria
.
Louis the Roman forced the False Waldemar to renounce his claims to Brandenburg and succeeded in establishing the Margraves of Brandenburg as prince-elector
s in the Golden Bull of 1356
. Brandenburg therefore became a Kurfürstentum (literally "electoral principality" or "electorate") of the Holy Roman Empire
and had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor
. The Margrave of Brandenburg also held the ceremonial title of Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire. When Louis the Roman died in 1365, Otto took over the rule of Brandenburg, although he quickly neglected the march. He sold Lower Lusatia
, which he had already pledged to the Wettin
dynasty, to Emperor Charles IV in 1367. A year later he lost the town Deutsch Krone (Wałcz) to King Casimir the Great
of Poland
.
. Control over the electoral vote of Brandenburg would help assure the Luxembourgs of election to the imperial throne, as they already held the vote of Bohemia
. Charles succeeded in purchasing Brandenburg from Margrave Otto for 500,000 guilder
s in 1373 and, at a Landtag
in Guben
, united Brandenburg and Lower Lusatia with the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Landbuch of Charles IV, a source for the history of medieval settlement in Brandenburg, originated during this time. Charles chose the castle of Tangermünde
to be the electoral residence.
The power of the Luxembourgs in Brandenburg declined during the reign of Charles's nephew Jobst of Moravia
. The Neumark
was pawned to the Teutonic Knights
, who neglected the border region. Under the Wittelsbach and Luxembourg margraves, Brandenburg fell increasingly under the control of the local nobility as central authority declined.
as Holy Roman Emperor at Frankfurt
in 1410, Frederick VI of Nuremberg
, a burgrave
of the House of Hohenzollern
, was granted hereditary control over Brandenburg in 1411. Rebellious landed nobility
such as the Quitzow family opposed his appointment, but Frederick overpowered these knights with artillery
. Some nobles had their property confiscated, and the Brandenburg estates gave allegiance at Tangermünde
on 20 March 1414. Frederick was officially recognized as Margrave and Prince-elector Frederick I of Brandenburg at the Council of Constance
in 1415. Frederick's formal investiture with the Kurmark, or electoral march, and his appointment as Archchamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire occurred on 18 April 1417, also during the Council of Constance.
Frederick made Berlin his residence, although he retired to his Franconia
n possessions in 1425. He granted governance of Brandenburg to his eldest son John the Alchemist
, while retaining the electoral dignity for himself. The next elector, Frederick II
, forced the submission of Berlin
and Cölln
, setting an example for the other towns of Brandenburg. He reacquired the Neumark from the Teutonic Knights
by the Treaties of Cölln and Mewe
and began its rebuilding.
Years of warfare
with the Duchy of Pomerania
were ended by the treaties of Prenzlau
(1448, 1472, and 1479).
Brandenburg accepted the Protestant Reformation
in 1539. The population has remained largely Lutheran
since, although some later electors converted to Calvinism
.
The Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg sought to expand their power base from their relatively meager possessions, although this brought them into conflict with neighboring states. John William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
died childless in 1609. His eldest niece, Anna, Duchess of Prussia, was the wife of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
, who promptly claimed the inheritance and sent troops to take hold of some of John William's holdings in the Rhineland
. Unfortunately for John Sigismund, this effort became tied up with the Thirty Years' War
and the disputed succession of Julich. At the end of the war in 1648, Brandenburg was recognized as the possessor of approximately half the inheritance, comprising the Duchy of Cleves
in the Rhineland
and the Counties of Mark
and Ravensberg in Westphalia
. These territories, which were more than 100 kilometers from the borders of Brandenburg, formed the nucleus of the later Prussian Rhineland
.
When Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
, died without a son in 1618, his son-in-law John Sigismund inherited the Duchy of Prussia, which joined Brandenburg in the expanded state of Brandenburg-Prussia
. In this way, the fortuitous marriage of John Sigismund to Anna of Prussia, and the deaths of her maternal uncle in 1609 and her father in 1618 without immediate male heirs, proved to be the key events by which Brandenburg acquired territory both in the Rhineland and on the Baltic coast. Prussia lay outside the Holy Roman Empire and the electors of Brandenburg held it as a fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, to which the electors paid homage.
