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138-550: Brandenburg , officially the State of Brandenburg (see Names ), is a state in northeastern Germany . Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Lower Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and Saxony . It is the fifth-largest German state by area and the tenth-most populous , with 2.5 million residents. Potsdam is the state capital and largest city. Other major towns are Cottbus , Brandenburg an der Havel and Frankfurt (Oder) . Brandenburg surrounds

276-424: A federal state , consists of sixteen states . Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen (with its seaport exclave , Bremerhaven ) are called Stadtstaaten (" city-states "), while the other thirteen states are called Flächenländer ("area states") and include Bavaria , Saxony , and Thuringia , which describe themselves as Freistaaten ("free states"). The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany")

414-545: A bi-confessional state, with the ruling Hohenzollern house staying Calvinist . This situation persisted until Frederick William III of Prussia. Frederick William was determined to unify the Protestant churches to homogenize their liturgy, organization, and architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches in the Prussian Union of churches . The merging of

552-570: A combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that states may only merge after a specific federal Act of Parliament is enacted. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. In 1996, an attempt of unifying

690-752: A federal level, the Social Democratic Party has also been the strongest party in most federal elections , their strongholds being the northwestern part of the state and Potsdam and its surrounding areas . However, the Christian Democratic Union won the most votes in 1990 , their 2013 landslide and in 2017 . In 2009 , The Left won the most votes in a year where, like in 2017, the Social Democratic collapsed. Prominent politicians from Brandenburg include Social Democrats Frank-Walter Steinmeier , who served in

828-697: A major principality of the Holy Roman Empire . In the 15th century, it came under the rule of the House of Hohenzollern , which later established Brandenburg-Prussia , the core of the later Kingdom of Prussia . From 1815 to 1947, Brandenburg was a province of Prussia . Following the abolition of Prussia after World War II , Brandenburg was established as a state by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany . In 1952,

966-617: A minor German princely family into one of the most important dynasties in Europe. From 8 January 1701 the title of Elector of Brandenburg was attached to the title of King in Prussia and, from 13 September 1772, to that of King of Prussia. At Frederick V's death on 21 January 1398, his lands were partitioned between his two sons: After John III/I 's death on 11 June 1420, the margraviates of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach were briefly reunited under Frederick VI/I/I . He ruled

1104-511: A more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic . The German political system operates under a framework laid out in

1242-696: A part of the eastern border, the Elbe river a portion of the western border. The main rivers in the state itself are the Spree and the Havel . In the southeast, there is a wetlands region called the Spreewald ; it is the northernmost part of Lusatia . Brandenburg is known for its well-preserved natural environment and its ambitious natural protection policies which began in the 1990s. 15 large protected areas were designated following Germany's reunification . Each of them

1380-581: A plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in

1518-628: A referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it. East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke . Soviet -controlled East Berlin – despite officially having

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1656-427: A revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in

1794-656: A year. Due to increasing air traffic in Berlin and Brandenburg, plans for airport expansions were in the making. Berlin Brandenburg Airport receives over sixty combined passenger, charter and cargo airlines. In 2016, around 49,000 students were enrolled in Brandenburg universities and higher education facilities. The largest institution is the University of Potsdam , located southwest of Berlin . In 2019

1932-464: Is provided with state-financed administration and a park ranger staff, who guide visitors and work to ensure nature conservation. Most protected areas have visitor centers. National parks Biosphere reserves Nature parks Brandenburg has the second lowest population density among the German states, after Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 17.1% of the Brandenburgers are registered members of

2070-429: Is referred to as "Land government" (Landesregierung) . Before 1 January 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag , and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities,

2208-529: Is situated in territory known in antiquity as Magna Germania , which reached to the Vistula river. By the 7th century, Slavic peoples are believed to have settled in the Brandenburg area. The Slavs expanded from the east, possibly driven from their homelands in present-day Ukraine and perhaps Belarus by the invasions of the Huns and Avars . They relied heavily on river transport. The two principal Slavic groups in

2346-670: Is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers . In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8 ). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into Länder may be revised, without regard to

2484-504: Is unclear but it is thought to derive from the Slavic branyi ('marshy/boggy') or Germanic branda ('fire'). Other theories have included West Slavic branný bor ('defensive forest') and brani-bor ('pine forest'). Burg in German means 'castle'. In the extinct local language Polabian , Brandenburg was Branibor . In the modern local languages, Brandenburg and

