Brandenburg

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State of Brandenburg
Land Brandenburg (German)
Land Brannenborg (Low German)
Kraj Bramborska (Lower Sorbian)
State
Flag of Brandenburg.svg
Flag
Brandenburg Wappen.svg
Coat of arms
Anthem: "Märkische Heide, märkischer Sand" (Unofficial)
(English: "Brandenburglied")
Brandenburg
Coordinates: 52°21′43″N13°0′29″E / 52.36194°N 13.00806°E / 52.36194; 13.00806
Country Germany
Capital Potsdam
Government
 • Body Landtag of Brandenburg
 •  Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD)
 • Governing parties SPD / BSW
 •  Bundesrat votes 4 (of 69)
 •  Bundestag seats 25 (of 736)
Area
 • Total
29,480.24 km2 (11,382.38 sq mi)
Population
 (2019-09-30) [1]
 • Total
2,520,198
 • Density85/km2 (220/sq mi)
GDP
[2]
 • Total€88.800 billion (2022)
 • Per capita€34,610 (2022)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code DE-BB
Vehicle registration formerly: BP (1945–1947), SB (1948–1953) [3]
NUTS Region DE4
HDI (2021)0.926 [4]
very high · 14th of 16
Website brandenburg.de

Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg (see Names), is a state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the fifth-largest German state by area and the tenth-most populous, with 2.5 million residents. Potsdam is the state capital and largest city. Other major towns are Cottbus, Brandenburg an der Havel and Frankfurt (Oder).

Contents

Brandenburg surrounds the national capital and city-state of Berlin. Together they form the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, [5] the third-largest metropolitan area in Germany. There was an unsuccessful attempt to unify both states in 1996 and the states still cooperate on many matters.

Brandenburg originated in the Northern March in the 900s AD, from areas conquered from the Wends. It later became the Margraviate of Brandenburg, a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 15th century, it came under the rule of the House of Hohenzollern, which later established Brandenburg-Prussia, the core of the later Kingdom of Prussia. From 1815 to 1947, Brandenburg was a province of Prussia.

Following the abolition of Prussia after World War II, Brandenburg was established as a state by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany. In 1952, the German Democratic Republic dissolved the state and broke it up into multiple regional districts. After German reunification, Brandenburg was re-established in 1990 as one of the five new states of the Federal Republic.

Southeastern Brandenburg contains part of the historical Lower Lusatia, and most of these localities have two official languages, German and Lower Sorbian (of the Sorbs/Wends). [6]

Names

Brandenburg takes its name from Brandenburg an der Havel. The name's origin is unclear but it is thought to derive from the Slavic branyi ('marshy/boggy') [7] [8] or Germanic branda ('fire'). [7] Other theories have included West Slavic branný bor ('defensive forest') [8] and brani-bor ('pine forest'). [9] Burg in German means 'castle'. In the extinct local language Polabian, Brandenburg was Branibor.

In the modern local languages, Brandenburg and the State of Brandenburg are named:

History

In late medieval and early modern times, Brandenburg was, with varying borders, one of seven electoral states 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 Hohenzollern dynasty from 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 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 7th 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 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 10th century, Henry the Fowler and his successors conquered territory up to the Oder River. Slavic settlements such as Brenna [10] (Brandenburg an der Havel), Budusin [11] (Bautzen), and Chośebuz [12] (Cottbus) came under imperial control through the installation of margraves. Their main function was to defend and protect the eastern marches. In 948 Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and 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. The eastern parts of current Brandenburg, i.e. the Lubusz Land and Lower Lusatia, became part of Poland in the 10th-11th centuries.

Late Middle Ages

Eisenhardt Castle in Bad Belzig Bad Belzig asv2022-07 img13 Burg Eisenhardt.jpg
Eisenhardt Castle in Bad Belzig

In the early 12th century, the Slavic Duchy of Kopanica was established in the central part of present-day Brandenburg, whereas the Lubusz Land in the east remained part of medieval Poland. During the 12th century, the German kings and emperors re-established control over the Slav-inhabited lands of present-day Brandenburg, excluding Polish-controlled Lubusz Land, 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 an der Havel, which was the first center of the state of Brandenburg, began.

