Last modified: 2004-08-07 by santiago dotor
Keywords: brandenburg | electorate | kurfürstentum brandenburg | germany | eagle (red) | crown: royal | stripes: 7 | eagle (gold) | eagle (black) |
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![[Brandenburg African Company c.1680-1701 (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de-bac.gif)
Late 17th century ensign
by Mario Fabretto, source CISV archives
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From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
The lands extending eastward from the Elbe to the Vistula, once inhabited by Germans, were invaded by Slavic tribes who, during the sixth century of the Christian era, pushed their way as far as the Elbe and the Saale in Thuringia. Charlemagne was the first to check their advance; later, Henry I attacked them, captured Brennabor [Brandenburg], the stronghold of the Lusatians, and to safeguard his conquests established the North Mark. In 939 Otto I brought the country of the Hevelli under his power [and] placed the Slavic races as far as the Oder under tribute, and (...) founded the dioceses of Havelberg and Brandenburg (948) (...). In a great uprising (983), the Slavs pressed on as far as the Elbe [and] conquered Brandenburg and Havelberg. Emperors Henry II and Conrad II (...) again brought the Lusatians under the power of the German Empire (...).Count Albert of Ballenstadt, founder of the Ascanian line, who had been made Margrave of the North Mark by Emperor Lothair II (1134), entered into friendly relations with the Wendish prince, Pribislav, at that time the ruler of Brandenburg, was chosen by him as his heir, and in 1150 took possession of the land, assuming at the same time the title of Margrave of Brandenburg. He brought colonists from the Lower Rhine and Utrecht, who (...) reclaimed the swamp lands of the Mark for agricultural purposes; the cities were peopled anew; (...) and the Wendish population soon won over to Christianity and the German Empire.(...)
When the Ascanian line had become extinct, Emperor Louis the Bavarian annexed the Mark to his own territories (1320), but as early as 1373 the House of Wittelsbach was forced to relinquish Brandenburg, which in 1356 had been raised to the rank of an Electorate, to Emperor Charles IV, who made it a dependency of the Bohemian Crown. (...) Charles's son, Sigismund, mortgaged the Mark (1388-1411) and in 1411 appointed as Statthalter (Governor) Burgrave Frederick of Nuremberg, who took possession in 1412, and, having overcome the opposition of the nobles, was solemnly invested with the Mark of Brandenburg as an elector of the German Empire (1417). In this way Brandenburg passed into the possession of the Hohenzollerns, who have since held it without interruption [until 1918].
Santiago Dotor, 29 June 2000
When in 1660 the Duchy of Prussia became independent of Poland the way was opened to union with Brandenburg and thereby also the foundation of the Prussian state. In 1701, Prussia became a kingdom and from then till 1871, it was in a continuous stage of expansion until it came to be by far the largest German state, almost as large as all the others together.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
Frederick III, Prince Elector (Kurfürst) of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, proclaimed himself King of Prussia in 1701, with the acceptance of the Emperor and other German powers, partly in exchange for his support in the forthcoming War of the Spanish Succession. Thereafter all Brandenburg-Prussia possesions were generally known as "Prussia".
Santiago Dotor, 29 June 2000
The flags listed below mostly come from one or more flag charts or books, either directly, or taken from them from Siegel 1912. Where I can I will cite the date. Note that my citing a date does not imply that the flag was adopted then; indeed, in almost every case, it was adopted sometime earlier, since it takes some time for it to get to a chart. I never deliberately cite a flag after it ceased to be used, but since I will only "overrule" a source if I feel confident I can do so, it would surprise me if there were not several such cases. In all cases, the eagle's head is pointed towards the hoist unless otherwise stated. Since most of the data come (directly or indirectly) from flag charts, it is sometimes difficult to be certain whether a minor difference is due to inaccuracy of the source or not. The result is that some of the flags listed as distinct may in fact not be.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
Even well documented flag charts (as the one from Bellin dated 1756) show flags [which had] disappeared many years before their publication. For example flags for Brandenburg are present even in the beginning of the 19th century, when all its flags were replaced since 1707 with the Prussian ones.
Mario Fabretto, 5 August 1998
Unfortunately, I do not have the detailed information about 17th and 18th century flags that I often have about later ones. In most cases, all I know is that they appeared in flag charts on the date cited. In a few cases, there is reason to believe that the chart entry is outdated although it is difficult to be certain in some cases. In certain c