Margraviate of Brandenburg
March/Margraviate of Brandenburg Mark/Markgrafschaft Brandenburg (German) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1157–1806 | |||||||||||||||
.svg) .svg) Top: Flag or naval ensign c. 1684 (based on L. Verschuier's painting[2])
Bottom: Flag 1660–1750 used by Hohenzollerns | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Margraviate of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire (1618) | |||||||||||||||
| Status | State of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial elector (1356–1806) Crown land of the Bohemian Crown (1373–1415) | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Brandenburg an der Havel (1157–1417) Berlin (1417–1806) | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||
| Religion | Dominant confession among the population was Roman Catholic until the 1530s, then Lutheran. Elector was Roman Catholic until 1539, then Lutheran until 1613, and then Reformed. | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Margrave | |||||||||||||||
• 1157–1170 | Albert the Bear (first) 1417 | ||||||||||||||
• 1797–1806 | Frederick William III (last) | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Established | 3 October 1157 | ||||||||||||||
• Raised to Electorate | 25 December 1356 | ||||||||||||||
| 27 August 1618 | |||||||||||||||
| 18 January 1701 | |||||||||||||||
• Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire | 6 August 1806 | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||||||||
![Coat of arms as Electorate[1] of Brandenburg](/wiki/File:Arms_of_Brandenburg.svg)
The Margraviate of Brandenburg (German: Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. The principality was originally poor. However, the principality became very important because they were given the Duchy of Prussia in 1618. They then became very important in the history of Germany and Central Europe as part of the Prussian kingdom.
Brandenburg started from the Northern March. The Northern March was started in the territory of the Slavic Wends. The rulers of Brandenburg were called margraves. The margraves were prince-electors in the Golden Bull of 1356. Margraves could vote in electing the Holy Roman Emperor. Because of this, the Margraviate of Brandenburg also was called the Electoral Brandenburg or the Electorate of Brandenburg (Kurbrandenburg or Kurfürstentum Brandenburg).
The House of Hohenzollern became the leader of Brandenburg in 1415. In 1417, Frederick I moved the capital from Brandenburg an der Havel to Berlin. By 1535, the Margraviate of Brandenburg was about 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2) big. In 1535, the Margraviate of Brandenburg also had about 400,000 people.[3] The House of Hohenzollern let Brandenburg have a lot of power in the 17th century. In the 17th, century, they were also given the Duchy of Prussia. This made Brandenburg into Brandenburg-Prussia. Brandenburg-Prussia would then become the Kingdom of Prussia. The Kingdom of Prussia was a very important German state in the 18th century.
The Margraviate of Brandenburg ended when the Holy Roman Empire ended in 1806. It was replaced after the Napoleonic Wars with the Province of Brandenburg in 1815. Brandenburg turned into the North German Confederation in 1867. In 1871, Germany was unified. The North German Confederation became the German Empire. The German Empire became the German Reich of 1871–1945. This soon became the Federal Republic of Germany,
Footnotes
[change | change source]- ↑ The coat of arms is known because of some drawings of the coat of arms.
-
Berlin Bear with Brandenburg coat of arms, late 18th / Early 19th Century; Märkisches Museum Berlin -
Ceiling painting (detail: female allegory with wreath of grain ears and the Brandenburg eagle), oil on canvas, 1751 (destroyed in World War II) -
Museum Senftenberg (Senftenberg Castle)
-
- ↑ Die kurbrandenburgische Flotte (1684)
- ↑ Preserved Smith. The Social Background of the Reformation. 1920. Page 17.
_-_weibliche_Allegorie_mit_%C3%84hrenkranz_und_dem_brandenburgischen_Adler.jpg)
References
[change | change source]- H.W. Koch (1978). A History of Prussia. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. p. 326. ISBN 0-88029-158-3.
- Rymar, Edward (1979). "Rywalizacja o ziemię lubuską i kasztelanię międzyrzecką w latach 1319–1326, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem stosunków pomorsko-śląskch". Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish). XXXIV (4). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk.
Other websites
[change | change source]- (in German) Hochmittelalter in der Mark Brandenburg at Brandenburg1260.de.
- (in German) Der Brandenburger Landstreicher
- Historical map of Brandenburg, 1789
- (in German) Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg by Theodor Fontane, 1899 at Lexikus.de.