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100-430: The Brandenburg municipalities of Alt-Berlin and Cölln had received town privileges in the 13th century and from 1307 on shared a common administration, but were divided after the elector subjected the city (following the idea of divide and rule ) and made it his residential city in 1448. King Frederick I of Prussia by resolution finally had both towns, and three later founded adjacent cities, merged and elevated to

200-628: 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

300-580: A personal union which came to be known as 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

400-604: A bishop. The other bishops of the Church of Sweden are peers, not subordinate, to the Archbishop of Uppsala. Among the Archbishop of Uppsala's other duties is the obligation to convene and chair the Episcopal Assembly. Unlike the other bishops, who are elected to office by members of their diocese, the Archbishop of Uppsala is elected by the entire body of the church. There is a peculiar regulation that stipulates that

500-626: A conflict between the neighbouring principalities of Brunswick-Lüneburg , Mecklenburg , Saxe-Wittenberg , Pomerania-Wolgast , Jawor and Żagań , for control of different parts of the Margraviate. The war was periodically fought between various factions due to the alliances formed, such as the Jawor-Pomeranian and Mecklenburg-Saxe-Wittenberg alliances, and kings of Bohemia, Poland and Denmark also entered alliances with various parties. In 1319, Wartislaw IV of Pomerania took control of

600-675: A merely advisory vote in those parliaments. On the model of the two Hanseatic city-states within the Federal Republic, Hamburg and Bremen , the Berlin Senate, chosen by the parties represented in the Berlin parliament, was established to perform the functions of a state government, with each of its members heading a department, equivalent to a state ministry, and a Regierender Bürgermeister ( Governing or Executive Mayor ) at its head and one Bürgermeister as his/her deputy. In

700-528: A new lordship. Because he already held the title of margrave, Albert styled himself as Margrave of Brandenburg ( Adelbertus Dei 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

800-592: 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

900-517: A provincial political party holding at least a plurality of seats in the elected provincial legislature to be provincial premier . Mayors of German city states have traditionally acted as primus inter pares . In Hamburg , Lübeck and Bremen , which had been Free Imperial Cities from the times of the Holy Roman Empire , the government was called Senate . The mayor was one senator amongst many, often referred to as president of

1000-545: A similar role in the Senate of Bremen . The same was true until 1995 for the governing mayor of Berlin among his colleagues within the Senate of Berlin . Starting with the Meiji Constitution of 1885, as part of the "Cabinet System Act", and lasting until the revision of the modern constitution in 1947, the prime minister of Japan was legally considered to be of the same rank as the other ministers who formed

1100-622: 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 Havolane region from Brandenburg an der Havel to Spandau . The disputed eastern border continued between

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1200-825: 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

1300-576: Is often regarded as a "first among equals". That is, while most rules of order will grant the chair special powers within the context of a meeting , the position of chair is usually temporary, rotating, and powerless in other contexts, making the occupant merely a temporary leader required to instil order. This is the case for mayors under a council–manager government , as the "mayor" has the same vote as all other council members and cannot override them, although their opinion may have more sway among other members. In Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches,

1400-486: Is the first among equal Prince of the Church in the college, which is the pope's highest-ranking council and elects the papal successor, generally from its own ranks. Various episcopal sees were granted or claim the title of primate (usually of a past or present political entity), which grants such a primas (usually a metropolitan archbishopric, often in a former/present capital) precedence over all other sees in its circumscription, outranking (other) metropolitan sees, but

1500-605: The princeps senatus of the Roman Senate was such a figure and initially bore only the distinction that he was allowed to speak first during debate . After the fall of the Republic , Roman emperors initially referred to themselves only as princeps despite having enormous power. Various modern figures such as the prime minister in parliamentary systems , the president of the Swiss Confederation ,

1600-585: The Anglican Communion . The senior bishop of the seven diocesan bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church bears the truncated title primus from primus inter pares . Leading bishops or primates in other Anglican 'national' churches are often said to be primus inter pares within their provinces (e.g. Church of Ireland), while the (first) primatial see of Canterbury remains primus among them. However, on 20 February 2023,

1700-704: The Baltic Sea . King Henry the Fowler started governing in the region in 928–929, allowing Emperor Otto I to establish the Northern March under Margrave Gero in 936 during the German Ostsiedlung . However, the march and the bishoprics 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