The electors of Brandenburg spent the next two centuries attempting to gain lands to unite their separate territories (the Mark Brandenburg, the territories in the Rhineland and Westphalia, and Ducal Prussia) to form one geographically contiguous domain. In the Peace of Westphalia
ending the Thirty Years' War
in 1648, Brandenburg-Prussia acquired Farther Pomerania
and made it the Province of Pomerania by the Treaty of Stettin (1653)
. In the second half of the 17th century, Frederick William
, the "Great Elector", developed the power of Brandenburg-Prussia
. The state constructed Brandenburg's first navy
(Kurbrandenburgische Marine), leading to short-lived colonies at Arguin
, the Brandenburger Gold Coast
, and Saint Thomas
. The electors succeeded in acquiring sovereignty over Prussia in the treaties of Wehlau and Bromberg
in 1657. The territories of the Hohenzollerns were opened to immigration by Huguenot
refugees in by the Edict of Potsdam
in 1685.
during the War of the Spanish Succession
, Elector Frederick III
of Brandenburg was allowed to crown himself Frederick I, King in Prussia
. Prussia, unlike Brandenburg, lay outside the Holy Roman Empire, within whose boundaries no ruler could call himself king. As king
was a more prestigious title than prince-elector
, the territories of the Hohenzollerns became known as the Kingdom of Prussia
, although their power base remained in Brandenburg.
From 1701 to 1946, Brandenburg's history was largely that of the state of Prussia
, which established itself as a major power in Europe during the 18th century. King Frederick William I of Prussia
, the "Soldier-King", modernized the Prussian Army
, while his son Frederick the Great
achieved glory and infamy with the Silesian Wars
and Partitions of Poland
. The feudal designation of the Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with the Province of Brandenburg
in 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars
. Brandenburg became part of the German Empire
in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
.
of provinces by Nazi Germany
during the 1930s, the Province of Brandenburg
and the Free State of Prussia lost all practical relevancy. The region was administered as the Gau "Mark Brandenburg".
The state of Prussia was de jure abolished in 1947 after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II
; the Gau "Mark Brandenburg" was replaced with the Land
Brandenburg. Territory east of the Oder-Neisse Line
(the Neumark
region) was placed under Polish
administration (became part Poland as her boundaries were agreed by the international powers in 1945 at the Yalta Conference
) and separated from Germany. Most of its German-speaking population was expelled
and replaced with Poles. Brandenburg west of the Oder-Neisse Line lay in the Soviet occupation zone
; it became part of the German Democratic Republic
. In 1952 the region was divided among the districts of Cottbus
, Frankfurt (Oder)
, Potsdam
, Schwerin
, and Neubrandenburg
; Berlin was divided between East Berlin
and West Berlin
.
This division of Brandenburg continued until the German reunification
in 1990. The GDR districts were dissolved and replaced with the state of Brandenburg
with its capital in Potsdam. The 850th anniversary of the foundation of the March of Brandenburg was to be celebrated officially on 11 June 2007, with preliminary celebrations having begun at the Knights' Academy of Brandenburg an der Havel
on 23 June 2006.
Principality
A principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg (Mark Brandenburg), it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
.
Brandenburg developed out of the Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
founded in the territory of the Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
Wends
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
. Its ruling margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
s were established as prestigious prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
s in the Golden Bull of 1356
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Reichstag assembly in Nuremberg headed by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire...
, allowing them to vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. The state thus became additionally known as Electoral Brandenburg or the Electorate of Brandenburg (Kurfürstentum Brandenburg or Kurbrandenburg).
The House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
came to the throne of Brandenburg in 1415. Under Hohenzollern leadership, Brandenburg grew rapidly in power during the 17th century and inherited the Duchy of Prussia. The resulting Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
was the predecessor of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, which became a leading German state during the 18th century. Although the electors' highest title was "King in/of Prussia
King in Prussia
King in Prussia was a title used by the Electors of Brandenburg from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently they used the title King of Prussia....
", their power base remained in Brandenburg and its capitals Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
.
Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the great Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in 1806, it was replaced with the Prussian Province of Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg
The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...
in 1815. Despite its meager beginnings in the "sandbox
Sandpit
A sandpit or sandbox is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with sand in which children can play. Many homeowners with children build sandpits in their backyards because, unlike much playground equipment, they can be easily and cheaply constructed...
" of the Holy Roman Empire, the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia achieved the unification of Germany
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
and the creation of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1871. The "Mark Brandenburg" is still used informally today to refer to the federal state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
in the Federal Republic of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Geography
The territory of the former margraviate, commonly known as the Mark Brandenburg, lies in present-day eastern GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and western Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Geographically it encompassed the majority of the present-day German states
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the Altmark
Altmark
The Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the Brandenburg margraves, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native from Schönhausen near Stendal.- Geography :The Altmark is...
(the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
), and the Neumark
Neumark (region)
The Neumark , also known as the New March or as East Brandenburg , comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany, located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945....
(now divided between Poland's Lubusz
Lubusz Voivodeship
- Administrative division :Lubusz Voivodeship is divided into 14 counties : 2 city counties and 12 land counties. These are further divided into 83 gminas....
and West Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, , is a voivodeship in northwestern Poland. It borders on Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast, Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the German federal-state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north...
s). Parts of the present-day federal state Brandenburg, such as Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
and territory which had been Saxon
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
until 1815, were not parts of the Mark. Colloquially but not accurately, the federal state Brandenburg is sometimes identified as the Mark or Mark Brandenburg.