2622-404: Is very common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land ). Officially this term Bundesland neither appears in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of

2760-787: The Black Forest . The Zollerns received the Graf title from Emperor Henry V in 1111. As loyal vassals of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty, they were able to significantly enlarge their territory. Count Frederick III ( c.  1139  – c.  1200 ) accompanied Emperor Frederick Barbarossa against Henry the Lion in 1180, and through his marriage was granted the Burgraviate of Nuremberg by Emperor Henry VI in 1192. In about 1185, he married Sophia of Raabs ,

2898-655: The Bundestag for Brandenburg before being elected President of Germany , and likely Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz , who sits in the Bundestag for Potsdam . Like in all other New states of Germany , the populist parties The Left and, more recently, the Alternative for Germany are especially strong in Brandenburg. Brandenburg has 4 out of 69 votes in the Bundesrat and, as of 2021, 25 seats out of 736 in

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3036-472: The Bundestag . Brandenburg is divided into 14 rural districts ( Landkreise ) and four urban districts ( kreisfreie Städte ), shown with their population in 2011: The most recent election took place on 1 September 2019. A coalition government was formed by the Social Democrats , The Greens , and the Christian Democratic Union led by incumbent Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD), replacing

3174-738: The Catholic Swabian branch and the Protestant Franconian branch , which ruled the Burgraviate of Nuremberg and later became the Brandenburg-Prussian branch. The Swabian branch ruled the principalities of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen until 1849, and also ruled Romania from 1866 to 1947. Members of the Franconian branch became Margrave of Brandenburg in 1415 and Duke of Prussia in 1525. The Margraviate of Brandenburg and

3312-665: The Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation . The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states. Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to

3450-682: The Congress of Vienna , the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover , Nassau , Hesse-Kassel , and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state , the North German Federation , on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In

3588-772: The Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland. Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on

3726-531: The Duchy of Prussia were combined to form Brandenburg-Prussia , which was ruled by the same branch of the House of Hohenzollern . In 1701 the state was elevated as the Kingdom of Prussia . Franconian Nuremberg and Ansbach , Swabian Hohenzollern , the eastern European connections of Berlin, and the status of Brandenburg's ruler as prince-elector together were instrumental in the rise of that state. Brandenburg

3864-604: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire . The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine . Within

4002-635: The German Democratic Republic dissolved the state and broke it up into multiple regional districts . After German reunification , Brandenburg was re-established in 1990 as one of the five new states of the Federal Republic. Southeastern Brandenburg contains part of the historical Lower Lusatia , and most of these localities have two official languages, German and Lower Sorbian (of the Sorbs/Wends ). Brandenburg takes its name from Brandenburg an der Havel . The name's origin

4140-589: The Imperial City of Nuremberg . The territories of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach remained possessions of the family, once parts of the Burgraviate of Nuremberg. On 2 December 1791, Christian II Frederick sold the sovereignty of his principalities to King Frederick William II of Prussia . On 2 December 1791, Charles Alexander sold the sovereignty of his principalities to King Frederick William II of Prussia. The Duchy of Jägerndorf (Krnov)

4278-673: The Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania , East Prussia , Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of

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4416-606: The Peace of Westphalia , his envoy Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal negotiated the acquisition of several important territories such as Halberstadt . Under the Treaty of Oliva Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal (son of the above) negotiated the incorporation of the Duchy of Prussia into the Hohenzollern inheritance. When Frederick William died in 1688, he was followed by his son Frederick , third of that name in Brandenburg. As

4554-627: The Regierender Bürgermeister (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft . The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament). The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts . The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts : Bremen and Bremerhaven , which are not contiguous. In

4692-537: The Saarland  – which later received a special status – in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern) , Brandenburg , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and Thuringia in the Soviet zone . No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of

4830-521: The Schwerin , Neubrandenburg and Magdeburg districts (town Havelberg ). East Germany relied heavily on lignite (the lowest grade of coal) as an energy source, and lignite strip mines marred areas of south-eastern Brandenburg. The industrial towns surrounding Berlin were important to the East German economy, while rural Brandenburg remained mainly agricultural. The present State of Brandenburg

4968-613: The State of Brandenburg are named: In late medieval and early modern times, Brandenburg was, with varying borders, one of seven electoral states of the Holy Roman Empire , and, along with Prussia , formed the original core of the German Empire , the first unified German state. Governed by the Hohenzollern dynasty from 1415, it contained the future German capital Berlin. After 1618 the Margraviate of Brandenburg and