1800-808: The Barnim , the Teltow , the Semmelberg near Bad Freienwalde (157 m, 515 ft), the Müggelberge in Köpenick (115 m, 377 ft), the Havelberge (97 m, 318 ft), and the Rauen Hills near Fürstenwalde (112 to 152 m, 367 to 499 ft). The region is predominantly marked by dry, sandy soil, wide stretches of which have pine trees and erica plants, or heath. However,

1900-725: The Brandenburger Gold Coast , and Saint Thomas . The electors succeeded in acquiring full sovereignty over Prussia in the treaties of Wehlau and Bromberg in 1657. The territories of the Hohenzollerns were opened to immigration by Huguenot refugees by the Edict of Potsdam in 1685. In return for aiding Emperor Leopold I during the War of the Spanish Succession , Frederick William's son, Frederick III ,

2000-627: The Cabinet . During this time, the prime minister was referred to as "同輩中の首席" dōhai-chū no shuseki ("chief among peers"). The prime minister of the Netherlands (officially, the "minister-president") is the chairman of the Council of Ministers and active executive authority of the Dutch government . Although formally no special powers are assigned, the prime minister functions as the "face" of

2100-506: 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

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2200-560: The Crown of Bohemia . The Landbuch ("land book", i.e. estate register) 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 . In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement with Poland , by which Poland

2300-640: The Federal Assembly elects a president of the Confederation . By convention, the positions of President and Vice President rotate annually, each Councillor thus becoming vice president and then President every seven years while in office. The president is not the Swiss head of state , but is the highest-ranking Swiss official. The president presides over Council meetings and carries out certain representative functions that, in other countries, are

2400-772: The Four Power Agreement on Berlin of 1971). Under the new constitution of West Berlin which came into force on 1 September 1950, Berlin was defined as a state of the Federal Republic of Germany ; however, due to the Allied veto, its representatives in the federal parliament (and later in the European Parliament ) were not directly elected by the citizenry, but appointed by the Berlin parliament ( Abgeordnetenhaus ) and had no voting power, but

2500-690: The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches declared the Archbishop of Canterbury had lost its mantle of first among equals due to him accepting the Church of England 's incorporation into the Anglican liturgy of blessings of same-sex unions . The International Anglican-Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, in its 2007 agreed statement Growing Together in Unity and Mission, "urge[s] Anglicans and Catholics to explore together how

2600-593: The Magistrat in the 1950s. The Berlin Senate consists of ten ministries or departments (German: Senatsverwaltungen ). Their work is coordinated by the staff of the Senate Chancellery, which is under the direction of the governing mayor. As of 2023, the composition of the Senate is as follows: Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (German: Markgrafschaft Brandenburg )

2700-816: The Napoleonic Wars . The Prussian kings, however, continued to use the title "Margrave of Brandenburg" in their formal style. Brandenburg, along with the rest of Prussia, became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany . During the Gleichschaltung of provinces by Nazi Germany during the 1930s, the Province of Brandenburg and the Free State of Prussia lost all practical relevancy. The region

2800-568: The New March with Torzym Land, the Międzyrzecz castellany, annexed from Greater Poland by Brandenburg in 1297, and northern Lubusz Land , in the north-east, Henry II of Mecklenburg captured Prignitz in the north-west and Uckermark in the north, Rudolf I of Saxe-Wittenberg captured the Mittelmark , Teltow and Barnim , i.e. the central part, Otto the Mild of Brunswick-Lüneburg captured

2900-695: The Old March in the west. In 1320, a large portion of the Lubusz Land passed to Duke Henry I of Jawor , who tried to reclaim it as a region lost by his grandfather Bolesław II the Horned , and afterwards its western outskirts and a portion of the Uckermark were occupied by Rudolf I of Saxe-Wittenberg. In 1320 the allied forces of Pomerania and Jawor clashed with Mecklenburg in the Uckermark, and war between Pomerania and Mecklenburg continued in 1321–1322 on

3000-613: The Pentarchy that was established after Constantinople became the eastern capital of the Byzantine Empire. The canons relative to the universal primacy of honor of the patriarch of Constantinople are the 9th canon of the synod of Antioch and the 28th canon of the Council of Chalcedon . According to the Anglican Covenant , the archbishop of Canterbury is "first among equals" in his presidency over