In 1134, in the wake of a German crusade against the Wends, the German magnate, Albert the Bear, was granted the Northern March by the Emperor Lothar III. He formally inherited the town of Brandenburg and the lands of the Hevelli from their last Wendish ruler, Pribislav, 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 Ascanians, 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 and seizing territory around and east of the Oder from Poland (Lubusz Land and north-western Greater Poland), later known as the Neumark, in contrast to the Altmark, the cradle of the March of Brandenburg.

In 1320, the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end, and from 1323 up until 1415 Brandenburg was under the control of the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria, followed by the Luxembourg Dynasties. Under the Luxembourgs, the Margrave of Brandenburg gained the status of a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. In the period 1373–1415, Brandenburg was a part of the Bohemian Crown. In 1415, the Electorate of Brandenburg was granted by Emperor Sigismund 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's victory over Swedish forces at the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675 Schlacht bei Fehrbellin2.JPG
Brandenburg's victory over Swedish forces at the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675

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 co-rulership since 1577 and 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, the so-called "Great Elector", who worked tirelessly to rebuild and consolidate the nation. He moved the royal residence to Potsdam. At the Peace of Westphalia, his envoy Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal negotiated the acquisition of several important territories such as Halberstadt. Under the Treaty of Oliva Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal (son of the above) negotiated the incorporation of the Duchy of Prussia into the Hohenzollern inheritance.

Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire

The Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, is today a World Heritage Site. P1190390 Potsdam sans souci rwk.jpg
The Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, is today a World Heritage Site.

When Frederick William died in 1688, he was followed by his son Frederick, 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 state is known as the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Province of Brandenburg, as superimposed on modern borders Brandenburg superimposed on modern borders.svg
The Province of Brandenburg, as superimposed on modern borders

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, again subdivided into the government region of Frankfurt and Potsdam. It also included Lower Lusatia, previously ruled at various times by Poland, Bohemia, Hungary and Saxony. In 1881, the City of Berlin was separated from the Province of Brandenburg. [13] 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 39,039 km2 (15,073 sq mi) and a population of 2.6 million (1925).

Under the Nazi government and during World War II, repressions of Poles, especially autochthones in the eastern part of the province, intensified with expulsions of Poles, censorship of Polish newspapers, invigilation, arrests and assassinations of Polish leaders, activists, teachers, entrepreneurs, editors, etc., deportations to concentration camps and closure of Polish organizations, enterprises, schools and libraries. [14] The Sachsenhausen concentration camp with a network of subcamps was located in Brandenburg, and several prisoner-of-war camps, including Stalag III-A, Stalag III-B, Stalag III-C, Stalag III-D, Oflag II-A, Oflag III-A, Oflag III-B, Oflag III-C, Oflag 8 and Oflag 80 for Polish, Belgian, British, Dutch, French, Serbian, Italian, American, Czechoslovak, Soviet, Romanian, Greek, Bulgarian and other Allied POWs with numerous forced labour subcamps. [15] In early 1945, the death marches of prisoners of various nationalities from various dissolved camps passed through the region. [16] [17] In the final stages of the war, it was the place of heavy fights, including the Battle of the Seelow Heights and Battle of Berlin, won by the Allied Soviet and Polish armies. After Germany's defeat, the part of Brandenburg east of the Oder–Neisse line, which formed part of Poland in the Middle Ages and partly also in the early modern period, became again part of Poland. The entire population of former East Brandenburg was expelled en masse in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The remainder of the province became a state in the Soviet Zone of occupation in Germany when Prussia was dissolved in 1947.

East Germany

Glienicke Bridge, which connected East Germany to the American sector of West Berlin, became known for the exchange of captured spies. Glienicke Bridge GB23840.jpg
Glienicke Bridge, which connected East Germany to the American sector of West Berlin, became known for the exchange of captured spies.