5106-552: The Swabian Alps . The Hohenzollern Castle lies on an 855 meters high mountain called Hohenzollern . It still belongs to the family today. The dynasty was first mentioned in 1061. According to the medieval chronicler Berthold of Reichenau , Burkhard I, Count of Zollern ( de Zolorin ) was born before 1025 and died in 1061. In 1095, Count Adalbert of Zollern founded the Benedictine monastery of Alpirsbach , situated in

5244-462: The Vistula River together with Malbork and Chełmno Land formed the province of West Prussia with its capital at Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) in 1773. The Polish Partition Sejm ratified the cession on 30 September 1772, whereafter Frederick officially went on to call himself King "of" Prussia . From 1772 onwards the titles of Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to

5382-541: The Weimar Republic was established, thus bringing an end to the German and Prussian monarchy . Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia , is the current head of the formerly royal Prussian line, while Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern , is the head of the formerly princely Swabian line. Zollern, from 1218 Hohenzollern, was a county of the Holy Roman Empire . Later its capital was Hechingen . The Hohenzollerns named their estates after Hohenzollern Castle in

5520-503: The Weimar Republic , six still exist (though partly with different borders): The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities: Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria , now have territory of

5658-603: The West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people . Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and

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5796-495: The church tax . Politically, Brandenburg is a stronghold of the Social Democratic Party , which won the largest share of the vote and seats in every state election. All three Minister-Presidents of Brandenburg have come from the Social Democratic Party (unlike any other state except Bremen ) and they even won an absolute majority of seats and every single-member constituency in the 1994 state election . On

5934-635: The death marches of prisoners of various nationalities from various dissolved camps passed through the region. In the final stages of the war, it was the place of heavy fights, including the Battle of the Seelow Heights and Battle of Berlin , won by the Allied Soviet and Polish armies. After Germany's defeat, the part of Brandenburg east of the Oder–Neisse line , which formed part of Poland in

6072-524: The suzerainty of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland . In Brandenburg and the other Hohenzollern domains within the borders of the empire, he was legally still an elector under the ultimate overlordship of the emperor. By this time, however, the emperor's authority had become purely nominal over the other German prices outside the immediate hereditary lands of the emperor. Brandenburg was still legally part of

6210-436: The 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union . Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to

6348-423: The 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz , rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state. Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of

6486-459: The American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with

6624-480: The Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in

6762-486: The Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region and was located 18 km (11 mi) southeast of central Berlin in Schönefeld . The airport was a base for Condor , easyJet and Ryanair . In 2016, Schönefeld handled 11,652,922 passengers (an increase of 36.7%). Schönefeld's existing infrastructure and terminals were incorporated into the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), which opened in 2020. Berlin Brandenburg Airport had an initial capacity of 35–40 million passengers

6900-425: The Calvinist rite. The vast majority of his subjects in Brandenburg, including his wife Anna of Prussia , remained deeply Lutheran, however. After the Elector and his Calvinist court officials drew up plans for mass conversion of the population to the new faith in February 1614, as provided for by the rule of Cuius regio, eius religio within the Holy Roman Empire , there were serious protests, with his wife backing

7038-467: The City of Berlin was separated from the Province of Brandenburg. However, industrial towns ringing Berlin lay within Brandenburg, and the growth of the region's industrial economy brought an increase in the population of the province. The Province of Brandenburg had an area of 39,039 km (15,073 sq mi) and a population of 2.6 million (1925). Under the Nazi government and during World War II , repressions of Poles , especially autochthones in

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7176-448: The Duchy of Prussia were ruled in personal union after 1618 and were called Brandenburg-Prussia. From there, the Kingdom of Prussia was created in 1701, eventually leading to the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871, with the Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors and Kings of Prussia. Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918 led to the German Revolution . The Hohenzollerns were overthrown and

7314-430: The EU average. The GDP per capita was the third lowest of all states in Germany. The unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in November 2022 and was higher than the German average but lower than the average of Eastern Germany. Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg is located in Brandenburg. Berlin Schönefeld Airport (IATA code: SXF) was the largest airport in Brandenburg. It was the second largest international airport of

7452-403: The Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect

7590-399: The Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each Land be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively". In their letter to Konrad Adenauer ,

7728-438: The Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria , where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation. The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it

7866-424: The Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of

8004-399: The French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland , the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the " Old States " today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways integrated with West Germany under a special status. A new delimitation of

