The history of Brandenburg

Brandenburg’s development is closely connected with the Hohenzollern dynasty. The kings and emperors who originate from this aristocratic line, such as Frederick II known even better as Frederick the Great, helped put the German State of Prussia with its centre in the territory of today’s Brandenburg and Berlin on a European standing. Whether in politics, arts or culture – Brandenburg has undergone an interesting historical development at the heart of Europe and everywhere in the country offers travellers records and insights into “Berlin’s Beautiful Backdrop”- from castles and manor houses, via churches and monasteries to unparalleled historic city centres and industrial monuments.

After territorial cessions by the German emperor, the Ascanian Albrecht the Bear became the founder of Mark Brandenburg in 1157, which was marked during the early Middle Ages by conflicts between the Slavic tribes that settled there and the push for expansion of the German Empire. The foundations of the first monasteries, Lehnin and Chorin, as well as the creation of the double town of Berlin-Cölln at the crossroads of the trade routes from Bohemia and Saxony, which crossed Mark Brandenburg, also occurred in this period. Between the 13th and the 17th century, the country was set back again and again by conflagrations, epidemics, but especially by the Thirty Years’ War. Brandenburg owes its rise to a European great power, but also its fall at the end of World War I, to the Hohenzollern aristocratic line.

In 1701, the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich III crowned himself as the first King of Prussia and thus established the subsequent rapid rise of the the Prussian state. The spiritual, intellectual and cultural centre quickly emerged in the residential town of Potsdam and later in Berlin. At first, young Prussia was shaped by Friedrich Wilhelm I, the Soldier King, who contributed to the military capability of the state. His bodyguard, the “Lange Kerls” (tall fellows), were regarded as a model for the Prussian Army, which never entered into war under Friedrich Wilhelm I himself. The settlement of foreign minorities in Prussia, such as the Huguenots or Dutchmen, can also be traced back to this ruler.
Prussia experienced its period of glory from 1740 to 1786 under Frederick II, called the Great. He not only pressed ahead with the expansion of the empire, but also shaped today’s countenance of the UNESCO world cultural heritage of the capital, Potsdam, to a high degree by creating Sanssouci Castle and Park, among other things. In addition, he was also known all over the world as an enlightened monarch, who loved flute playing and the intellectual exchange of ideas. His correspondence with the philosopher Voltaire, who stayed at Frederick’s court for several years, testifies to this.

The successors of Frederick the Great consolidated Prussia’s position as a great power in Europe and it certainly achieved another pinnacle, when the Prussian Ruler Friedrich I became German Emperor at Versailles in 1871 after the war against France. The end of World War I, however, sealed the collapse of the Empire and the end of the Hohenzollern rule through the Treaty of Versailles and the proclamation of the republic. Prussia continued to be the centre of political power during the Weimar Republic. Here, the darkest chapter in recent German history was written during World War II, which ended with the surrender of the German Reich and the final dissolution of Prussia in 1945. Based on the Potsdam Conference, Mark Brandenburg was then assigned to the Russian occupation zone and divided into four districts in the GDR in 1952. After nearly 300 years, Brandenburg finally got back its name and its unity through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the two German States. Potsdam became state capital. As one of the five “New Länder” (new states), Brandenburg stands out because of its location around the German capital, Berlin.