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107-724: The Nauen Plateau lies in the central Mark and in the extreme west of the state of Berlin. Its northern boundary is formed by a glacial meltwater valley, the Berlin Urstromtal , and by the former marshlands of the Havelland Luch , now part of the West Havelland Nature Park . North of the luch is the smaller ridge of Ländchen Glien . The Plateau's eastern boundary is formed by the Berlin-Potsdam chain of Havelsee lakes, which separates

214-628: 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

321-580: 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

428-661: A type section , Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), for the upper Pleistocene/Holocene boundary ( i.e. the upper boundary). The proposed section is the North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core 75° 06' N 42° 18' W. The lower boundary of the Pleistocene Series is formally defined magnetostratigraphically as the base of the Matuyama (C2r) chronozone , isotopic stage 103. Above this point there are notable extinctions of

535-611: A change from low-amplitude glacial cycles with a dominant periodicity of 41,000 years to asymmetric high-amplitude cycles dominated by a periodicity of 100,000 years. However, a 2020 study concluded that ice age terminations might have been influenced by obliquity since the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, which caused stronger summers in the Northern Hemisphere . Glaciation in the Pleistocene

642-626: 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

749-574: A deviation from today's annual mean temperature, taken as zero. This sort of graph is based on another isotope ratio versus time. Ratios are converted to a percentage difference from the ratio found in standard mean ocean water (SMOW). The graph in either form appears as a waveform with overtones . One half of a period is a Marine isotopic stage (MIS). It indicates a glacial (below zero) or an interglacial (above zero). Overtones are stadials or interstadials. According to this evidence, Earth experienced 102 MIS stages beginning at about 2.588 Ma BP in

856-421: A few regions had been studied and the names were relatively few. Today the geologists of different nations are taking more of an interest in Pleistocene glaciology. As a consequence, the number of names is expanding rapidly and will continue to expand. Many of the advances and stadials remain unnamed. Also, the terrestrial evidence for some of them has been erased or obscured by larger ones, but evidence remains from

963-528: 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

1070-592: 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

1177-622: 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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1284-578: A team of Russian scientists in collaboration with Princeton University announced that they had brought two female nematodes frozen in permafrost , from around 42,000 years ago, back to life. The two nematodes, at the time, were the oldest confirmed living animals on the planet. The evolution of anatomically modern humans took place during the Pleistocene. At the beginning of the Pleistocene Paranthropus species were still present, as well as early human ancestors, but during

1391-825: 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

1498-781: Is estimated that, at maximum glacial extent, 30% of the Earth's surface was covered by ice. In addition, a zone of permafrost stretched southward from the edge of the glacial sheet, a few hundred kilometres in North America , and several hundred in Eurasia . The mean annual temperature at the edge of the ice was −6 °C (21 °F); at the edge of the permafrost, 0 °C (32 °F). Each glacial advance tied up huge volumes of water in continental ice sheets 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,900–9,800 ft) thick, resulting in temporary sea-level drops of 100 metres (300 ft) or more over

1605-459: Is no systematic correspondence between pluvials to glacials, however. Moreover, regional pluvials do not correspond to each other globally. For example, some have used the term "Riss pluvial" in Egyptian contexts. Any coincidence is an accident of regional factors. Only a few of the names for pluvials in restricted regions have been stratigraphically defined. The sum of transient factors acting at

1712-659: The Alpine ice sheet on the Alps . Scattered domes stretched across Siberia and the Arctic shelf. The northern seas were ice-covered. South of the ice sheets large lakes accumulated because outlets were blocked and the cooler air slowed evaporation. When the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, north-central North America was completely covered by Lake Agassiz . Over a hundred basins, now dry or nearly so, were overflowing in

1819-771: 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

1926-808: 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,

2033-725: 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 ,

2140-560: 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

2247-560: 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

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2354-816: 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

2461-568: 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

2568-695: 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

2675-510: 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 ,

2782-662: The Ruwenzori Range in east and central Africa were larger. Glaciers existed in the mountains of Ethiopia and to the west in the Atlas Mountains . In the northern hemisphere, many glaciers fused into one. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered the North American northwest; the east was covered by the Laurentide . The Fenno-Scandian ice sheet rested on northern Europe , including much of Great Britain;