8142-470: The German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time. In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising

8280-508: The Great annexed neighboring Royal Prussia , i.e., the Polish voivodeships of Pomerania ( Gdańsk Pomerania or Pomerelia ), Malbork , Chełmno and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , thereby connecting his Prussian and Farther Pomeranian lands and cutting the rest of Poland from the Baltic coast. The territory of Warmia was incorporated into the lands of former Ducal Prussia, which, by administrative deed of 31 January 1772 were named East Prussia . The former Polish Pomerelian lands beyond

8418-501: The Holy Roman Emperor, theoretically the highest sovereign in the West. From 1701 onwards the titles of Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title of King in Prussia. The Duke of Prussia adopted the title of king as Frederick I , establishing his status as a monarch whose royal territory lay outside the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, with the assent of Emperor Leopold I : Frederick could not be "King of Prussia" because part of Prussia's lands were under

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8556-422: The Lutheran and Calvinist (Reformed) confessions to form the United Church of Prussia was highly controversial. Angry responses included a large and well-organized opposition. The crown's aggressive efforts to restructure religion were unprecedented in Prussian history. In a series of proclamations over several years, the Church of the Prussian Union was formed, bringing together the majority group of Lutherans and

8694-453: The Lutherans. This was doubly important as Anna brought with her the duchy of Prussia into the Brandenburg line of the house and the nascent Brandenburg-Prussian state. Resistance was so strong that in 1615, John Sigismund backed down and relinquished all attempts at forcible conversion. Instead, he allowed his subjects to be either Lutheran or Calvinist according to the dictates of their own consciences. Henceforward, Brandenburg-Prussia would be

8832-401: The Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach after 1398. From 1420, he became Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. From 1411 Frederick VI became governor of Brandenburg and later Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. Upon his death on 21 September 1440, his territories were divided among his sons: In 1427 Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg sold Nuremberg Castle and his rights as burgrave to

8970-455: The Middle Ages and partly also in the early modern period, became again part of Poland. The entire population of former East Brandenburg was expelled en masse in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . The remainder of the province became a state in the Soviet Zone of occupation in Germany when Prussia was dissolved in 1947. After the foundation of East Germany in 1949, Brandenburg formed one of its component states. The State of Brandenburg

9108-443: The Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system . Three changes are of particular note: on 1 January 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act ( Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz ) of 1937, the territory of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of

9246-427: The Oder from Poland ( Lubusz Land and north-western Greater Poland ), later known as the Neumark , in contrast to the Altmark , the cradle of the March of Brandenburg. In 1320, the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end, and from 1323 up until 1415 Brandenburg was under the control of the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria , followed by the Luxembourg Dynasties. Under the Luxembourgs, the Margrave of Brandenburg gained

9384-480: The Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen , Hesse , Württemberg-Baden , and Bavaria in the American zone ; Hamburg , Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone ; Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

9522-401: The Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms ) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D). Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD). At the same time,

9660-431: The Slav-inhabited lands of present-day Brandenburg, excluding Polish-controlled Lubusz Land, although some Slavs like the Sorbs in Lusatia adapted to Germanization while retaining their distinctiveness. The Roman Catholic Church brought bishoprics which, with their walled towns, afforded protection from attacks for the townspeople. With the monks and bishops, the history of the town of Brandenburg an der Havel , which

9798-414: The Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum , Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg . In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland . The next change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which

9936-514: The affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent. The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden . The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are

10074-600: The boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others. As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article ;29 of the Basic Law . There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory:

10212-403: The chain of events that led to World War I . As a result of the war, the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist. In 1918, the German empire was abolished and replaced by the Weimar Republic . After the outbreak of the German revolution in 1918, both Emperor William II and Crown Prince William signed the document of abdication. The official religion of the state

10350-454: The commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary. After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from

10488-631: The configuration of the German states: the 7  Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria , Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms. After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under

10626-476: The consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs. Some states call themselves a " free state " ( Freistaat ). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I . Today, Freistaat is associated emotionally with

10764-401: The constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government". It was the states that formed

10902-475: The constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments. The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to

11040-432: The constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court. On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for

11178-565: The control of Slavic leaders. The eastern parts of current Brandenburg, i.e. the Lubusz Land and Lower Lusatia , became part of Poland in the 10th-11th centuries. In the early 12th century, the Slavic Duchy of Kopanica was established in the central part of present-day Brandenburg, whereas the Lubusz Land in the east remained part of medieval Poland. During the 12th century, the German kings and emperors re-established control over

