Brandenburg : Germany

Prussian heritage.

The state of Brandenburg surrounds the German capital Berlin; the state capital Potsdam (137,000 inhabitants) lies southwest of the metropolis. During the Potsdam Conference held at Cecilienhof Palace in the summer of 1945, the political leaders of the U.S.A., Great Britain and the Soviet Union made far-reaching decisions concerning the future of Germany. Potsdam has been linked with Prussian-German history since time immemorial. Beginning in 1157, Albert I the Bear called himself the Margrave of Brandenburg. In 1237 the city of Berlin was founded. In 1640 the Hohenzollern elector Frederick William, later called the “Great Elector”, assumed power in Germany’s largest electorate.

He encouraged Huguenots from France as well as colonists from Holland and Switzerland to settle in Brandenburg, thus stimulating the development of commerce and craft trades. The 1685 Edict of Potsdam granted the immigrants religious freedom; to this very day the “Dutch Quarter” and the “French Church” in Potsdam evoke memories of these warmly welcomed foreigners. In 1701 Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg crowned himself Frederick I, King in Prussia, thus laying the foundations for the Prussian kingdom; the Brandenburg March became part of Prussia. Under FrederickII the Great (1740-1786) Prussia grew to become a great European iower. He made Potsdam his residence and oversaw the evolution of the masterpiece Sanssouci Park with ‘ts palaces and other magnificent buildings.

ln June 1995 the Berlin House of Representatives and the Brandenburg State Parliament approved the statetreaty on the merger of the two states around the turn of the millennium. In the referendum held on 5 May 1996, however, ihe people of Brandenburg voted against the merger, so the two states will not be merged in the foreseeable future.