2889-788: 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

2996-530: 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 ,

3103-490: 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

3210-437: The calcareous nannofossils : Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster surculus . The Pleistocene covers the recent period of repeated glaciations. The name Plio-Pleistocene has, in the past, been used to mean the last ice age. Formerly, the boundary between the two epochs was drawn at the time when the foraminiferal species Hyalinea baltica first appeared in the marine section at La Castella, Calabria, Italy. However,

3317-477: The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago. Over 11 major glacial events have been identified, as well as many minor glacial events. A major glacial event is a general glacial excursion, termed a "glacial." Glacials are separated by "interglacials". During a glacial, the glacier experiences minor advances and retreats. The minor excursion is a "stadial"; times between stadials are "interstadials". These events are defined differently in different regions of

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3424-599: The woolly rhinoceros , various giraffids , such as the Sivatherium ; ground sloths , Irish elk , cave lions , cave bears , Gomphotheres , American lions , dire wolves , and short-faced bears , began late in the Pleistocene and continued into the Holocene. Neanderthals also became extinct during this period. At the end of the last ice age, cold-blooded animals, smaller mammals like wood mice , migratory birds, and swifter animals like whitetail deer had replaced

3531-610: 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

3638-724: The "Tarantian"). In addition to these international subdivisions, various regional subdivisions are often used. In 2009 the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) confirmed a change in time period for the Pleistocene, changing the start date from 1.806 to 2.588 million years BP, and accepted the base of the Gelasian as the base of the Pleistocene, namely the base of the Monte San Nicola GSSP . The start date has now been rounded down to 2.580 million years BP. The IUGS has yet to approve

3745-739: 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

3852-468: 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

3959-422: 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

4066-429: 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

4173-489: The Early Pleistocene Gelasian . Early Pleistocene stages were shallow and frequent. The latest were the most intense and most widely spaced. By convention, stages are numbered from the Holocene, which is MIS1. Glacials receive an even number and interglacials receive an odd number. The first major glacial was MIS2-4 at about 85–11 ka BP. The largest glacials were 2, 6, 12, and 16. The warmest interglacials were 1, 5, 9 and 11. For matching of MIS numbers to named stages, see under

4280-402: The Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations . Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences , the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with

4387-409: The Earth's surface is cyclical: climate, ocean currents and other movements, wind currents, temperature, etc. The waveform response comes from the underlying cyclical motions of the planet, which eventually drag all the transients into harmony with them. The repeated glaciations of the Pleistocene were caused by the same factors. The Mid-Pleistocene Transition , approximately one million years ago, saw

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4494-478: 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

4601-399: 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

4708-399: 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

4815-439: The Ketzin Wind Park has been built here. It comprises eight 2.3 megawatt N90 turbines with a total output of 18.4 MW. The wind park with its 100-metre-high tubular towers joined the national grid in June 2005. In the years that followed, other facilities were installed. In July 2012 there were 21 wind generation facilities in Ketzin and Ketzin II with a total output of 48.5 MW. By April 2013 there were about 160 wind generators on

4922-399: 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

5029-437: The Nauen Plateau are partially overlain by marls and glacial sands, left behind by the waters of the thawing ice sheet about 15,000 years before the end of the Weichsel glaciation . The glacial shaping of the relief resulted in a succession of glacial drift , confined space in a change from clays , tills , sands and gravels . On the slopes of the plateau above the Havel lowlands, layers of sand, 10 metres thick, occur at

5136-417: The Nauen Plateau here from the plateau of Teltow. After turning westwards at the Templiner See the Havel valley between Potsdam and Brandenburg an der Havel marks the boundary of the Nauen Plateau to the south and separates it from the Zauche region. The Havel valley also borders the region to the west, where the river swings north again after passing through the Plauer See . Between Pritzerbe , part of

5243-539: The Nauen Plateau. The former military training area of Döberitz Heath has now become a nature reserve and is home to a rare type of vegetation, dry, sandy, grassland flora. The Döberitz Heath and Ferbitzer Busch nature reserves together cover around 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres). The Windmühlenberg Nature Reserve on the eastern slopes of the plateau above the River Havel in Gatow , a quarter of Berlin's Spandau borough, also supports dry, sandy, grassland flora. The ground moraine and terminal moraine depositions of