The region was formed during the ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
and characterized by moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
s, glacial valleys, and numerous lakes. The territory is known as a Mark or march
Marches
A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
because it was a border county of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
(see also Margraviate of Meissen).
The Mark is defined by two uplands and two depressions. The depressions are taken up by rivers and chains of lakes with marsh and boggy soil along the shores; once used for peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
collection, the riverbanks are now mostly drained and dry.
The Northern or Baltic Uplands
Baltic Uplands
The Baltic Uplands is a chain of morainic hills about 200 km wide that border the southern Baltic Sea from Jutland to Estonia.- Geography :The uplands, which reach a height of at Wieżyca , form the western part of the East European Plain. To the north they descend steadily into the Gulf of Finland...
of the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau have only minor extensions into Brandenburg. The approximately 230 km-long range of hills in the Mark's south begins in the Lausitzer Bergland
Lausitzer Bergland
The Lusatian Highlands is a hilly and low mountainous region in Germany and the Czech Republic. A western extension of the Sudetes range, it is located on the border of the German state of Saxony with the Czech Bohemian region...
(near Żary (Sorau)
Zary
Żary is a town in western Poland with about 39,900 inhabitants , situated in the Lubusz Voivodeship...
) and continues past Trzebiel (Triebel)
Trzebiel
Trzebiel is a village in Żary County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, close to the German border. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Trzebiel...
and Spremberg
Spremberg
Spremberg is a village near to the city of Hoyerswerda in the Spree-Neiße district of Brandenburg, Germany. The village was first mentioned in 1956. The village alone has only 9,588 Inhabitants, the hole region has 21,361 Inhabitants-Geography:...
, then to the northwest through Calau
Calau
Calau is a small town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 14 km south of Lübbenau, and 27 km west of Cottbus...
, and ends in the bare and dry Fläming
Fläming
The Fläming Heath is a region and a hill chain that reaches over 100 km from the Elbe river to the Dahme River in the German states Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Its highest elevation is the Hagelberg...
. The southern depression is generally to the north of this ridge and appears strikingly in the Spreewald
Spreewald
The Spreewald is situated about 100 km south-east of Berlin. It was designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1991. It is known for its traditional irrigation system which consists of more than 200 small channels within the area. The landscape was shaped during the ice-age...
(between Baruth
Baruth
Baruth is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km east of Luckenwalde, and 53 km south of Berlin....
and Plaue an der Havel). The northern depression, lying almost directly south of the Baltic uplands, is defined by the lowlands of the Noteć
Notec
Noteć is a river in central Poland with a length of 388 km and a basin area of 17,330 km². It is a tributary of the Warta river and lies completely within Poland....
and Warta
Warta River
The Warta is a river in western-central Poland, a tributary of the Oder river. With a length of approximately it is the country's third longest river. The Warta has a basin area of 54,529 square kilometers...
Rivers, the Oderbruch
Oderbruch
The Oderbruch is a region along the river Oder between the towns Oderberg and Bad Freienwalde in the north and Lebus in the south...
, the valley of the Finow
Finow
Finow is a river of Brandenburg, Germany....
, the Havelland
Havelland
Havelland is a geograhical region and district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Ostprignitz-Ruppin and Oberhavel, the city-state of Berlin, the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the city of Brandenburg and the state of Saxony-Anhalt .-History:-Geography:Geographically...
moor
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
, and the Oder River.
Between these two depressions is a low plateau that extends from the Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
area westward to Brandenburg through Torzym (Sternberg)
Torzym
Torzym is a town in Sulęcin County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, with 2,466 inhabitants . It is the administrative seat of the urban-rural Gmina Torzym...
, the Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
plateau, and the Mittelmark
Mittelmark
Mittelmark is a historical region in present-day eastern Germany that was the core territory of the Margraviate of Brandenburg between the Oder and Elbe rivers....
. From southeast to northwest, this plateau is intersected by the lowland of the Leniwa Obra and the Oder River below the confluence of the Lusatian Neisse
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse is a long river in Central Europe. The river has its source in the Jizera Mountains near Nová Ves nad Nisou, Czech Republic, reaching the tripoint with Poland and Germany at Zittau after , and later forms the Polish-German border on a length of...
, the lower Spree Valley, and the Havel Valley. Between these valleys rise a series of hills and plateaus, such as the Barnim
Barnim
Barnim is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark.- History :...
, the Teltow
Teltow
Teltow is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is ....
