Brandenburg

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{{Infobox German Bundesland|Name = Brandenburg|German_name =|state_coa = Brandenburg Wappen.svg|coa_size =|coa_link = Coat of arms of Brandenburg|map = Deutschland Lage von Brandenburg.svg|flag = Flag of Brandenburg.svg|capital = Potsdam|area = 29478.63|area_source =|population = 2548200|pop_ref = |pop_date = 2006-09-30|GDP = 48|GDP_year = 2005|GDP_percent = 2.1|Website = brandenburg.de|leader_title =|leader = Matthias Platzeck|leader_party = SPD|ruling_party1 = SPD|ruling_party2 = CDU|votes = 4|ISO = DE-BR|NUTS = DE4|lat_deg = 52|lat_min = 13|lon_deg = 13|lon_min = 30-->Brandenburg (; Lower Sorbian language: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian language: Braniborska; Polish Language: Brandenburgia) is one of Germany's sixteen States of Germany (federal states). It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam. Brandenburg surrounds but does not include the national capital Berlin.

Historically, Brandenburg was an independent state, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which grew to become the core of modern Germany. The state of Brandenburg was named after the town of Brandenburg (town).

Geography Brandenburg is bordered by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north, Poland in the east, the Free State of Saxony in the south, Saxony-Anhalt in the west, and Lower Saxony in the northwest.

The Oder River forms a part of the eastern border, the Elbe 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, where the Sorbs, a Slavic peoples people, still live. These areas are bilingual, i.e., German language and Sorbian language are both used.

Protected areas Brandenburg is known for its well-preserved natural environment and its ambitious nature protection policy which began in the 1990s. 15 large protected areas were designated following Germany's reunification. Each of them 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

Lower Oder Valley National Park (106 km²)

Biosphere Reserves , a biosphere reserve by UNESCO

Spreewald Biosphere Reserve ()
Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve ()
River Landscape Elbe-Brandenburg Biosphere Reserve ()

Nature Parks

Barnim Nature Park ()
Dahme-Heideseen Nature Park ()
High Fläming Nature Park ()
Märkische Schweiz Nature Park (204)
Niederlausitzer Heidelandschaft Nature Park ()
Niederlausitzer Landrücken Nature Park ()
Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park ()
Schlaube Valley Nature Park ()
Uckermark Lakes Nature Park ()
Westhavelland Nature Park ()
Stechlin-Ruppiner Land Nature Park ()

Administration in Frankfurt (Oder)

Brandenburg is divided into fourteen (rural) counties (Landkreise),

image:brandenburg.jpg
{||-|

Barnim

Dahme-Spreewald

Elbe-Elster

Havelland

Märkisch-Oderland

Oberhavel

Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Oder-Spree

Ostprignitz-Ruppin

Potsdam-Mittelmark

Prignitz

Spree-Neiße

Teltow-Fläming

Uckermark|}

and four urban districts (kreisfreie Städte),

Brandenburg (town)

Cottbus

Frankfurt (Oder)

Potsdam

== History ==In late medieval and early modern times, Brandenburg was one of seven prince-elector 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 House of Hohenzollern dynasty beginning in 1415, it contained the future German capital Berlin. After 1618 the Margraviate of Brandenburg and 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 Burg 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.

Early Middle Ages Brandenburg is situated in territory known in antiquity as Magna Germania, which reached to the Vistula river. By the seventh 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 Eurasian Avars. They relied heavily on river transport. The two principal Slavic groups in the present-day area of Brandenburg were the Hevelli in the west and the Sprevane in the east.

Beginning in the early 900s, 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 Holy Roman Empire control through the installation of margraves. Their main function was to defend and protect the eastern marches. In 948 Emperor Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Bishopric of Brandenburg and Bishopric of 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 the control of Slavic leaders.