11316-550: The core of the Kingdom of Prussia, and it was the site of the kingdom's capitals, Berlin and Potsdam. When Prussia was subdivided into provinces in 1815, the territory of the Margraviate of Brandenburg became the Province of Brandenburg , again subdivided into the government region of Frankfurt and Potsdam. It also included Lower Lusatia , previously ruled at various times by Poland, Bohemia , Hungary and Saxony . In 1881,

11454-549: The daughter of Conrad II , Burgrave of Nuremberg. After the death of Conrad II who left no male heirs, Frederick III was granted Nuremberg as Burgrave Frederick I. In 1218, the burgraviate passed to Frederick's elder son Conrad I , he thereby became the ancestor of the Franconian Hohenzollern branch, which acquired the Electorate of Brandenburg in 1415. After Frederick's death, his sons partitioned

11592-816: The eastern part of the province, intensified with expulsions of Poles , censorship of Polish newspapers, invigilation, arrests and assassinations of Polish leaders, activists, teachers, entrepreneurs, editors, etc., deportations to concentration camps and closure of Polish organizations, enterprises, schools and libraries. The Sachsenhausen concentration camp with a network of subcamps was located in Brandenburg, and several prisoner-of-war camps , including Stalag III-A , Stalag III-B, Stalag III-C , Stalag III-D , Oflag II-A , Oflag III-A, Oflag III-B, Oflag III-C , Oflag 8 and Oflag 80 for Polish, Belgian, British, Dutch, French , Serbian, Italian , American, Czechoslovak, Soviet, Romanian, Greek, Bulgarian and other Allied POWs with numerous forced labour subcamps. In early 1945,

11730-506: The empire and ruled in personal union with Prussia, though the two states came to be treated as one de facto. The king was officially Margrave of Brandenburg within the Empire until the Empire's dissolution in 1806. In the age of absolutism , most monarchs were obsessed with the desire to emulate Louis XIV of France with his luxurious palace at Versailles . In 1772, the Duchy of Prussia

11868-486: The empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles , the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss , the father of the Weimar Constitution , drafted

12006-647: The executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the Senatspräsident (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as Bürgermeister (Mayor) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (first mayor) in Hamburg, and

12144-563: The family lands between themselves: The senior Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern was founded by Conrad I, Burgrave of Nuremberg (1186–1261). The family supported the Hohenstaufen and Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th to 15th centuries, being rewarded with several territorial grants. Beginning in the 16th century, this branch of the family became Protestant and decided on expansion through marriage and

12282-456: The federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag ' s members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of

12420-487: The federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics ( Werner Rutz , Meinhard Miegel , Adrian Ottnad , etc.) and politicians ( Walter Döring , Hans Apel , and others) made proposals – some of them far-reaching – for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform

12558-412: The federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception. Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states , numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After

12696-412: The federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including culture, which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany ). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level,

12834-565: The finest musical compositions of the Baroque era and are among the composer's best known works. A famous speciality food from Brandenburg are the Spreewald gherkins . The wet soil of the Spreewald makes the region ideal for growing cucumbers. Spreewald gherkins are protected by the EU as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). They are one of the biggest exports of Brandenburg. States of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany , as

12972-569: The first Duke of Prussia. He belonged to the Ansbach branch of the dynasty. The Duchy of Prussia adopted Protestantism as the official state religion . From 1701, the title of Duke of Prussia was attached to the title of King in and of Prussia. In 1701, the title of King in Prussia was granted, without the Duchy of Prussia being elevated to a Kingdom within Poland but recognized as a kingdom by

13110-446: The five " New States " on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany. After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that

13248-409: The former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder were lost in 1945 and are now part of Poland or Russia . They are Silesia (Upper and Lower), Pomerania, West Prussia-Posen, and East Prussia respectively. Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among

13386-479: The fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. Brandenburg is bordered by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north, Poland in the east, the Freistaat Sachsen in the south, Saxony-Anhalt in the west, and Lower Saxony in the northwest. The Oder river forms

13524-586: The grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies. The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and

13662-491: The lands that had been acquired in Prussia were outside the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick assumed (as Frederick I) the title of " King in Prussia " (1701). Although his self-promotion from margrave to king relied on his title to the Duchy of Prussia, Brandenburg was still the most important portion of the kingdom. However, this combined state is known as the Kingdom of Prussia . Brandenburg remained