, the Semmelberg near Bad Freienwalde
Bad Freienwalde
Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on an old branch of the Oder river at the northwestern rim of the Oderbruch basin, east of Eberswalde, and northeast of Berlin, near the border with Poland...
(157 m), the Müggelberge in Köpenick
Köpenick
Köpenick is a historic town and locality that is situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital city of Berlin. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopting the current spelling in 1931...
(115 m), the Havelberge (97 m), and the Rauen Hills near Fürstenwalde (112 to 152 m).
The region is predominantly marked by dry, sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
y soil, wide stretches of which have pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees and erica
Erica
Erica ,the heaths or heathers, is a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....
plants, or heath. However, the soil is loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
y in the uplands and plateaus and, when farmed appropriately, can be agriculturally productive.
Mark Brandenburg has a cool, continental climate, with temperatures averaging near 0°C in January and February and near 18°C in July and August. Precipitation averages between 500 mm and 600 mm annually, with a modest summer maximum.
Northern March
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
Wends
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
, such as the Sprevjane and Hevelli, started to move into the Brandenburg area. They intermarried with Saxons and Bohemians.
The Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg
Bishopric of Havelberg
The Bishopric of Havelberg was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I, King of the Germans, in 946. The diocese was suffragan to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Its most famous bishop was Anselm of Havelberg. Its seat was in Havelberg in the Northern March and it roughly covered the...
were established at the beginning of the 10th century (in 928 and 948, respectively). They were suffragan to the Archbishopric of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
; the Bishopric of Brandenburg reached to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
.
King Henry the Fowler
Henry I of Germany
Henry I the Fowler was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and German king from 919 until his death. First of the Ottonian Dynasty of German kings and emperors, he is generally considered to be the founder and first king of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia...
started governing in the region in 928–9, allowing Emperor Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
to establish the Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
under Margrave Gero
Gero
Gero I , called the Great , ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg, which he expanded into a vast territory named after him: the marca Geronis. During the mid-10th century, he was the leader of the Saxon Drang nach Osten.-Succession and early conflicts:Gero was the son of Count...
in 936 during the German Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
. However, the march and the bishropics were overthrown by a Slavic rebellion in 983; until the collapse of the Liutizian alliance in the middle of the 11th century, the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
government through bishoprics and marches came nearly to a standstill for approximately 150 years., even though the bishopric was retained.
Prince Pribislav of the Hevelli came to power at the castle of Brenna (Brandenburg an der Havel
Brandenburg (town)
Brandenburg an der Havel is a town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 71,778 . It is located on the banks of the River Havel. The town of Brandenburg, which is almost as widely known as the state of Brandenburg, provided the name for the medieval Bishopric of Brandenburg,...
) in 1127. During Pribislav's reign, in which he cultivated close connections with the German nobility
German nobility
The German nobility was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class from ca. 500 B.C. to the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.-Principles of German nobility:...
, Germans succeeded in binding to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
the Havolanie region from Brandenburg an der Havel to Spandau
Spandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
. The disputed eastern border continued between the Hevelli and the Sprewane, recognized as the Havel-Nuthe line. Prince Jaxa of Köpenick (Jaxa de Copnic) of the Sprewaner lived in Köpenick east of the dividing line.
Ascanians
During the second phase of the German Ostsiedlung, the shrewd diplomat Albert the BearAlbert I of Brandenburg
Albert the Bear was the first Margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly Duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142.-Life:...
began the expansionary eastern policy of the Ascanian
Ascanian
The House of Ascania was a dynasty of German rulers. It was also known as the House of Anhalt, after Anhalt, its longest-held possession.The Ascanians are named after Ascania Castle, which is located near and named after Aschersleben...
s. From 1123–5 Albert developed contacts with Pribislav, who served as the godfather for the Ascanian's first son, Otto
Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg
Otto I was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death.-Life:Otto I was born into the House of Ascania as the eldest son of Albert I , who founded the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157, and his wife Sophie von Winzenburg...
, and gave the boy the Zauche region as a christening present in 1134. In the same year Emperor Lothair III
Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor
Lothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. The son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia...
named Albert margrave of the Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
and raised Pribislav to the status of king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, although that was later rescinded. Also in 1134, Albert succeeded in securing for the Ascanians the inheritance of the childless Pribislav. After the latter's death in 1150, Albert received the Havolanie residence of Brenna, or Brandenburg an der Havel
Brandenburg (town)
Brandenburg an der Havel is a town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 71,778 . It is located on the banks of the River Havel. The town of Brandenburg, which is almost as widely known as the state of Brandenburg, provided the name for the medieval Bishopric of Brandenburg,...