12th century During the 12th century the Ottonian German kings and emperors re-established control over the mixed Slav-inhabited lands of present-day Brandenburg, 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 (town), which was the first center of the state of Brandenburg, began. In 1134, in the wake of a German Northern Crusade against the Wends, the German magnate Albert the Bear was granted the Northern March by the Emperor Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor. He formally inherited the town of Brandenburg and the lands of the Hevelli from their last Wendish ruler, Pribislav of Brandenburg, in 1150. After crushing a force of Sprevane who occupied the town of Brandenburg in the 1150s, Albert proclaimed himself ruler of the new Margraviate of Brandenburg. Albert, and his descendants the House of Ascania, 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 territory east of the Oder, later known as the Neumark (see also Altmark).

Late Middle Ages In 1320 the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end, and from 1323 until 1415 Brandenburg was under the control of the Wittelsbach of Bavaria, followed by the House of Luxembourg dynasty. Under the Luxembourgs, the Margrave of Brandenburg gained the status of a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1415, the Electorate of Brandenburg was granted by Emperor Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor 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.

16th and 17th centuries Brandenburg converted to Protestantism in 1539 in 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 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 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, Elector of Brandenburg, the so-called "Great Elector", who worked tirelessly to rebuild and consolidate the nation. He moved the royal residence to Potsdam.

Kingdom of Prussia and united Germany , the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, today a World Heritage site

When Frederick William died in 1688, he was followed by his son Frederick I of Prussia, third of that name in Brandenburg. As 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 kingdom is known as the Kingdom of Prussia.

Brandenburg remained 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. In 1881, 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 and a population of 2.6 million (1925). After World War II, the Neumark (region), the part of Brandenburg east of the Oder-Neisse Line, was annexed by Poland; the remainder of the province became a state when Prussia was dissolved in 1947. The State of Brandenburg was dissolved in 1952 by the government of East Germany.

East Germany and reunified Germany In 1952, the East German government divided Brandenburg among several Bezirke or districts. (See Administrative division of the German Democratic Republic). Most of Brandenburg lay within the Potsdam, Frankfurt (Oder), or Cottbus districts, but parts of the former province passed to the Schwerin and Neubrandenburg districts. East Germany relied heavily on lignite as an energy source, and lignite strip mines marred areas of eastern Brandenburg. The industrial towns surrounding Berlin were important to the East German economy, while western Brandenburg remained mainly agricultural.

The present State of Brandenburg was re-established a few months before German reunification in 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 joblessness and economic difficulty. In the recent years, however, Brandenburg's infrastructure has been modernized and joblessness has slowly declined. In 1995 the governments of Berlin and Brandenburg proposed to merge the states in order to form a new state with the name of "Berlin-Brandenburg". The merger was rejected in a plebiscite in 1996: While West Berliners voted for a merger, East Berliners and Brandenburgers voted against it.

Politics List of minister presidents of Brandenburg For earlier rulers, see List of rulers of Brandenburg

1947 - 1949: Karl Steinhoff (Socialist Unity Party of Germany, formerly Social Democratic Party of Germany)

1949 - 1952: Rudolf Jahn (SED)

1990 - 2002: Manfred Stolpe (SPD)

since 2002: Matthias Platzeck (SPD)

September, 2004 State Election image:060416_bran.png See also Elections in Germany

{| class="wikitable"! rowspan="2" valign="bottom" align="left" | party! colspan="2" | 1999! colspan="2" | 2004! colspan="2" | Difference|-! %! S! %! S! %! S|-| Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)] (Die Linke.)| 23.3| 22| 28.0| 29| +4.7| +7|-| Christian Democratic Union (Germany) (CDU)| 26.6| 25| 19.4| 20| -7.2| -5|-| German People's Union (DVU)| align="right" | 5.3| align="right" | 5| align="right" | 6.1| align="right" | 6| +0.8| +1|-| all others| align="right" | 5.5| align="right" | 0| 14.6| align="right" | 0| +9.1| ±0|}

Miscellaneous The coat of arms of Brandenburg is a red eagle (heraldry) on white.

Brandenburg is served by the same three airports that serve Berlin. They are Tegel International Airport, Tempelhof International Airport, and Schönefeld International Airport. Schönefeld Airport will eventually become Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, while Tempelhof will close after BBI is established.

References External links

Official website
Brandenburg Tourist Board
Historical Landscape Brandenburg

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