3100-671: The People's Republic of China , which was placed under the collective leadership of the Politburo Standing Committee following the death of Chairman Mao Zedong , the term "first among equals" was often used to describe China's paramount leader at the zenith of Deng Xiaoping 's influence. This has fallen out of favour since the consolidation of power under the current core leader , General Secretary Xi Jinping . The term "prime minister" can be compared to "primary minister" or "first minister". Because of this,

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3200-848: The Pope (Bishop of Rome) is seen as the Vicar of Christ and "first among equals", the successor of Saint Peter , and leader of the Christian world, in accordance with the rules of Apostolic succession to the apostles . In the Catholic Church , the Pope holds the office with supreme authority in canon law over all other bishops. In the Catholic Church, the Dean of the College of Cardinals

3300-436: 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 Jülich-Cleves-Berg died childless in 1609. His eldest niece, Anna, Duchess of Prussia ,

3400-492: The Slavic Wends . It derived one of its names from this inheritance, the March of Brandenburg ( Mark Brandenburg ). 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 ( Kurbrandenburg or Kurfürstentum Brandenburg ). The House of Hohenzollern came to

3500-418: 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 Brandenburg-Prussia into a major power. The state constructed Brandenburg's first navy ( Kurbrandenburgische Marine ), leading to short-lived colonies at Arguin ,

3600-408: The Wittelsbach Emperor Louis IV , an uncle of Henry II, formally granted Brandenburg to his oldest son, Louis I (the "Brandenburger") in 1323, although various portions of the margraviate were still controlled by various neighbouring principalities. The emergence of a new powerful rival prompted the previously warring parties to make peace with each other and cooperate. Bavarian forces soon entered

3700-432: The boroughs of Berlin by a local office (usually housed in the town hall of a formerly independent suburb). The council was headed by a Lord Mayor, or Oberbürgermeister . Lord Mayor Heinrich Sahm , elected in 1931, remained in office, and joined the NSDAP in November 1933, but resigned in 1935. His power totally depended on Julius Lippert , on 25 March 1933 appointed as Prussian State Commissioner for Berlin. So Berlin

3800-405: The cabinet of the Netherlands . Usually, the prime minister is also minister of General Affairs . Until 1945, the position of chairman of the Council of Ministers officially switched between the ministers, although practices differed throughout history. In 1945, the position was formally instituted. Although not formally necessary, the prime minister in practice is the leader of the largest party in

3900-431: The chief justice of the United States , the chief justice of the Philippines , the archbishop of Canterbury of the Anglican Communion , the chair of the Federal Reserve in the United States and the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church fall under both senses: Bearing higher status and various additional powers while remaining still merely equal to their peers in important senses. In

4000-407: The governor-general of Australia , although however the federal viceroy is "first among equals". The state governors appoint premiers , typically the leader of the political party holding at least a plurality of seats in the elected legislature. As federations in Canada , lieutenant-governors represent the Canadian monarch in each of the provinces, thus, acting as the "heads of state" in

4100-408: The provinces . Lieutenant-governors in Canada are appointed by the governor general , on the advice of the prime minister of Canada , known as the Governor-in-Council . In each case, these lieutenant-governors are not envisaged as subordinate to the governor general who, as a federal viceroy, is "first among equals". A lieutenant governor as Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council appoints a leader of

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4200-399: The "Royal Capital and Residence City of Berlin" as of 1 January 1710. From the Prussian reforms of 1808 until 1933, Berlin (expanded to Greater Berlin in 1920) was governed by a Magistrat (compulsorily dissolved by Nazi act on 15 March 1933), which was the executive committee of the Stadtverordnetenversammlung (city council; last convened on 27 June 1933) and was represented in each of

4300-434: 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, which made the Hohenzollerns de jure as well as de facto sovereigns over it. It was replaced with the Province of Brandenburg in 1815 following

4400-472: The 1950 constitution the maximum number of senators was 16, then each elected by the parliament, but the first Senate had 13. Thus, following the Hanseatic tradition, the Lord Mayor was only primus inter pares as he and the senators had an elected mandate, therefore the Lord Mayor could not dismiss any senator. Senators could however be removed from their seats by the Parliament. Until 1990 all elected Mayors and Senators had to have their positions confirmed by