. The Ascanians also began to build the castle
Spandau Citadel
The Spandau Citadel is a fortress in Berlin, Germany, one of the best-preserved Renaissance military structures of Europe. Built from 1559–94 atop a medieval fort on an island created by the meeting of the Havel and the Spree, it was designed to protect the town of Spandau, which is now...
of Spandau
Spandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
.
In contrast to their leaders who had accepted Christianity, the Havolanie population still worshipped old Slavic deities and opposed Albert's assumption of power. Jaxa of Köpenick, a possible relative of Pribislav and a claim-holder to Brandenburg, occupied Brandenburg through guile, violence, and Polish help, and seized the Havelland. Older historical research dates this conquest to 1153, although there are no definite sources for the date. More recent researchers, such as Lutz Partenheimer, date it to spring 1157, as it is doubtful that Albert would not have responded to Jaxa's actions for four years.
With bloody victories on 11 June 1157, Albert the Bear was able to reconquer Brandenburg, exile Jaxa, and found a new lordship. Because he already held the title of margrave, Albert styled himself as Margrave of Brandenburg (Adelbertus Die gratia marchio in Brandenborch) on 3 October 1157, thereby beginning the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, consisting merely of the Havelland and Zauche regions. In the following 150 years the Ascanians succeeded in winning the Uckermark
Uckermark
Uckermark is a Kreis in the northeastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Barnim and Oberhavel, the districts Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and to the east Poland . It is the largest district of Germany areawise...
, Teltow
Teltow
Teltow is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is ....
, and Barnim
Barnim
Barnim is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark.- History :...
regions east of the Havel and Nuthe, thereby extending the Mark to the Oder River. The Neumark
Neumark (region)
The Neumark , also known as the New March or as East Brandenburg , comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany, located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945....
("New March") east of the Oder was acquired gradually through purchases, marriages, and aid to the Piast dynasty
Piast dynasty
The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...
of Poland.
Because of the sandy soil prevalent in Brandenburg, the agriculturally meager principality was denigrated as "the sandbox
Sandpit
A sandpit or sandbox is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with sand in which children can play. Many homeowners with children build sandpits in their backyards because, unlike much playground equipment, they can be easily and cheaply constructed...
of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
". Albert invited colonists to settle the new territory
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
, many of whom came from the Altmark
Altmark
The Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the Brandenburg margraves, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native from Schönhausen near Stendal.- Geography :The Altmark is...
("Old March", a later name for the original Northern March), the Harz
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...
, Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
(hence the Fläming
Fläming
The Fläming Heath is a region and a hill chain that reaches over 100 km from the Elbe river to the Dahme River in the German states Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Its highest elevation is the Hagelberg...
region), and the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. After the capture of territory along the Elbe and Havel Rivers in the 1160s, Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
and Dutch settlers from flooded regions in Holland used their expertise to build dikes in Brandenburg. Initially, the Ascanians protected the country by settling knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s in villages; castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s fortified with knights were mostly located in the border region of the Neumark. After a 14th-century decline in imperial power, however, knights began constructing castles throughout the principality, granting them more independence.
After Albert's death in 1170, his son succeeded him as Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg
Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg
Otto I was the second Margrave of Brandenburg, from 1170 until his death.-Life:Otto I was born into the House of Ascania as the eldest son of Albert I , who founded the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1157, and his wife Sophie von Winzenburg...
. The Ascanians pursued a policy of expanding to the east and the northeast with the goal of connecting their territories through Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. This policy brought them into conflict with the Kingdom of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. After the Battle of Bornhöved (1227)
Battle of Bornhöved (1227)
The Battle of Bornhöved took place on 22 July 1227 near Bornhöved in Holstein. Count Adolf IV of Schauenburg and Holstein — leading an army consisting of troops from the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg, about 1000 Dithmarsians and combined troops of Holstein next to various north German nobles —...
, Margrave John I staked his claim to Pomerania, receiving it as a fief from Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
in 1231. The middle of the 13th century was a time of important developments for the Ascanian House, as it won Stettin (Szczecin)
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
and the Uckermark
Uckermark
Uckermark is a Kreis in the northeastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Barnim and Oberhavel, the districts Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and to the east Poland . It is the largest district of Germany areawise...
(1250), although the former was later lost to the Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
. Henry II, the last Ascanian margrave, died in 1320.
Wittelsbachs
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s, the Wittelsbach
Wittelsbach
The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...
Emperor Louis IV
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
, an uncle of Henry II, granted Brandenburg to his oldest son, Louis I
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria
Louis V, Duke of Bavaria, called the Brandenburger was Duke of Bavaria and as Louis I also Margrave of Brandenburg and Count of Tyrol. Louis V was the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV and his first wife Beatrix of Świdnica...