5350-479: The North American west. Lake Bonneville , for example, stood where Great Salt Lake now does. In Eurasia, large lakes developed as a result of the runoff from the glaciers. Rivers were larger, had a more copious flow, and were braided . African lakes were fuller, apparently from decreased evaporation. Deserts, on the other hand, were drier and more extensive. Rainfall was lower because of the decreases in oceanic and other evaporation. It has been estimated that during

5457-401: 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 ,

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5564-436: The Pleistocene's overall climate could be characterised as a continuous El Niño with trade winds in the south Pacific weakening or heading east, warm air rising near Peru , warm water spreading from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, and other El Niño markers. Pleistocene climate was marked by repeated glacial cycles in which continental glaciers pushed to the 40th parallel in some places. It

5671-605: The Pleistocene, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet thinned by at least 500 meters, and that thinning since the Last Glacial Maximum is less than 50 meters and probably started after ca 14 ka. During the 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene, numerous cold phases called glacials ( Quaternary ice age ), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in Europe and North America, occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and shorter interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold episode of

5778-411: The Pleistocene, the plates upon which they sit probably having moved no more than 100 km (62 mi) relative to each other since the beginning of the period. In glacial periods, the sea level would drop by up to 120 m (390 ft) lower than today during peak glaciation, exposing large areas of the present continental shelf as dry land. According to Mark Lynas (through collected data),

5885-510: The Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable depending on the glacial cycle, with the sea levels being up to 120 metres (390 ft) lower than present at peak glaciation, allowing the connection of Asia and North America via Beringia and the covering of most of northern North America by the Laurentide Ice Sheet . Charles Lyell introduced the term "Pleistocene" in 1839 to describe strata in Sicily that had at least 70% of their molluscan fauna still living today. This distinguished it from

5992-409: 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

6099-424: The Younger Dryas is the official start of the current Holocene Epoch . Although it is considered an epoch, the Holocene is not significantly different from previous interglacial intervals within the Pleistocene. In the ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages , the Gelasian , Calabrian , Chibanian (previously the unofficial "Middle Pleistocene"), and Upper Pleistocene (unofficially

6206-525: The appearance of Homo sapiens about 300,000 years ago. Artifacts associated with modern human behavior are unambiguously attested starting 40,000–50,000 years ago. According to mitochondrial timing techniques, modern humans migrated from Africa after the Riss glaciation in the Middle Palaeolithic during the Eemian Stage , spreading all over the ice-free world during the late Pleistocene. A 2005 study posits that humans in this migration interbred with archaic human forms already outside of Africa by

6313-409: The articles for those names. Both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern but with many more large land mammals such as Mammoths , Mastodons , Diprotodons , Smilodons , tigers , lions , Aurochs , short-faced bears , giant sloths , species within Gigantopithecus and others. Isolated landmasses such as Australia , Madagascar , New Zealand and islands in the Pacific saw

6420-443: 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

6527-454: 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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6634-423: The climate variation more extreme. The Late Pleistocene witnessed the spread of modern humans outside of Africa as well as the extinction of all other human species. Humans also spread to the Australian continent and the Americas for the first time, co-incident with the extinction of most large-bodied animals in these regions. The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were continued in

6741-409: 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

6848-410: 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

6955-450: The dry sands and nutrient-poor areas. On the other hand, parabraunerde soils, with their higher humus and clay content , such as those in the Gatower Feldflur Nature Reserve, offer the best conditions for agriculture . 52°33′00″N 12°48′00″E  /  52.5500°N 12.8000°E  / 52.5500; 12.8000 Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (German: Markgrafschaft Brandenburg )

7062-418: 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

7169-414: 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

7276-449: 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 ,

7383-427: The end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology . The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος ( pleîstos ) 'most' and καινός ( kainós ; Latinized as cænus ) 'new'. At the end of the preceding Pliocene, the previously isolated North and South American continents were joined by the Isthmus of Panama , causing a faunal interchange between