13800-695: The local, regional Protestant church (mostly the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia ), while 3.1% are registered with the Roman Catholic Church (mostly the Archdiocese of Berlin , and a minority in the Diocese of Görlitz ). The majority (79.8%) of Brandenburgers, whether of Christian or other beliefs, choose not to register with the government as members of these churches, and therefore do not pay

13938-639: The national capital and city-state of Berlin . Together they form the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region , the third-largest metropolitan area in Germany . There was an unsuccessful attempt to unify both states in 1996 and the states still cooperate on many matters. Brandenburg originated in the Northern March in the 900s AD, from areas conquered from the Wends . It later became the Margraviate of Brandenburg ,

14076-399: The necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour. Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany . According to the German constitution , some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and

14214-547: The northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg ) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and

14352-577: The other states there are the subdivisions below. The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two area associations ( Landschaftsverbände ), one for the Rhineland , and one for Westphalia - Lippe . This arrangement was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally different regions into a single state after World War II . The Landschaftsverbände now have very little power. House of Hohenzollern The Hohenzollern family split into two branches,

14490-421: The percentages of those eligible who voted in favour): The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag, however, decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of

14628-407: The pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lay east of

14766-638: The present-day area of Brandenburg were the Hevelli in the west and the Sprevane in the east. Beginning in the early 10th century, Henry the Fowler and his successors conquered territory up to the Oder River . Slavic settlements such as Brenna ( Brandenburg an der Havel ), Budusin ( Bautzen ), and Chośebuz ( Cottbus ) came under imperial control through the installation of margraves. Their main function

14904-520: The previous coalition between the Social Democrats and The Left . The next ordinary state election will likely occur in autumn 2024. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 72.9 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.2% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 26,700 euros or 88% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 91% of

15042-478: The principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet ). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of

15180-420: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the Länder concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger ( South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes

15318-467: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two Länder with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger. The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with

15456-639: The public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany. On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when

15594-493: The purchase of surrounding lands. In the first phase, the family gradually added to their lands, at first with many small acquisitions in the Franconian region of Germany : In the second phase, the family expanded their lands further with large acquisitions in the Brandenburg and Prussian regions of Germany and present-day Poland: These acquisitions eventually transformed the Franconian Hohenzollerns from

15732-483: The referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1. In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of

15870-490: The same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district. The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification . While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as

16008-624: The state of Brandenburg adopted an Open Access strategy calling on universities to develop transformation strategies to make knowledge from Brandenburg freely accessible to all. Universities in Brandenburg: The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments ) are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig , Margrave of Brandenburg- Schwedt , in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). They are widely regarded as among

16146-462: The state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote . The governments in Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as " senates ". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony , the government is referred to as "state government" (Staatsregierung) ; and in the other states, the government

16284-481: The states of Berlin and Brandenburg was rejected at referendum. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by a small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin , Brandenburg voters disapproved of

16422-557: The status of a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. In the period 1373–1415, Brandenburg was a part of the Bohemian Crown . In 1415, the Electorate of Brandenburg was granted by Emperor Sigismund to the House of Hohenzollern , which would rule until the end of World War I. The Hohenzollerns established their capital in Berlin, by then the economic center of Brandenburg. Brandenburg converted to Protestantism in 1539 in

16560-481: The territory of the former German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-West Pomerania ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), Saxony ( Sachsen ), Saxony-Anhalt ( Sachsen-Anhalt ), and Thuringia ( Thüringen ), and the reunification of West and East Berlin into a city state. A referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg failed to reach

16698-484: The three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force. Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states ( South Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern , and Württemberg-Baden ) merged to form Baden-Württemberg . From 1957, when

16836-516: The title King of Prussia. In 1871, the Kingdom of Prussia became a constituent member of the German Empire , and the King of Prussia gained the additional title of German Emperor . Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Auguste von Harrach Hermine Reuss of Greiz In 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed. With the accession of William I to the newly established imperial German throne,

16974-516: The titles of King of Prussia, Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title of German Emperor . Prussia's Minister President Otto von Bismarck convinced William that German Emperor instead of Emperor of Germany would be appropriate. He became primus inter pares among other German sovereigns. William II intended to develop a German navy capable of challenging Britain's Royal Navy . The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 set off