(the "Brandenburger") in 1323. As a consequence of the murder of Provost Nikolaus von Bernau in 1325, Brandenburg was punished with a papal interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
. From 1328 onwards, Louis was in war against Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
which he claimed as a fiefdom and the conflict did not end before 1333. The rule of Margrave Louis I was rejected by the domestic nobility of Brandenburg, and, after the death of Emperor Louis VI in 1347, the margrave was confronted with the False Waldemar
False Waldemar
The False Waldemar, also known as the Wrong Woldemar was an impostor who from 1348 to 1350 was invested with the Mark Brandenburg by Charles IV.- Life :The legitimate Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal was buried in 1319...
, an imposter of the deceased Margrave Waldemar
Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal
Waldemar of Brandenburg was Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, the last from the Ascanian House.-Life:He was a son of Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal and Constance, daughter of Przemysł I of Greater Poland...
. The pretender was recognized as Margrave of Brandenburg on 2 October 1348 by the new emperor, Charles IV
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
of Luxembourg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
, but was exposed as a fraud after a peace between the Wittelsbachs and Luxembourgs at Eltville
Eltville
Eltville am Rhein is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road ....
. In 1351 Louis gave the Mark to his younger half-brothers Louis II
Louis VI the Roman
Louis the Roman was the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian by his second wife, Margaret II, Countess of Hainault, and a member of the House of Wittelsbach. Louis was Duke of Bavaria as Louis VI and Margrave of Brandenburg as Louis II...
(the "Roman") and Otto V
Otto V, Duke of Bavaria
Otto V, Duke of Bavaria , was a duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg as Otto VII. Otto was the fourth son of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV by his second wife Margaret II of Avesnes, countess of Hainaut and Holland.-Biography:...
in exchange for the sole rule over Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany.- Geography :Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered around the city of Munich. It is subdivided into four regions : Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland , and Südostoberbayern...
.
Louis the Roman forced the False Waldemar to renounce his claims to Brandenburg and succeeded in establishing the Margraves of Brandenburg as prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
s in the Golden Bull of 1356
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Reichstag assembly in Nuremberg headed by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire...
. Brandenburg therefore became a Kurfürstentum (literally "electoral principality" or "electorate") of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. The Margrave of Brandenburg also held the ceremonial title of Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire. When Louis the Roman died in 1365, Otto took over the rule of Brandenburg, although he quickly neglected the march. He sold Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia
Lower Lusatia is a historical region stretching from the southeast of the Brandenburg state of Germany to the southwest of the Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Important towns beside the historic capital Lübben include Calau, Cottbus, Guben , Luckau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg and Żary...
, which he had already pledged to the Wettin
Wettin (dynasty)
The House of Wettin is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors and kings that once ruled the area of today's German states of Saxony, the Saxon part of Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia for more than 800 years...
dynasty, to Emperor Charles IV in 1367. A year later he lost the town Deutsch Krone (Wałcz) to King Casimir the Great
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...
of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Luxembourgs
After the middle of the 14th century, Emperor Charles IV attempted to secure Brandenburg for the House of LuxembourgHouse of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
. Control over the electoral vote of Brandenburg would help assure the Luxembourgs of election to the imperial throne, as they already held the vote of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. Charles succeeded in purchasing Brandenburg from Margrave Otto for 500,000 guilder
Guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch gulden — from Old Dutch for 'golden'. The guilder originated as a gold coin but has been a common name for a silver or base metal coin for some centuries...
s in 1373 and, at a Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
in Guben
Guben
Guben is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße district, Guben has a population of 20,049...
, united Brandenburg and Lower Lusatia with the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Landbuch of Charles IV, a source for the history of medieval settlement in Brandenburg, originated during this time. Charles chose the castle of Tangermünde
Tangermünde
Tangermünde is a town in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe river in the Altmark region.-History:Tangermünde can look back at an 1000-year history...
to be the electoral residence.
The power of the Luxembourgs in Brandenburg declined during the reign of Charles's nephew Jobst of Moravia
Jobst of Moravia
Jobst of Moravia, Jobst von Mähren from the House of Luxembourg was the eldest son of Margrave John Henry of Moravia, the younger brother of Emperor Charles IV....
. The Neumark
Neumark (region)
The Neumark , also known as the New March or as East Brandenburg , comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany, located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945....
was pawned to the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
, who neglected the border region. Under the Wittelsbach and Luxembourg margraves, Brandenburg fell increasingly under the control of the local nobility as central authority declined.
Hohenzollerns
In return for supporting SigismundSigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
as Holy Roman Emperor at Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
in 1410, Frederick VI of Nuremberg
Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick was Burgrave of Nuremberg as Frederick VI and Elector of Brandenburg as Frederick I. He was a son of Burgrave Frederick V of Nuremberg and Elisabeth of Meissen, and was the first member of the House of Hohenzollern to rule the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- Biography :Frederick entered...