7490-501: The entire surface of the Earth. During interglacial times, such as at present, drowned coastlines were common, mitigated by isostatic or other emergent motion of some regions. The effects of glaciation were global. Antarctica was ice-bound throughout the Pleistocene as well as the preceding Pliocene. The Andes were covered in the south by the Patagonian ice cap. There were glaciers in New Zealand and Tasmania . The current decaying glaciers of Mount Kenya , Mount Kilimanjaro , and

7597-403: The eponymous town of Nauen lies on the perimeter of the plateau; on its northern rim. Other large settlements on the plateau are Wustermark , Brieselang , Dallgow-Döberitz and Ketzin . The towns, villages and municipalities on the plateau mainly lie in the two counties of Potsdam-Mittelmark and Havelland . The Nauen Plateau was designated as a region suitable for wind power; as a result

7704-782: The evolution of large birds and even reptiles such as the Elephant bird , moa , Haast's eagle , Quinkana , Megalania and Meiolania . The severe climatic changes during the Ice Age had major impacts on the fauna and flora. With each advance of the ice, large areas of the continents became depopulated, and plants and animals retreating southwards in front of the advancing glacier faced tremendous stress. The most severe stress resulted from drastic climatic changes, reduced living space, and curtailed food supply. A major extinction event of large mammals ( megafauna ), which included mammoths , mastodons , saber-toothed cats , glyptodons ,

7811-546: 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

7918-691: 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

8025-414: The glacial range, which have their own glacial history depending on latitude, terrain and climate. There is a general correspondence between glacials in different regions. Investigators often interchange the names if the glacial geology of a region is in the process of being defined. However, it is generally incorrect to apply the name of a glacial in one region to another. For most of the 20th century, only

8132-450: The historical terminology was established. Corresponding to the terms glacial and interglacial, the terms pluvial and interpluvial are in use (Latin: pluvia , rain). A pluvial is a warmer period of increased rainfall; an interpluvial is of decreased rainfall. Formerly a pluvial was thought to correspond to a glacial in regions not iced, and in some cases it does. Rainfall is cyclical also. Pluvials and interpluvials are widespread. There

8239-662: 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

8346-521: 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

8453-622: The large amounts of material moved about by glaciers. Less common are cave deposits, travertines and volcanic deposits (lavas, ashes). Pleistocene marine deposits are found primarily in shallow marine basins mostly (but with important exceptions) in areas within a few tens of kilometres of the modern shoreline. In a few geologically active areas such as the Southern California coast, Pleistocene marine deposits may be found at elevations of several hundred metres. The modern continents were essentially at their present positions during

8560-470: The lower Palaeolithic they disappeared, and the only hominin species found in fossilic records is Homo erectus for much of the Pleistocene. Acheulean lithics appear along with Homo erectus , some 1.8 million years ago, replacing the more primitive Oldowan industry used by A. garhi and by the earliest species of Homo . The Middle Paleolithic saw more varied speciation within Homo , including

8667-519: 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,

8774-478: The megafauna and migrated north. Late Pleistocene bighorn sheep were more slender and had longer legs than their descendants today. Scientists believe that the change in predator fauna after the late Pleistocene extinctions resulted in a change of body shape as the species adapted for increased power rather than speed. The extinctions hardly affected Africa but were especially severe in North America where native horses and camels were wiped out. In July 2018,

8881-581: The older Pliocene Epoch , which Lyell had originally thought to be the youngest fossil rock layer. He constructed the name "Pleistocene" ('most new' or 'newest') from the Greek πλεῖστος ( pleīstos ) 'most' and καινός ( kainós ( Latinized as cænus ) 'new'). This contrasts with the immediately preceding Pliocene ("newer", from πλείων ( pleíōn , "more") and kainós ) and the immediately subsequent Holocene ("wholly new" or "entirely new", from ὅλος ( hólos , "whole") and kainós ) epoch , which extends to

8988-590: 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

9095-528: The present time. The Pleistocene has been dated from 2.580 million (±0.005) to 11,700 years BP with the end date expressed in radiocarbon years as 10,000 carbon-14 years BP. It covers most of the latest period of repeated glaciation , up to and including the Younger Dryas cold spell. The end of the Younger Dryas has been dated to about 9700 BCE (11,700 calendar years BP). The end of