4500-454: 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

4600-402: The Allied commanders of West Berlin. Since both the building then used as the town hall of Berlin, (the Neues Stadthaus  [ de ] ), and the Rotes Rathaus (which had been destroyed and was not rebuilt until 1956) were in East Berlin, the Senate met at the former town hall of Schöneberg , Rathaus Schöneberg . During the transition to a reunified Germany in 1990, a new Magistrat

4700-468: The Ascanian House, as it won Stettin (Szczecin) and the Uckermark (1250), although the former was later lost to the Duchy of Pomerania . Also around 1250 it took over Lubusz Land from then-fragmented Poland and subsequently conquered northwestern parts of the Duchy of Greater Poland in the late 13th century, moving the border east of the Oder river. Henry II , the last Ascanian margrave, died in 1320. The death of Magrave Waldemar in 1319 sparked

4800-422: 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

4900-429: 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

5000-478: The Great . 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 , he attached (but did not incorporate) Brandenburg to

5100-399: The Havolane residence of Brenna. The Ascanians also began to build the castle of Spandau . In contrast to their leaders who had accepted Christianity, the Havolane 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, controlled Brandenburg with Polish help, and ruled

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5200-399: The Hevelli and the Sprewane, recognized as the Havel-Nuthe line. Prince Jaxa of Köpenick ( Jaxa de Copnic ) of the Sprewane lived in Köpenick east of the dividing line. During the second phase of the German Ostsiedlung , Albert the Bear began the expansionary eastern policy of the Ascanians . From 1123 to 1125 Albert developed contacts with Pribislav, who served as the godfather for

5300-407: The Lutheran Church of Sweden , the Archbishop of Uppsala is considered by the church as primus inter pares . As such, the Archbishop of Uppsala has no powers over the other 13 bishops but has some additional administrative and spiritual duties, as specified in the Church Order of the Church of Sweden. According to the chapter 8 of the Church Order, only the Archbishop of Uppsala can ordain

5400-399: The Międzyrzecz castellany was ultimately reintegrated with Poland. 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 IV in 1347, the margrave was confronted with the False Waldemar , an imposter of

5500-401: The Oder River and in Mecklenburg. By February 1322, eastern outskirts of the Lubusz Land with Torzym and Sulęcin and the Międzyrzecz castellany were controlled by Duke Henry IV the Faithful of Żagań. After heavy fights between Pomerania and Saxe-Wittenberg around Kostrzyn nad Odrą in 1322–1323, a peace between the two parties was signed in December 1323. Having defeated the Habsburgs ,

5600-409: 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

5700-413: The Senate rather than mayor. This ended in Lübeck with the incorporation into Prussia in 1937. While in a constitutional reform in 1996, the mayor of Hamburg was given broad powers to shape the politics of the Senate of Hamburg , thus, ending his status as primus inter pares . However, in the city state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen which was created after the Second World War, the mayor has had

5800-443: The bare and dry Fläming . The southern depression is generally to the north of this ridge and appears strikingly in the Spreewald (between Baruth/Mark 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

5900-448: The business of the head of state. In urgent situations where a Council decision cannot be made in time, the president is empowered to act on behalf of the whole Council. Apart from that, though, the president is a primus inter pares , having no power above and beyond the other six councillors. The phrase "first among equals" has also been used to describe the Chief Justice of the United States . The Chief Justice has no authority over

6000-423: The careers and private lives of several men vying to become British Prime Minister. It was later adapted into a ten-part TV series , produced by Granada Television . In the federal Commonwealth realms in which King Charles III is head of state as constitutional monarch, a governor-general is appointed by the King-in-Council to represent the King during his absence. The governor-general typically appoints

6100-454: The ceremonial title of Arch-Chamberlain of the Empire ( Latin : Archi-Camerarius Imperii ). 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) , annexed from Greater Poland by Brandenburg in 1296, to Polish King Casimir

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6200-402: The completion of reunification on 3 October 1990, the MagiSenat became a unified Berlin Senate, no longer depending on Allied confirmation. The new Senate was reduced to a maximum of 8 members, and senators are now appointed by the Governing Mayor (1995 amendment of the constitution). There are now two Deputy Mayors. The senate meets in the room in the Red Town Hall which was originally created for

6300-409: 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

6400-405: The decisions of the other Justices, but holds one key administrative power: when the Chief Justice votes with the majority on a decision, he can either author the majority opinion or assign it to another Justice voting with the majority. In many private parliamentary bodies, such as clubs, boards, educational faculty, and committees, the officer or member who holds the position of chair or chairman