, a burgrave
Burgrave of Nuremberg
- Further reading :* Sigmund Benker, Andreas Kraus : Geschichte Frankens bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts . 3rd edition. Beck, Munich 1997. ISBN 3-406-39451-5...
of the House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
, was granted hereditary control over Brandenburg in 1411. Rebellious landed nobility
Landed nobility
Landed nobility is a category of nobility in various countries over the history, for which landownership was part of their noble privileges. Their character depends on the country.*Landed gentry is the landed nobility in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
such as the Quitzow family opposed his appointment, but Frederick overpowered these knights with artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. Some nobles had their property confiscated, and the Brandenburg estates gave allegiance at Tangermünde
Tangermünde
Tangermünde is a town in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe river in the Altmark region.-History:Tangermünde can look back at an 1000-year history...
on 20 March 1414. Frederick was officially recognized as Margrave and Prince-elector Frederick I of Brandenburg at the Council of Constance
Council of Constance
The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...
in 1415. Frederick's formal investiture with the Kurmark, or electoral march, and his appointment as Archchamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire occurred on 18 April 1417, also during the Council of Constance.
Frederick made Berlin his residence, although he retired to his Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
n possessions in 1425. He granted governance of Brandenburg to his eldest son John the Alchemist
John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
John, nicknamed the Alchemist was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and served as the peace-loving Margrave of Brandenburg after the abdication of his father, Frederick I, the first member of the House of Hohenzollern to rule Brandenburg.-Biography:John was the eldest son of Frederick I,...
, while retaining the electoral dignity for himself. The next elector, Frederick II
Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick II of Brandenburg , nicknamed "the Iron" and sometimes "Irontooth" , was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 1470, and was a member of the House of Hohenzollern.-Biography:Frederick II was born in Tangermünde to Frederick I, Brandenburg's...
, forced the submission of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Cölln
Cölln
In the 13th century Cölln was the sister town of Old Berlin , located on the southern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Today the island is located in the historic core of the central Mitte locality of modern Berlin...
, setting an example for the other towns of Brandenburg. He reacquired the Neumark from the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
by the Treaties of Cölln and Mewe
Treaties of Cölln and Mewe
The Treaties of Cölln and Mewe, concluded in 1454 and 1455, transferred the Neumark from the Teutonic Order state to the Electorate of Brandenburg. The Teutonic Knights had received the area as a pawn from Brandenburg in 1402, and as a possession in 1429...
and began its rebuilding.
Years of warfare
Brandenburg-Pomeranian conflict
Starting in the 12th century, the Margraviate, later Electorate of Brandenburg was in conflict with the neighboring Duchy of Pomerania over frontier territories claimed by both Brandenburg and Pomerania, and over the status of the Pomeranian duchy, which Brandenburg claimed as a fief, whereas...
with the Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
were ended by the treaties of Prenzlau
Treaty of Prenzlau
Treaty of Prenzlau or Peace of Prenzlau may refer to several treaties during a series of wars between the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Pomerania fought for control of Pomerania-Stettin, and possession of the Uckermark in the 15th century...
(1448, 1472, and 1479).
Brandenburg accepted the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in 1539. The population has remained largely Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
since, although some later electors converted to Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
.
The Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg sought to expand their power base from their relatively meager possessions, although this brought them into conflict with neighboring states. John William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
John William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
John William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.His parents were William the Rich, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Maria of Austria , a daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He grew up and was educated in Xanten. John William became...
died childless in 1609. His eldest niece, Anna, Duchess of Prussia, was the wife of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He also served as a Duke of Prussia.-Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia:...
, who promptly claimed the inheritance and sent troops to take hold of some of John William's holdings in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. Unfortunately for John Sigismund, this effort became tied up with the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
and the disputed succession of Julich. At the end of the war in 1648, Brandenburg was recognized as the possessor of approximately half the inheritance, comprising the Duchy of Cleves
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and the Counties of Mark
Mark (county)
The County of Mark was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. It lay on both sides of the Ruhr River along the Volme and Lenne Rivers....
and Ravensberg in Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
. These territories, which were more than 100 kilometers from the borders of Brandenburg, formed the nucleus of the later Prussian Rhineland
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
.
Brandenburg-Prussia
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
, died without a son in 1618, his son-in-law John Sigismund inherited the Duchy of Prussia, which joined Brandenburg in the expanded state of Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
. In this way, the fortuitous marriage of John Sigismund to Anna of Prussia, and the deaths of her maternal uncle in 1609 and her father in 1618 without immediate male heirs, proved to be the key events by which Brandenburg acquired territory both in the Rhineland and on the Baltic coast. Prussia lay outside the Holy Roman Empire and the electors of Brandenburg held it as a fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, to which the electors paid homage.