9202-417: The ratio of O to O (two isotopes of oxygen ) by mass (measured by a mass spectrometer ) present in the calcite of oceanic core samples is used as a diagnostic of ancient ocean temperature change and therefore of climate change. Cold oceans are richer in O , which is included in the tests of the microorganisms ( foraminifera ) contributing the calcite. A more recent version of

9309-473: 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

9416-570: The revised definition of the Quaternary , by pushing back the start date of the Pleistocene to 2.58 Ma, results in the inclusion of all the recent repeated glaciations within the Pleistocene. Radiocarbon dating is considered to be inaccurate beyond around 50,000 years ago. Marine isotope stages (MIS) derived from Oxygen isotopes are often used for giving approximate dates. Pleistocene non-marine sediments are found primarily in fluvial deposits , lakebeds, slope and loess deposits as well as in

9523-407: The sampling process makes use of modern glacial ice cores. Although less rich in O than seawater, the snow that fell on the glacier year by year nevertheless contained O and O in a ratio that depended on the mean annual temperature. Temperature and climate change are cyclical when plotted on a graph of temperature versus time. Temperature coordinates are given in the form of

9630-585: 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

9737-510: 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

9844-649: The sole factor responsible for the variations in climate since they explain neither the long-term cooling trend over the Plio-Pleistocene nor the millennial variations in the Greenland Ice Cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger events and Heinrich events. Milankovitch pacing seems to best explain glaciation events with periodicity of 100,000, 40,000, and 20,000 years. Such a pattern seems to fit the information on climate change found in oxygen isotope cores. In oxygen isotope ratio analysis, variations in

9951-421: The study of cyclical climate changes. The glacials in the following tables show historical usages, are a simplification of a much more complex cycle of variation in climate and terrain, and are generally no longer used. These names have been abandoned in favour of numeric data because many of the correlations were found to be either inexact or incorrect and more than four major glacials have been recognised since

10058-639: The surface near Groß Glienicke , Kladow and Gatow, such as at the Gatow hill of Windmühlenberg, on the Gatow Heath or near Karolinenhöhe. The dry, nutrient-poor sand here is ideal for the extreme habitat needed for dry grassland. The remaining soils on the surface of the Upper Pleistocene landscape area are dominated, on the one hand, by rusty brown earth ( Braunerde ) that, with good aeration and deep rooting forms similar habitats to that of

10165-399: 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

10272-528: The town of Havelsee , and Paulinenaue , the western boundary of the Nauen Plateau runs west of the Garlitz and Ribbeck Heaths and east of the bird reserve established for the great bustard . Its entire area covers about 90,000 hectares (220,000 acres). From west to east it measures around 45 kilometres and from north to south around 20 kilometres. Like the cities of Berlin and Potsdam,

10379-764: The two regions and changing ocean circulation patterns, with the onset of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere occurring around 2.7 million years ago. During the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.8 Ma), archaic humans of the genus Homo originated in Africa and spread throughout Afro-Eurasia . The end of the Early Pleistocene is marked by the Mid-Pleistocene Transition , with the cyclicity of glacial cycles changing from 41,000-year cycles to asymmetric 100,000-year cycles, making

10486-467: 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

10593-543: Was a series of glacials and interglacials, stadials and interstadials, mirroring periodic climate changes. The main factor at work in climate cycling is now believed to be Milankovitch cycles . These are periodic variations in regional and planetary solar radiation reaching the Earth caused by several repeating changes in the Earth's motion. The effects of Milankovitch cycles were enhanced by various positive feedbacks related to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and Earth's albedo. Milankovitch cycles cannot be

10700-823: 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

10807-551: 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

10914-544: Was celebrated officially on 11 June 2007, with preliminary celebrations at the Knights' Academy of Brandenburg an der Havel on 23 June 2006. Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( / ˈ p l aɪ s t ə ˌ s iː n , - s t oʊ -/ PLY -stə-seen, -⁠stoh- ; referred to colloquially as the Ice Age ) is the geological epoch that lasted from c.  2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning

11021-762: 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,

11128-462: 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

11235-563: 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

11342-405: 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

11449-555: 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 ,

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