Brandenburg
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
Brandenburg is a state (Bundesland) in Germany. It has been a state since 1990. It is 29,056 km² and has 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 East Germany and in 1952 became divided into three Bezirke (Potsdam, Frankfurt and Cottbus). The capital of Brandenburg is Potsdam.
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[edit] 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 (Discrits)
- 1990 Bundesland in the reunited Germany
[edit] 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):
[edit] List of Minister-Presidents of Brandenburg
- 1945 - 1949: Karl Steinhoff
- 1949 - 1952: Rudi Jahn
- 1990 - 2002: Manfred Stolpe (SPD)
- since 2002: Matthias Platzeck (SPD)