The electors of Brandenburg spent the next two centuries attempting to gain lands to unite their separate territories (the Mark Brandenburg, the territories in the Rhineland and Westphalia, and Ducal Prussia) to form one geographically contiguous domain. In the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
ending the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
in 1648, Brandenburg-Prussia acquired Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
and made it the Province of Pomerania by the Treaty of Stettin (1653)
Treaty of Stettin (1653)
The Treaty of Stettin of 4 May 1653 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg's claims were based on the Treaty of Grimnitz , while Sweden's...
. In the second half of the 17th century, Frederick William
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, the "Great Elector", developed the power of Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
. The state constructed Brandenburg's first navy
Prussian Navy
Throughout the centuries, Prussia’s military consistently concentrated on its land power, and never sought a similar power at sea. Yet historically there were always Prussian naval forces , beginning in the days when "Prussia" meant only the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- The Navy of Electoral...
(Kurbrandenburgische Marine), leading to short-lived colonies at Arguin
Arguin
Arguin is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36' N., 16° 27' W. It is six km long by two broad. Off the island are extensive and dangerous reefs...
, the Brandenburger Gold Coast
Brandenburger Gold Coast
The Brandenburger Gold Coast, later Prussian Gold Coast, was a part of the Gold Coast. The Brandenburg colony existed from 1682 to 1717.- Brandenburger Gold Coast :...
, and Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
. The electors succeeded in acquiring sovereignty over Prussia in the treaties of Wehlau and Bromberg
Treaty of Bromberg
The Treaty of Bromberg or Treaty of Bydgoszcz was a treaty between John II Casimir of Poland and Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia, ratified at Bromberg on 6 November 1657...
in 1657. The territories of the Hohenzollerns were opened to immigration by Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugees in by the Edict of Potsdam
Edict of Potsdam
The Edict of Potsdam was a proclamation issued by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, in Potsdam on October 29, 1685, as a response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau.- Background :...
in 1685.
Kingdom of Prussia
In return for aiding Emperor Leopold ILeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
during the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
, Elector Frederick III
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
of Brandenburg was allowed to crown himself Frederick I, King in Prussia
King in Prussia
King in Prussia was a title used by the Electors of Brandenburg from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently they used the title King of Prussia....
. Prussia, unlike Brandenburg, lay outside the Holy Roman Empire, within whose boundaries no ruler could call himself king. As king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
was a more prestigious title than prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
, the territories of the Hohenzollerns became known as the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, although their power base remained in Brandenburg.
From 1701 to 1946, Brandenburg's history was largely that of the state of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, which established itself as a major power in Europe during the 18th century. King Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death...
, the "Soldier-King", modernized the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
, while his son Frederick the Great
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
achieved glory and infamy with the Silesian Wars
Silesian Wars
The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. They eventually ended with Silesia being incorporated into Prussia, and Austrian recognition of this...
and Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. The feudal designation of the Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with the Province of Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg
The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...
in 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Brandenburg became part of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
.
Later years
During the GleichschaltungGleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J...
of provinces by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
during the 1930s, the Province of Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg
The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...
and the Free State of Prussia lost all practical relevancy. The region was administered as the Gau "Mark Brandenburg".
The state of Prussia was de jure abolished in 1947 after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; the Gau "Mark Brandenburg" was replaced with the Land
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
Brandenburg. Territory east of the Oder-Neisse Line
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
(the Neumark
Neumark (region)
The Neumark , also known as the New March or as East Brandenburg , comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany, located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945....
region) was placed under Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
administration (became part Poland as her boundaries were agreed by the international powers in 1945 at the Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
) and separated from Germany. Most of its German-speaking population was expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
and replaced with Poles. Brandenburg west of the Oder-Neisse Line lay in the Soviet occupation zone
Allied Occupation Zones in Germany
The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–49. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, US forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the...
; it became part of the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. In 1952 the region was divided among the districts of Cottbus
Cottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
, Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...
, Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
, and Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg is a city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, on the shore of a lake called the Tollensesee ....
; Berlin was divided between East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
and West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
.
This division of Brandenburg continued until the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990. The GDR districts were dissolved and replaced with the state of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
with its capital in Potsdam. The 850th anniversary of the foundation of the March of Brandenburg was to be celebrated officially on 11 June 2007, with preliminary celebrations having begun at the Knights' Academy of Brandenburg an der Havel
Brandenburg (town)
Brandenburg an der Havel is a town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 71,778 . It is located on the banks of the River Havel. The town of Brandenburg, which is almost as widely known as the state of Brandenburg, provided the name for the medieval Bishopric of Brandenburg,...
on 23 June 2006.