Brandenburg an der Havel is a town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Havel river. Population: 75,145 (June 30, 2004).
Although the town of Brandenburg is less known than the state of Brandenburg, the state was named after the town and not vice versa. Today it is a small town, but once it was the origin of the realms of Brandenburg and Prussia.
The castle of Brandenburg, which had been a Slavic fortress Branibor (Branim's forest), was conquered in 929 by king Henry the Fowler. The town remained German only until 983, when a Slavic rebellion was successful. In the next 170 years the area was ruled by Slavic princes of the Hevelles tribe. The last of them, Pribislav, died in 1150. Afterwards Albert I settled here and became the first margrave of Brandenburg. The town was restricted to the western bank of the Havel until 1196, when it was extended to the eastern side. The parts on either side of the river were regarded as two different towns (Old and New Brandenburg) for centuries.
In 1314 (resp. 1315) the two towns joined the Hanseatic League. In the Thirty Years' War the towns suffered plundering and destruction; this led to a loss of power; Potsdam became the new capital, and the court left the town of Brandenburg. In 1715 the two halves of the town were merged at last to a common town.
Brandenburg Gate, built between 1788 and 1791 as a gateway to Berlin, was based on the design of the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens.
For the next four and a half decades West and East Germany were divided by the policies of the Cold War, with West Germany becoming the strongest European NATO power, and East Germany a vital member of Comecon and the Warsaw Pact.
On the inauguration of East Germany, Wilhelm Pieck became the president, Otto Grotewohl (former leader of the SDP in the East) became premier, and Walter Ulbricht deputy premier.
The state of Brandenburg consists of the former Prussian province of Brandenburg minus those parts of the province lying E of the Oder and Neisse rivers in Poland (see Germany).
The Spree Forest, in Lower Lusatia, is inhabited by Slavic-speaking Wends, remnants of the population that inhabited Brandenburg at the time of its acquisition (12th cent.) by Albert the Bear.
The later history of Brandenburg is that of Prussia.
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