After the foundation of East Germany in 1949, Brandenburg formed one of its component states. The State of Brandenburg was completely dissolved in 1952 by the Socialist government of East Germany, doing away with all component states. The East German government then divided Brandenburg among several Bezirke or districts. (See Administrative division of the German Democratic Republic). Most of Brandenburg lay within the Bezirke of Cottbus, Frankfurt, or Potsdam, but parts of the former province passed to the Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and Magdeburg districts (town Havelberg). East Germany relied heavily on lignite (the lowest grade of coal) as an energy source, and lignite strip mines marred areas of south-eastern Brandenburg. The industrial towns surrounding Berlin were important to the East German economy, while rural Brandenburg remained mainly agricultural.

Federal Republic of Germany

The present State of Brandenburg was re-established on 3 October 1990 upon German reunification. [18] The newly elected Landtag of Brandenburg first met on 26 October 1990. [19] As in other former parts of East Germany, the lack of modern infrastructure and exposure to West Germany's competitive market economy brought widespread unemployment and economic difficulty. In the recent years, however, Brandenburg's infrastructure has been modernized and unemployment has slowly declined.

Berlin-Brandenburg fusion attempt

The coat of arms proposed in the interstate treaty DEU Berlin-Brandenburg COA.svg
The coat of arms proposed in the interstate treaty

The legal basis for a combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that states may only merge after a specific federal Act of Parliament is enacted. [20] However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. [21]

In 1996, an attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg was rejected at referendum. [22] Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. [23] Though Berlin voted in favor by a small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin, Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. [24] It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. [22]

Geography

Brandenburg is bordered by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north, Poland in the east, the Freistaat Sachsen 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 river 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.

Protected areas

Brandenburg is known for its well-preserved natural environment and its ambitious natural protection policies 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

Biosphere reserves

The Spreewald, a biosphere reserve by UNESCO Spreewald 4.jpg
The Spreewald, a biosphere reserve by UNESCO

Nature parks

Demographics

Brandenburg has the second lowest population density among the German states, after Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Population density in Berlin-Brandenburg in 2015 Metropolregion Berlin-Brandenburg Einwohnerdichte.svg
Population density in Berlin-Brandenburg in 2015

Development

Development of Brandenburg's population from 1875 within current borders Bevolkerungsentwicklung Land Brandenburg.pdf
Development of Brandenburg's population from 1875 within current borders
Land Brandenburg: Population development
within the current boundaries (2020) [25] [26]
YearPop.±%
1875 1,444,441—    
1890 1,578,138+9.3%
1910 1,879,375+19.1%
1925 2,048,866+9.0%
1939 2,433,881+18.8%
1950 2,746,002+12.8%
1964 2,620,071−4.6%
YearPop.±%
1971 2,667,096+1.8%
1981 2,667,052−0.0%
1990 2,602,404−2.4%
20002,589,504−0.5%
20112,455,780−5.2%
20222,534,075+3.2%

Religion

Religion in Brandenburg – 2011
religionpercent
Other
 
79.8%
Registered EKD Protestants
 
17.1%
Registered Roman Catholics
 
3.1%

17.1% of the Brandenburgers are registered members of the local, regional Protestant church (mostly the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia), while 3.1% are registered with the Roman Catholic Church (mostly the Archdiocese of Berlin, and a minority in the Diocese of Görlitz). [27] The majority (79.8%) [27] of Brandenburgers, whether of Christian or other beliefs, choose not to register with the government as members of these churches, and therefore do not pay the church tax.

Foreign population

Significant foreign citizens populations [28]
NationalityPopulation (31.12.2023)
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 35,685
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 29,460
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria 22,320
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 12,100
Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan 12,070
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 8,945
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 6,420
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 4,215
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 3,815
Flag of India.svg  India 3,695

Politics

Politically, Brandenburg is a stronghold of the Social Democratic Party, which won the largest share of the vote and seats in every state election. All three Minister-Presidents of Brandenburg have come from the Social Democratic Party (unlike any other state except Bremen) and they even won an absolute majority of seats and every single-member constituency in the 1994 state election.

