Brandenburg is the federal state that entirely surrounds the city-state of Berlin without containing it, stretching from the Baltic-facing Uckermark lake district in the north to the Lusatian mining lakes in the south. Its capital, Potsdam, is home to the UNESCO-listed Sanssouci Park and Palace, once the summer residence of Frederick the Great. Beyond Potsdam, Brandenburg is a patchwork of glacial lakes, pine forests, and slow rivers, including the UNESCO Spreewald Biosphere Reserve, where villages are still reached by flat-bottomed punting boats through a maze of canals.
Destination Brandenburg, Germany, Summary Brandenburg's history stretches from a Slavic Hevelli settlement on the Havel through its founding as a March of the Holy Roman Empire in 1157, its rise as the core territory of the Hohenzollern dynasty and the Kingdom of Prussia, to the 20th-century upheavals of two world wars, Soviet occupation, and the Cold War division that placed it around, but not including, divided Berlin. Reunification in 1990 restored Brandenburg as a German federal state after 41 years as part of East Germany, and Potsdam - once the site of the 1945 conference that shaped postwar Europe - is again its capital.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Brandenburg.
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1
A missionary bishopric is founded at Brandenburg under Emperor Otto I, the first recorded German foothold on the Slavic Hevelli stronghold on the Havel.
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2
Margrave Albert the Bear conquers the Hevelli stronghold and founds the Margraviate of Brandenburg, traditionally treated as the region's founding date.
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3
Cistercian monks found Chorin Monastery, which becomes one of the finest examples of North German brick-Gothic architecture.
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4
The Golden Bull makes Brandenburg one of the seven Electorates of the Holy Roman Empire.
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5
Emperor Sigismund grants the Margraviate of Brandenburg to Frederick I of Hohenzollern, beginning over 500 years of Hohenzollern rule.
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6
The Thirty Years' War devastates Brandenburg, killing or displacing roughly half the population in the worst-affected areas.
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7
The Edict of Potsdam invites persecuted French Huguenot Protestants to resettle in Brandenburg, reshaping Berlin and Potsdam's economies.
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8
Elector Frederick III crowns himself King Frederick I 'in Prussia,' elevating Brandenburg-Prussia to a kingdom.
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9
Frederick the Great builds Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam as his personal Rococo summer residence.
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10
Napoleon defeats Prussia at Jena-Auerstedt and occupies Berlin and Potsdam, triggering major Prussian reforms.
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11
Prussia, with Brandenburg as its heartland province, leads the unification of the German Empire.
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12
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates, ending over 500 years of Hohenzollern rule in Brandenburg and Prussia.
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13
Soviet forces fight through Brandenburg in the Battle of the Seelow Heights and other engagements in the final assault on Berlin.
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14
The Potsdam Conference at Cecilienhof Palace sets the framework for Germany's postwar occupation zones and new eastern border.
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15
Brandenburg becomes a state of the newly founded German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
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16
Brandenburg's state government is dissolved and replaced by GDR administrative districts (Bezirke).
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17
The Berlin Wall is built, running through Brandenburg territory around the perimeter of West Berlin.
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18
German reunification restores Brandenburg as a federal state, with Potsdam again its capital.
Historical eras
The chapters of Brandenburg's past.
Historical sites
Places where Brandenburg's past comes alive.
Sanssouci Palace
Frederick the Great's Rococo summer palace on a terraced vineyard hill, where he lived, hosted Voltaire, and is buried.
Where: Potsdam, Brandenburg
Admission: €14 (~$15) adult; park free
Cecilienhof Palace
An English Tudor-style palace built for Crown Prince Wilhelm, transformed into a place of world-historical negotiation in 1945.
Where: Potsdam, Brandenburg
Admission: €10 (~$11) adult
Brandenburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter und Paul)
The oldest cathedral foundation in the region, rebuilt in Romanesque style after the 12th-century German conquest of the Slavic Hevelli.
Where: Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
Chorin Monastery
A Cistercian monastery founded in 1273, secularized in the 16th-century Reformation and left as an atmospheric brick-Gothic ruin.
Where: Chorin, Brandenburg
Admission: €6 (~$6) adult
Rheinsberg Palace
A lakeside Rococo palace where crown prince Frederick lived from 1736-1740, immersed in music and Enlightenment philosophy before his accession.
Where: Rheinsberg, Brandenburg
Admission: €8 (~$9) adult
Seelow Heights Memorial and Museum
A memorial and museum on the escarpment east of Berlin where Soviet and German forces fought one of the war's final large-scale battles in April 1945.
Where: Seelow, Brandenburg
Admission: €5 (~$5) adult
Glienicke Bridge
A steel bridge over the Havel connecting Potsdam and West Berlin, used three times during the Cold War to exchange captured intelligence agents.
Where: Potsdam/Berlin border
Admission: Free
Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel)
134 red-brick, Dutch-gabled townhouses built by King Frederick William I to attract Dutch craftsmen to Potsdam.
Where: Potsdam, Brandenburg
Admission: Free
Prenzlau Medieval Town Gates
Three surviving brick-Gothic town gates and connecting wall sections from Prenzlau's medieval fortifications.
Where: Prenzlau, Brandenburg
Admission: Free exteriors; museum €3 (~$3)
Beelitz-Heilstätten
A sprawling early-20th-century sanatorium complex that treated tuberculosis patients, wounded soldiers of both World Wars, and later served as a Soviet military hospital.
Where: Beelitz, Brandenburg
Admission: Baumkronenpfad €15 (~$16); guided tours €18-22 (~$19-24)
St. Marien Church, Frankfurt (Oder)
A soaring brick-Gothic church rebuilt after WWII destruction, famous for medieval stained-glass windows returned from decades of Soviet storage.
Where: Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg
Admission: €3 (~$3) suggested donation
Museums
Curated collections that tell Brandenburg's story.
Historical tours
Guided experiences that bring history to life.