17112-599: The town of Brandenburg in the 1150s, Albert proclaimed himself ruler of the new Margraviate of Brandenburg . Albert, and his descendants the Ascanians , then made considerable progress in conquering, colonizing, Christianizing, and cultivating lands as far east as the Oder. Within this region, Slavic and German residents intermarried. During the 13th century, the Ascanians began acquiring and seizing territory around and east of

17250-626: The wake of the Protestant Reformation , and generally did quite well in the 16th century, with the expansion of trade along the Elbe, Havel, and Spree rivers. The Hohenzollerns expanded their territory by co-rulership since 1577 and acquiring the Duchy of Prussia in 1618, the Duchy of Cleves (1614) in the Rhineland , and territories in Westphalia . The result was a sprawling, disconnected country known as Brandenburg-Prussia that

17388-546: The wishes of the majority of Baden's population. The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection

17526-416: Was "bi-confessional". John Sigismund's most significant action was his conversion from Lutheranism to Calvinism , after he had earlier equalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants in the Duchy of Prussia under pressure from the King of Poland. He was probably won over to Calvinism during a visit to Heidelberg in 1606, but it was not until 25 December 1613 that he publicly took communion according to

17664-591: Was completely dissolved in 1952 by the Socialist government of East Germany , doing away with all component states. The East German government then divided Brandenburg among several Bezirke or districts. (See Administrative division of the German Democratic Republic ). Most of Brandenburg lay within the Bezirke of Cottbus , Frankfurt , or Potsdam , but parts of the former province passed to

17802-609: Was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck. In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite

17940-673: Was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II . Initially, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: Bayern ), Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse ( Hessen ), Lower Saxony ( Niedersachsen ), North Rhine-Westphalia ( Nordrhein-Westfalen ), Rhineland-Palatinate ( Rheinland-Pfalz ), Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin , while still under occupation by

18078-411: Was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg. With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful: The last petition was originally rejected by

18216-594: Was elevated to a kingdom. Sophia Charlotte of Hanover Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick William 's successor, Frederick the Great gained Silesia in the Silesian Wars so that Prussia emerged as a great power . The king was strongly influenced by French culture and civilization and preferred the French language. In the 1772 First Partition of Poland , the Prussian king Frederick

18354-470: Was in poor shape to defend itself during the Thirty Years' War . Beginning near the end of that devastating conflict, however, Brandenburg enjoyed a string of talented rulers who expanded their territory and power in Europe. The first of these was Frederick William , the so-called "Great Elector", who worked tirelessly to rebuild and consolidate the nation. He moved the royal residence to Potsdam . At

18492-833: Was purchased in 1523. The duchy of Jägerndorf was confiscated by Emperor Ferdinand III in 1622. In 1411, Frederick VI , Burgrave of the small but wealthy Nuremberg, was appointed governor of Brandenburg in order to restore order and stability. At the Council of Constance in 1415, King Sigismund elevated Frederick to the rank of Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. In 1417, Elector Frederick purchased Brandenburg from its then-sovereign, Emperor Sigismund, for 400,000 Hungarian guilders. Anna of Saxony Hedwig of Poland Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst Eleanor of Prussia personal union with Prussia after 1618 called Brandenburg-Prussia . The short-lived Margraviate of Brandenburg-Küstrin

18630-466: Was re-established on 3 October 1990 upon German reunification . The newly elected Landtag of Brandenburg first met on 26 October 1990. As in other former parts of East Germany, the lack of modern infrastructure and exposure to West Germany's competitive market economy brought widespread unemployment and economic difficulty. In the recent years, however, Brandenburg's infrastructure has been modernized and unemployment has slowly declined. The legal basis for

18768-527: Was set up as a secundogeniture of the House of Hohenzollern. Although recognized as a branch of the dynasty since 1688, the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Schwedt remained subordinate to the electors, and was never an independent principality. In 1525, the Duchy of Prussia was established as a fief of the King of Poland . Albert of Prussia was the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and

18906-574: Was the first center of the state of Brandenburg, began. In 1134, in the wake of a German crusade against the Wends , the German magnate, Albert the Bear , was granted the Northern March by the Emperor Lothar III . He formally inherited the town of Brandenburg and the lands of the Hevelli from their last Wendish ruler, Pribislav , in 1150. After crushing a force of Sprevane who occupied

19044-577: Was to defend and protect the eastern marches . In 948 Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg . The Northern March was founded as a northeastern border territory of the Holy Roman Empire . However, a great uprising of Wends drove imperial forces from the territory of present-day Brandenburg in 983. The region returned to

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