On a federal level, the Social Democratic Party has also been the strongest party in most federal elections, their strongholds being the northwestern part of the state and Potsdam and its surrounding areas. However, the Christian Democratic Union won the most votes in 1990, their 2013 landslide and in 2017. In 2009, The Left won the most votes in a year where, like in 2017, the Social Democratic collapsed. Prominent politicians from Brandenburg include Social Democrats Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who served in the Bundestag for Brandenburg before being elected President of Germany, and Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, who sits in the Bundestag for Potsdam.

Like in all other New states of Germany, the leftist party of The Left and, more recently, the right-wingAlternative for Germany are especially strong in Brandenburg.

Brandenburg has 4 out of 69 votes in the Bundesrat and, as of 2021, 25 seats out of 736 in the Bundestag.

Subdivisions

Brandenburg is divided into 14 rural districts (Landkreise) and four urban districts (kreisfreie Städte), shown with their population in 2011: [29]

Administrative divisions of Brandenburg Brandenburg, administrative divisions - de - colored.svg
Administrative divisions of Brandenburg
DistrictPopulation
Wappen Landkreis Barnim.svg Barnim 176,953
Wappen Landkreis Dahme-Spreewald.svg Dahme-Spreewald 161,556
Wappen des Landkreises Elbe-Elster.svg Elbe-Elster 110,291
DEU Havelland COA.svg Havelland 155,226
DEU Maerkisch-Oderland COA.svg Märkisch-Oderland 189,673
DEU Oberhavel COA.svg Oberhavel 203,508
Wappen des Landkreises Oberspreewald-Lausitz.svg Oberspreewald-Lausitz 120,023
Wappen Landkreis Oder-Spree.svg Oder-Spree 182,798
Wappen des Landkreises Ostprignitz-Ruppin.svg Ostprignitz-Ruppin 102,108
Wappen Landkreis Potsdam-Mittelmark.png Potsdam-Mittelmark 205,678
Wappen des Landkreises Prignitz.svg Prignitz 80,872
DEU Landkreis Spree-Neisse COA.svg Spree-Neiße 124,662
Wappen des Landkreises Teltow-Flaming.svg Teltow-Fläming 161,546
DEU Landkreis Uckermark COA.svg Uckermark 128,174
DEU Brandenburg an der Havel COA.svg Stadt Brandenburg an der Havel 71,534
DEU Cottbus COA.svg Stadt Cottbus 102,129
DEU Frankfurt (Oder) COA.svg Stadt Frankfurt (Oder) 60,002
Coat of arms of Potsdam.svg Stadt Potsdam 158,902

Government

Election of 2024

Election 2024 [30]
PartySeats+/-In Majority?
  SPD 32+7 Increase2.svggovernment
  AfD 30+7Increase2.svgopposition
  BSW 14Newgovernment
  CDU 12-3 Decrease2.svgopposition
Total88

The 2024 Brandenburg state election took place on 22 September. One important outcome of the election was that the number of parties with representation in the state parliament went from six to four. The Greens, the Left, and the Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters all lost their representation while a new party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), gained 14 votes. The BSW was formed on 8 January, 2024, mostly by members who had broken away from the Left. While it shares the Left's economic outlook, it is more closely aligned with stances traditionally held by the right on certain issues. For example, the BSW is broadly anti-immigration and anti-Nato, and has been accused of having Russophile tendencies, partially based on their desire for the war in Ukraine to be ended by diplomacy. [31]

Other German parties have generally been unwilling to work with the AfD and that trend continued with the formation of the new government based on this election. Assuming that the AfD would be in the opposition, the only two options that the SPD, with the plurality of seats, had to obtain a majority were to work with the BSW as well as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) or to just work with the BSW. Ultimately, the latter option was chosen and a majority of 46 out of 88 seats was obtained. [30]

