Brandenburg , Margrave or Mark, then an constituency Holy Roman Empire in the northeastern lowlands of Germany; it was the core of dynastic power on which the kingdom of Prussia was founded. After the World War I was it is a province of country Prussia in Germany . After the World War II Brandenburg west of Or - flow became constitutes as a separate Country on the dissolution of Prussia. Brandenburg's old administrative identity was lost in 1952 when the East German States into new Districts have been resolved. The Country However, Brandenburg was founded in 1990 before the reunification of East and West Germany newly created . See Brandenburg ( Country ).
The ancient Semnones that occupied the region were later replaced by Slavs replaced . The German conquest began with the capture by the German king Henry I the Fowler (r. 919–936) from Branibor (Brennabor or Brennaburg), the capital of Slavic Havelli. After that, the Slavs drove back the Germans, but from 1106 under Lothar , Duke of Saxony (later German Emperor), and Albert I. the bear he made Margrave of the North March (Nordmark) in 1134 began German conquest, colonization and Christianization of the region. The process continued into the next century under Albert's heirs, the Ascanians. The Slavs were and after cultural, political and economic assimilates , and Brandenburg experienced prosperity in the 13th century. Berlin was one of several newly founded cities, and Brandenburg was incorporated into the old march (Altmark) west of the Elbe , the middle march (Mittelmark) between the Elbe and Oder and the new march (Neumark) divided the area east of the Oder . Its ruler was named imperial Elector recognized (a prince involved in the election of Holy Roman Emperor) mid-12th century, and this right was confirmed by the Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV (1356). After the Brandenburg (older) branch of the Ascanians died out in 1320, the electorate was plagued by disunity. The administration of the German king Wenzel of Luxembourg (1373–78) was a measure of strong government, but in general the local nobility gained at the expense of the elector and considerable power for the formerly free peasantry.
The revival of stronger central government in Brandenburg began with the appointment of Frederick of Hohenzollern as Elector by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund in the year 1415. Frederick II . Eisenzahn (r. 1440–70) checked the rebellious nobles and the cities, and was regularly disturbed by wars with neighboring Pomerania, over which his brother and successor Albert III. Achilles (r. 1470–86) finally established supremacy. Joachim I. (r. 1499–1535) introduced the Roman law in Brandenburg; under his sons and heirs Elector Joachim II and John , the Lutheranism was accepted and the country of the secularized bishoprics of the Dynasty inherited . Joachim II (r. 1535–71) secured in Silesia foot but more important was an agreement he made in 1569 with his Hohenzollern relative Albert Friedrich, Duke of Prussia, by which the Elector of Brandenburg obtained joint investiture of the duchy of Prussia and was assured of succession when the duke's family died out.
The Elector John Sigismund (r. 1600–20) married Anna, daughter of Albert Frederick of Prussia, thereby strengthening his claim the duchy he inherited in 1618. John Sigismund also acquired Kleve, Mark and Ravensberg, which became the core of Hohenzollern power in West Germany.
During the constituency George William (1620–40), Brandenburg, strived in Thirty Years' War (1618–48) first by neutrality but suffered invasions and long occupation by the Swedes. His son Friedrich Wilhelm , the Great Elector (1640–88), freed the electorate from them and restored order. Friedrich Wilhelm acquired East Pomeranian , the secularized diocese of Halberstadt, Minden and Kammin, and the archdiocese of Magdeburg. Through these territorial additions and his political and military activities, Frederick William became the leading Protestant prince in Germany and established Brandenburg-Prussia as an important European state with a solid fiscal base, an effective army and Bureaucracy . At his death on May 9, 1688, the state of Brandenburg with Prussia was the only inferior of the principalities of the empire to Austria. The elector was considered the head of German Protestantism, his land now covered more than 40,000 square meters miles (100,000 square kilometers) and multiplied its revenue. Its army, still small but unsurpassed for its effective training, gave it the place that Sweden formerly held in the political and military combinations of the period.
The new voter, Frederick III. (Frederick I of Prussia) reaped the results of his father's policies on more favorable terms. He helped William of Orange Descended to England in 1688, allied with other German princes against Louis XIV From France and subsequently fought on the side of the Holy Roman Empire against France and Turkey. Friedrich's chief advisor at this time was Eberhard Danckelmann (1643–1722), whose contributions to the reform work of the Great Elector were very valuable; After making many enemies, he fell from power in 1697 and was imprisoned for several years. The most important work of Friedrich III. Was to crown his father's work by securing for himself and his descendants the title of King of Prussia. raised in 1692, the matter was raised again in 1698, when the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. and his ministers were anxious to reconcile Brandenburg in the face of the prospect of a struggle over the succession to the Spanish throne. It was finally decided to adopt the royal title from Prussia rather than Brandenburg, as the former land was outside the empire, and in return Frederick promised to support Leopold with 8,000 men . The coronation ceremony when Frederick proclaimed himself "King in Prussia" took place on January 18, 1701 in Koenigsberg. In his later years, Friedrich was largely involved with War of Spanish Succession and monitoring his country's interests in the vicissitudes from employs the Great Northern War . Brandenburg's territorial additions during this reign were minor and unimportant, but the state's comparable prosperity and prosperity allowed voters to invest heavily in education and spend some money on buildings. The University of Halle was founded in 1694; Academies of Arts and Sciences were founded; and Berlin has been greatly improved.
Friedrich died on February 25, 1713. The subsequent history of Brandenburg merges with the Prussia ( see there ).