Brandenburg

Brandenburg
—  State of Germany  —
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Brandenburg in Germany
Country	Germany
Capital	Potsdam
Government
• Minister President	Matthias Platzeck (SPD)
• Governing parties	CDU / SPD
Area
• Total	29,479 km2 (11,382 sq mi)
Population
• Total	2,548,200
• Density	86.4412/km2 (223.882/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
NUTS Region
Website	brandenburg.de

Brandenburg is a state (Bundesland) in Germany. It has been a state since 1990. It is 29,056 km² in area. It has about 2.6 million inhabitants.

Until 1945 it was the biggest province in Prussia, with 38,278 km² and 3 million inhabitants. From 1949 to 1952 it was a state in the German Democratic Republic. In 1952 became divided into three Bezirke (Potsdam, Frankfurt and Cottbus). The capital of Brandenburg is Potsdam.

History of Brandenburg

• 1373 Karl IV bought Brandenburg for his sons from the Wittelsbacher
• 1539 Protestant Reformation
• 1618 United with Prussia
• 1815 Brandenburg became a province in Prussia
• 1945 Brandenburg lost 32% to Poland
• 1949 State in East Germany
• 1952 Divided into three Bezirke (Districts)
• 1990 State of the reunited Germany

Administration

Brandenburg is divided into fourteen Kreise (districts):

• Prignitz
• Ostprignitz-Ruppin
• Oberhavel
• Uckermark
• Havelland
• Barnim
• Märkisch-Oderland
• Potsdam-Mittelmark
• Teltow-Fläming
• Oder-Spree
• Dahme-Spreewald
• Elbe-Elster
• Oberspreewald-Lausitz
• Spree-Neiße

Also Brandenburg has four Kreisfreie Städte (district-free city):

• Brandenburg
• Cottbus
• Frankfurt an der Oder
• Potsdam

List of Minister-Presidents of Brandenburg

• 1945 - 1949: Karl Steinhoff
• 1949 - 1952: Rudi Jahn
• 1990 - 2002: Manfred Stolpe (SPD)
• since 2002: Matthias Platzeck (SPD)

Cities and counties in Brandenburg

The capital, Potsdam

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

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),

1. Brandenburg an der Havel
2. Cottbus
3. Frankfurt (Oder)
4. Potsdam