While this should have been enough votes to reelect Woidke as the Minister-President, he lost the first vote, having only 43 supporters in the secret ballot. While there were only 40 votes against him (there were two abstentions and two votes that were invalid), an absolute majority, 45 votes, was required to win the first round. On 11 December, in the second round of voting, all that was needed was for Woidke to receive more votes in his favor than there were in opposition, and he won in this round with 50 votes. [32] This meant that at least 4 members of the opposition, whether from the AfD, the CDU, or a combination of the two, had voted with the coalition government to reelect Woidke. The CDU accused the SPD of receiving help from the AfD, but it is impossible to know because the ballot was secret. The government in Brandenburg has been led by the SPD since 1990. [33]

Election of 2019

The Brandenburg parliament building (Landtag) in Potsdam, the seat of the parliament is the reconstructed Potsdam City Palace Potsdam Stadtschloss 07-2017.jpg
The Brandenburg parliament building (Landtag) in Potsdam, the seat of the parliament is the reconstructed Potsdam City Palace
Dietmar Woidke, current Minister-President of Brandenburg Dietmar Woidke M-0212 36139 Ausschnitt Color Hoffotografen.jpg
Dietmar Woidke, current Minister-President of Brandenburg

The 2019 elections took place on 1 September. A coalition government was formed by the Social Democrats, The Greens, and the Christian Democratic Union led by incumbent Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD), replacing the previous coalition between the Social Democrats and The Left. [34]

LandtagBrandenburg19.svg
PartyVotes %+/-Seats+/-Seats %
Social Democratic Party (SPD)331,23826.2Decrease2.svg5.725Decrease2.svg528.4
Alternative for Germany (AfD)297,48423.5Increase2.svg11.323Increase2.svg1226.1
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)196,98815.6Decrease2.svg7.415Decrease2.svg617.0
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)136,36410.8Increase2.svg4.610Increase2.svg411.4
The Left (Linke)135,55810.7Decrease2.svg7.910Decrease2.svg711.4
Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters (BVB/FW)63,8515.05Increase2.svg2.35Increase2.svg25.7
Free Democratic Party (FDP)51,6604.1Increase2.svg2.60±00
Human Environment Animal Protection Party 32,9592.6Increase2.svg2.60±00
Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)8,7120.7Decrease2.svg0.80±00
Others10,2920.80±00
Total1,265,106100.088±0
Voter turnout61.3Increase2.svg13.4

Economy

Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg Tesla Gigafactory 4 DJI 20230728123435.JPG
Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 72.9 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.2% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 26,700 euros or 88% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 91% of the EU average. The GDP per capita was the third lowest of all states in Germany. [35]

The unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in November 2022 and was higher than the German average but lower than the average of Eastern Germany. [36]

Year [37] 2000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021
Unemployment rate in %17.017.517.518.818.718.217.014.713.012.311.110.710.29.99.48.78.07.06.35.86.35.9

Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg is located in Brandenburg.

Transport

Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport Terminal 1.jpg
Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Berlin Schönefeld Airport (IATA code: SXF) was the largest airport in Brandenburg. It was the second largest international airport of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region and was located 18 km (11 mi) southeast of central Berlin in Schönefeld. The airport was a base for Condor, easyJet and Ryanair. In 2016, Schönefeld handled 11,652,922 passengers (an increase of 36.7%).

Schönefeld's existing infrastructure and terminals were incorporated into the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), [38] which opened in 2020. [39] Berlin Brandenburg Airport had an initial capacity of 35–40 million passengers a year. Due to increasing air traffic in Berlin and Brandenburg, plans for airport expansions were in the making.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport receives over sixty combined passenger, charter and cargo airlines.

Education and research

Higher education

University of Potsdam Potsdam Sanssouci 07-2017 img3.jpg
University of Potsdam

In 2016, around 49,000 students were enrolled in Brandenburg universities and higher education facilities. [40] The largest institution is the University of Potsdam, located southwest of Berlin. [41] In 2019 the state of Brandenburg adopted an Open Access strategy calling on universities to develop transformation strategies to make knowledge from Brandenburg freely accessible to all. [42]

Universities in Brandenburg:

Culture

Music

The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments) [43] are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, [44] in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era and are among the composer's best known works.