6500-410: 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

6600-418: The eighth century, Slavic Wends , such as the Sprewane and Hevelli (Havolane or Stodorans), 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 tenth century (in 928 and 948, respectively). They were suffragan to the Archbishopric of Mainz ; the Bishopric of Brandenburg reached to

6700-414: 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

6800-449: The empire acted more or less as de facto sovereign states, and only acknowledged the emperor's overlordship over them in a formal way. Thus, Brandenburg came to be treated as de facto part of the Prussian kingdom rather than a separate entity. 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 ,

6900-495: 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

7000-424: 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

7100-421: The incumbent primates can be trumped by personal ranks, as they rank below cardinals. More commonly, dioceses are geographically grouped in an ecclesiastical province , where only one holds the rank of metropolitan archbishop , which outranks his colleagues, who are therefore called his suffragans , even if these include (fairly rarely) another archbishop. The phrase "first among equals" is also used to describe

7200-662: 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 . He then ruled both territories in

7300-521: The land of the Stodorans. 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

7400-577: The last forty years. His title is an acknowledgement of his historic significance and of his privilege to serve as primary spokesman for the Eastern Orthodox Communion . Eastern Christians considered the bishop of Rome to be the "first among equals" during the first thousand years of Christianity according to the ancient, first millennial order (or "taxis" in Greek) of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, known as

7500-687: The leader of the political party holding at least a plurality of seats in the elected legislature to be prime minister , whose relationship with the other ministers of the Crown is in theory said to be that of a primus inter pares , or "first among equals". in Australia , governors represent the Australian monarch in each of the states of Australia that comprise the federal Commonwealth of Australia , making them "head of state" in each of their own states. These are not envisaged as subordinate to

7600-418: The majority coalition in the House of Representatives , the lower house of parliament. The phrase "first among equals" is often used to describe the political succession within the ruling People's Action Party leadership and future candidate for the prime minister of Singapore . In Switzerland , the seven-member Federal Council constitutes the executive in the Swiss directorial system . Each year,

7700-570: The majority of the present-day German states of 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,

7800-672: The ministry of the Bishop of Rome might be offered and received in order to assist our Communions to grow towards full, ecclesial communion". The Moderator of the General Assembly in a Presbyterian church is similarly designated as a primus inter pares . This concept holds also for the Moderators of each Synod , Presbytery , and Kirk Session . As all elders are ordained – some for teaching and some for ruling – none sit in higher status, but all are considered equal behind

7900-400: The one and only head of the church Jesus Christ. In churches and denominations with a three office view (i.e., there are three ecclesiastical offices; namely minister, elder, and deacon), the minister does not hold more ruling authority than the elders, but has additional duties of administering the sacraments and preaching. He is also expected to lead the session or consistory of elders. In

8000-590: 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 capital Berlin . The Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced after the Napoleonic Wars with the Prussian Province of Brandenburg in 1815. The Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia

8100-578: The prime ministers of many countries are traditionally considered to be "first among equals" – they are the chairman or "head" of a Cabinet rather than holding an office that is de jure superior to that of ministers. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has frequently been described as "first among equals". In the UK , the executive is the Cabinet, and during Hanoverian times a minister had

8200-473: The region, but in October 1323 Pope John XXII called Louis IV to annul the grant of Brandenburg to Louis V, declaring it unlawful. As a consequence of the murder of Provost Nikolaus von Bernau in 1325, Brandenburg was punished with a papal interdict . Bavarian forces gradually seized the margraviate. King Władysław I Łokietek of Poland actively joined the ongoing war, invading Frankfurt (Oder) in 1326, and

8300-490: The role of informing the monarch about proposed legislation in the House of Commons and other matters. In modern times, however, although the phrase is still occasionally used, it understates the powers of the prime minister , which now include many broad, exclusive, executive powers over which cabinet members have little influence. First Among Equals is the title of a popular political novel (1984) by Jeffrey Archer , about

8400-604: The role of the patriarch of Constantinople , who, as the "ecumenical patriarch", is the first among all the bishops of the Eastern Orthodox Church . He has no direct jurisdiction over the other patriarchs or the other autocephalous Orthodox churches and cannot interfere in the election of bishops in autocephalous churches, but he alone enjoys the right of convening extraordinary synods consisting of them or their delegates to deal with ad hoc situations, and he has also convened well-attended pan-Orthodox Synods in

