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
margraves were established as prestigious
prince-electors 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 archaic
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.
Geography
The territory of the former margraviate, commonly known as the ''Mark Brandenburg'', lies in present-day eastern
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 Voivodeships). 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
moraines, 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 District 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.
Province of Brandenburg, ca. 1905.
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,
sandy soil, wide stretches of which have
pine trees and
erica plants, or heath. However, the soil is
loamy 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.
History
Northern March
_Brandenburg_1150.jpg)
Brandenburg ca. 1150.
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).
[1] 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.
[2], 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.
Ascanians
During the second phase of the German Ostsiedlung, the shrewd diplomat
Albert the Bear began the expansionary eastern policy of the
Ascanians. 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.
Brandenburg until the extinction of the Ascanian dynasty in 1320.
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.
[3]
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
knights in villages;
castles 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.
, the last Ascanian margrave, died in 1320.
Wittelsbachs
After having defeated the
Habsburgs, 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-electors 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.
Luxembourgs
After the middle of the 14th century, Emperor Charles IV attempted to secure Brandenburg for the
House of Luxembourg. 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
guilders 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.
[4]
Hohenzollerns
Religious situation in Central Europe, ca.
1618
----
In return for supporting
Sigismund 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.
[5] 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
Franconian 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.
[6] He reacquired the Neumark from the
Teutonic Knights and began its rebuilding.
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.
Growth of Brandenburg-Prussia,
1600–
1795
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. Brandenburg-Prussia acquired
Farther Pomerania in the
Peace of Westphalia ending the
Thirty Years' War in 1648. 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
Treaty of Wehlau in 1660. The territories of the Hohenzollerns were opened to immigration by
Huguenot refugees in 1685.
Kingdom of Prussia
In return for aiding Emperor
Leopold I 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.
Later years
Coat of arms of Brandenburg from 1945–52.
During the
Gleichschaltung of provinces by
Nazi Germany during the 1930s, the Province of Brandenburg and the state of Prussia lost practically all relevancy. The region was administered as the ''
Gau'' "Mark Brandenburg".
The state of Prussia was 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 and separated from Germany. Its German 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 will 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.
See also
★
List of rulers of Brandenburg
Footnotes
1. Koch, p. 23.
2. Koch, p. 24.
3. Koch, p. 25.
4. Koch, p. 28
5. Koch, p. 29.
6. Koch, p. 30.
References
★
A History of Prussia, H.W. Koch, , , Barnes & Noble Books, 1978,
External links
★
Brandenburg1260.de Hochmittelalter in der Mark Brandenburg
★
Der Brandenburger Landstreicher
★
Historical Map of Brandenburg 1789
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