Cuisine

Spreewald gherkins Spreewaldgurke2.jpg
Spreewald gherkins

A famous speciality food from Brandenburg are the Spreewald gherkins. The wet soil of the Spreewald makes the region ideal for growing cucumbers. Spreewald gherkins are protected by the EU as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). They are one of the biggest exports of Brandenburg. [45]

Notable people

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

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    The Havel is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The 325 kilometres (202 mi) long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from its source to its mouth is only 94 kilometres (58 mi). For much of its length, the Havel is navigable; it provides an important link in the waterway connections between the east and west of Germany, as well as beyond.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Spree (river)</span> River in Germany and the Czech Republic

    The Spree is a river in Germany and the Czech Republic. With a length of approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi), it is the main tributary of the Havel River. The Spree is much longer than the Havel, which it flows into at Berlin-Spandau; the Havel then flows into the Elbe at Havelberg. The river rises in the Lusatian Highlands, in the Lusatian part of Saxony, where it has three sources: the historical one called Spreeborn in the village of Spreedorf, the water-richest one in Neugersdorf, and the highest elevated one in Eibau. The Spree then flows northwards through Upper and Lower Lusatia, where it crosses the border between Saxony and Brandenburg. After passing through Cottbus, it forms the Spree Forest, a large inland delta and biosphere reserve. It then flows through Lake Schwielochsee before entering Berlin, as Müggelspree(pronounced[ˈmʏɡl̩ˌʃpʁeː] ).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Lusatia</span> Historical region

    Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe, territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Pulsnitz and Black Elster rivers in the west, and is located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Polish voivodeships of Lower Silesia and Lubusz. Major rivers of Lusatia are the Spree and the Lusatian Neisse, which defines the border between Germany and Poland. The Lusatian Mountains of the Western Sudetes separate Lusatia from Bohemia in the south. Lusatia is traditionally divided into Upper Lusatia, the hilly southern part, and Lower Lusatia, the flat northern part.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Altmark</span> Historic region in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

    The Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the March of Brandenburg, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native of Schönhausen near Stendal.

    Dahme-Spreewald is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Oder-Spree, Spree-Neiße, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Elbe-Elster and Teltow-Fläming, and by the city of Berlin.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Köpenick</span> Quarter of Berlin in Germany

    Köpenick is a historic town and locality (Ortsteil) in Berlin, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopting the current spelling in 1931. It is also known for the famous imposter Hauptmann von Köpenick.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Former eastern territories of Germany</span> Eastern territories lost by Germany after World War II in Europe

    In present-day Germany, the former eastern territories of Germany refer to those territories east of the current eastern border of Germany, i.e. the Oder–Neisse line, which historically had been considered German and which were annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union after World War II. In contrast to the lands awarded to the restored Polish state by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, the German territories lost with the post-World War II Potsdam Agreement were either almost exclusively inhabited by Germans before 1945, mixed German–Polish with a German majority, or mixed German–Czech with a German majority (Glatz). Virtually the entire German population of the territories that did not flee voluntarily in the face of the Red Army advance of 1945, was violently expelled to Germany, with their possessions being forcibly expropriated.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wannsee</span> Quarter of Berlin in Germany

    Wannsee is a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. It is the westernmost locality of Berlin. In the quarter there are two lakes, the larger Großer Wannsee and the Kleiner Wannsee, located on the River Havel and separated only by the Wannsee Bridge. The larger of the two lakes covers an area of 2.7 km2 (1.0 sq mi) and has a maximum depth of 9 m (30 ft).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwedt</span> Town in Brandenburg, Germany

    Schwedt is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a Große kreisangehörige Stadt, it is the largest town of the Uckermark district, located near the river Oder, which forms the border with Poland.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Lusatia</span> Historical region in Germany and Poland

    Lower Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the south, Lower Lusatia is a settlement area of the West Slavic Sorbs whose endangered Lower Sorbian language is related to Upper Sorbian and Polish.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Lübben (Spreewald)</span> Town in Brandenburg, Germany

    Lübben (Spreewald) is a town of 14,000 people, capital of the Dahme-Spreewald district in the Lower Lusatia region in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Luckau</span> Town in Brandenburg, Germany

    Luckau is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the federal state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia".