8500-585: 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 Lusatian Highlands (near Żary (Sorau) ) and continues past Trzebiel (Triebel) and Spremberg , then to the northwest through Calau , and ends in

8600-510: 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 (32 °F) in January and February and near 18 °C (64 °F) in July and August. Precipitation averages between 500 mm and 600 mm annually, with a modest summer maximum. By

8700-399: The throne of Brandenburg in 1415. In 1417, Frederick I moved its capital from Brandenburg an der Havel to Berlin . By 1535, the electorate had an area of some 10,000 square miles (26,000 km ) and a population of 400,000. Under Hohenzollern leadership, Brandenburg grew rapidly in power during the 17th century and inherited the Duchy of Prussia . The resulting Brandenburg-Prussia was

8800-467: Was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1815 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came to play a pivotal role in the history of Germany and that of Central Europe as core of the Prussian kingdom . Brandenburg developed out of the Northern March founded in the territory of

8900-823: Was administered as the Gau March of Brandenburg . The state of Prussia was de jure abolished in 1947 after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II; the Gau March of Brandenburg was replaced with the Land Brandenburg. 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

9000-551: Was allowed to elevate Prussia to the status of a kingdom. On 18 January 1701, Frederick crowned himself Frederick I, King in Prussia . Prussia, unlike Brandenburg, lay outside the Holy Roman Empire, within which only the emperor and the ruler of Bohemia could call themselves 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. Legally, Brandenburg

9100-521: Was celebrated officially on 11 June 2007, with preliminary celebrations at the Knights' Academy of Brandenburg an der Havel on 23 June 2006. Primus inter pares Primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals . It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. Historically,

9200-531: Was de facto under the ultimate governance of the Nazi regime. After the defeat of Nazi Germany , Berlin was to be under the ultimate governance of the Allied Kommandatura . However, in the election of 20 October 1946, the city elected an SPD -majority Stadtverordnetenversammlung and an SPD mayor ( Otto Ostrowski , resigned 1947). The second elected SPD mayor, the devoted anti-communist Ernst Reuter ,

9300-762: 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,

9400-803: Was elected in East Berlin and a Senate appointed in West Berlin, and they jointly governed as a Landesregierung aus Senat und Magistrat (state government of Senate and Magistrat, known popularly as the MagiSenat ), which initially met in alternate weeks at the Schöneberg town hall and the Red Town Hall. The Oberbürgermeister (East) and the Regierender Bürgermeister (West) similarly headed the government jointly. With

9500-462: Was still part of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the Hohenzollerns in personal union with the Prussian kingdom over which they were fully sovereign. For this reason, the Hohenzollerns continued to use the additional title of Elector of Brandenburg for the remainder of the empire's run. However, by this time the emperor's authority over the empire had become merely nominal. The various territories of

9600-563: Was the primary driving force behind the unification of Germany . The Prussian-dominated North German Confederation later transformed in 1871 into the German Empire ; it was the legal predecessor of the united German Reich of 1871–1945, and as such a direct ancestor of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany , The territory of the former margraviate, commonly known as the Mark Brandenburg , lies in present-day eastern Germany and western Poland. Geographically it encompassed

9700-465: 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 Jülich. At the end of the war in 1648, Brandenburg was recognized as the possessor of approximately half

9800-621: Was to purchase and reincorporate the New March , which it previously lost to Brandenburg in the 13th century, however in the same year the Luxembourgs pawned the region 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. In return for supporting Sigismund as Holy Roman Emperor at Frankfurt in 1410, Frederick VI of Nuremberg ,

9900-730: Was unacceptable to the Soviets, who engineered the establishment of an alternative city council in the sector under their direct control. Following the Berlin Blockade , the Soviet sector, which became known as East Berlin (and the capital of the German Democratic Republic as of October 1949) and the three western sectors (British, French, and U.S.) were functionally separated following the attempted Communist putsch in Berlin's city government in September 1948 (a situation formalised in

10000-593: Was vetoed by the Soviet commander, so Louise Schroeder (SPD) officiated as only acting lord mayor. The Western allies permitted the Berlin SPD to hold a referendum on whether to merge with the Communist party to form a unified single party of the left, the Socialist Unity Party , as realised under pressure in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, and the members voted against the merger. This

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