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Brandenburg</span> Province of Prussia, Germany

    The Province of Brandenburg was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Lower Lusatia region, and became part of the German Empire in 1871. From 1918, Brandenburg was a province of the Free State of Prussia until Prussia was dissolved in 1945 after World War II, and replaced with reduced territory as the State of Brandenburg in East Germany, which was later dissolved in 1952. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, Brandenburg was re-established as a federal state of Germany, becoming one of the new states.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Storkow, Brandenburg</span> Town in Brandenburg, Germany

    Storkow (Mark) is a town in Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. The town was the part of Brandenberg Province of Prussia, from 1815 - 1947, then it was the part of the State of Brandenburg from 1947 to 1952, Bezirk Frankfurt of East Germany from 1952 to 1990 and it again became a part of the State of Brandenburg since 1990.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Margraviate of Brandenburg</span> Holy Roman Empire principality (1157–1806)

    The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region</span> Urban area in Germany

    The Berlin/Brandenburg metropolitan region or capital region is one of eleven metropolitan regions of Germany, consisting of the entire territories of the state of Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg. The region covers an area of 30,545 square kilometres (11,793 sq mi) with a total population of about 6.2 million.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Regierungsbezirk Frankfurt</span> Regierungsbezirk in Brandenburg/Prussia, Prussia/German Empire

    The Frankfurt Region was a government region in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg between 1815 and 1945. Its administrative capital was Frankfurt (Oder). Today its western part is in the State of Brandenburg while the eastern part, following frontier changes agreed by the Soviet Union in 1945, is part of Poland, roughly corresponding to the Lubusz Voivodeship.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Brandenburg state election</span> German state election

    The election to the state parliament Landtag of Brandenburg of 22 September 2024 was the third state election within Germany in the month of September 2024, three weeks after the state elections in Thuringia and in Saxony, all part of former East Germany. The outgoing government was a black-red-green "flag of Kenya" coalition consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and The Greens, led by Minister-President Dietmar Woidke of the SPD.

    References

    1. ↑ "Bevölkerungsentwicklung und Bevölkerungsstand im Land Brandenburg 3. Quartal 2019" (PDF). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
    2. ↑ "Bruttoinlandsprodukt, Bruttowertschöpfung | Statistikportal.de". Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder | Gemeinsames Statistikportal (in German). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
    3. ↑ BP = Brandenburg Province, SB = Soviet Zone, Brandenburg. With the abolition of states in East Germany in 1952 vehicle registration followed the new Bezirk subdivisions. Since 1991 distinct prefixes are specified for each district.
    4. ↑ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
    5. ↑ "Berlin-Brandenburg | IKM". 31 August 2020.
    6. ↑ "Das sorbische Volk". Brandenburgische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung.
    7. 1 2 Berger, Dieter (1999). Geographische Namen in Deutschland (in German). Duden. p. 68. ISBN   978-3-411-06252-2.
    8. 1 2 Frinta, Antonín (1961). "Brandenburg = Branibor?". Listy filologické / Folia philologica (in Czech, Russian, and German). 84 (1). Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences: 44–49. JSTOR   23463007.
    9. ↑ Benmohel, N.L. (1860). Epea Pteroenta: Conveying Revelations of the Past. Dublin: University Press at Trinity College. p. 15. ISBN   978-1-152-65321-4.
    10. ↑ Barford, Paul M. (2001). The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 421. ISBN   0-8014-3977-9.
    11. ↑ Institut für Sorbische Volksforschung in Bautzen (1962). Lětopis Instituta za serbski ludospyt. Bautzen: Domowina.
    12. ↑ Room, Adrian (2006). Placenames of the World. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. p. 433. ISBN   0-7864-2248-3.
    13. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Berlin § Government Administration and Politics"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 778.
    14. ↑ Cygański, Mirosław (1984). "Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945". Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (4): 45–46, 49–51, 53–54.
    15. ↑ Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 211–212, 226, 229, 234–235, 402–410. ISBN   978-0-253-06089-1.
    16. ↑ "Świecko (Lager Schwetig): Odnaleziono szczątki 21 osób". Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (in Polish). Retrieved 23 June 2024.
    17. ↑ "Ewakuacja piesza". Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie (in Polish). 29 January 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
    18. ↑ "Ländereinführungsgesetz (1990)" (in German). Archived from the original on 29 May 2004.
    19. ↑ "Historischer Kalender - 20 Jahre Land Brandenburg". Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
    20. ↑ Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland [Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany] (Article 29) (in German). Parlamentarischer Rat. 24 May 1949.
    21. ↑ Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland [Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany] (Einzelnorm 118a) (in German). Bundestag. 27 October 1994.
    22. 1 2 "LÄNDERFUSION / FUSIONSVERTRAG (1995)". 2004. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
    23. ↑ "Die Brandenburger wollen keine Berliner Verhältnisse". Tagesspiegel (in German). 4 May 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
    24. ↑ Barry, Colleen (6 May 1996). "Eastern Voters Block Merger With Berlin". AP News. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
    25. ↑ Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons
    26. ↑ "Germany: States and Major Cities". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
    27. 1 2 Die kleine Brandenburg–Statistik 2011. Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. Archived 24 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
    28. ↑ 31 December 2014 German Statistical Office. Zensus 2014: Bevölkerung am 31. Dezember 2014
    29. ↑ "Amt für Statistik Berlin Brandenburg – Statistiken". www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de (in German). Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
    30. 1 2 Brandenburg, Redaktion des Landtages (14 October 2024). "Plenarsitzordnung". Landtag Brandenburg (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2024.
    31. ↑ Adler, Nils (25 September 2024). "Not just AfD: What's the BSW, Germany's rising populist left party?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
    32. ↑ "Woidke als Ministerpräsident in Brandenburg wiedergewählt". tagesschau.de (in German). 11 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
    33. ↑ "Brandenburg: Dietmar Woidke im zweiten Wahlgang zum Brandenburger Ministerpräsidenten gewählt". tagesschau.de (in German). 11 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
    34. ↑ SPIEGEL, DER (20 November 2019). "Dietmar Woidke in Brandenburg als Ministerpräsident wiedergewählt – DER SPIEGEL – Politik". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
    35. ↑ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022.
    36. ↑ "Arbeitslosenquote nach Bundesländern in Deutschland 2018 | Statista". Statista (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2018.
    37. ↑ (Destatis), © Statistisches Bundesamt (13 November 2018). "Federal Statistical Office Germany – GENESIS-Online". www-genesis.destatis.de. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
    38. ↑ "The future lies in Schoenefeld". Berlin-airport.de. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011.
    39. ↑ "The BER will remain ghost-airport until 2020", welt.de, 15. December 2017
    40. ↑ "Dateien". www.statistischebibliothek.de. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
    41. ↑ "Brandenburg auf dem Sprung zu 2,5 Millionen-Einwohner-Marke". Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
    42. ↑ Euler, Ellen (2019), Open-Access-Strategie des Landes Brandenburg, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.2581783
    43. ↑ Johann Sebastian Bach's Werke, vol.19: Kammermusik, dritter band, Bach-Gesellschaft, Leipzig; ed. Wilhelm Rust, 1871
    44. ↑ MacDonogh, Giles. Frederick the Great: A Life in Deed and Letters. St. Martin's Griffin. New York. 2001. ISBN   0-312-27266-9
    45. ↑ "Germany's Spreewald gherkins – possibly the best in the world". The Guardian. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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