1.
Elector of Brandenburg
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This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or March, of Brandenburg was one of the constituent states of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created in 1157 as the Margraviate of Brandenburg by Albert the Bear, Margrave of the Northern March. In 1356, by the terms of the Golden Bull of Charles IV, the early rulers came from several different dynasties, but from 1415 Brandenburg and its successor states were ruled by the House of Hohenzollern for over 500 years. From 1618 onward, Brandenburg was ruled in union with the Duchy of Prussia. The titles of Margrave of Brandenburg and Elector of Brandenburg were abolished along with the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, from 1871 to 1918 the Hohenzollerns were also the German Emperors. The upper president carried out central prerogatives on the provincial level and these parliaments legislated within the competences transferred to the provinces. The provincial diet of Brandenburg elected an executive body, the provincial committee, and a head of province. Self-rule was abolished under the Nazi dictatorship, after being abolished in a reorganization of the territories administered by the German Democratic Republic, the Land Brandenburg was restored in the prelude to German unification in 1990. Matthias Platzeck, 2002–2013 Dietmar Woidke, since 2013
2.
Johann Bussemacher
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Johann Bussemacher was a German engraver and publisher. Bussemacher was active as an engraver, printer and art dealer in Cologne from about 1580 to 1613. His many works include images of saints and a striking plate of Frau Richmuth Rising up from a Trance. Variations of his signature included Jans, jo Buss, Johan Bussemec and I. His name appears on a set of 13 engravings copied from Heinrich Aldegrevers Labours of Hercules and engraved by Pieter Maes, Bussemacher was presumably their publisher
3.
Margraviate of Brandenburg
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The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg, it played a role in the history of Germany. Brandenburg developed out of the Northern March founded in the territory of the Slavic Wends and its ruling margraves were established as prestigious prince-electors in the Golden Bull of 1356, allowing them to vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. The state thus became known as Electoral Brandenburg or the Electorate of Brandenburg. The House of Hohenzollern came to the throne of Brandenburg in 1415, under Hohenzollern leadership, Brandenburg grew rapidly in power during the 17th century and inherited the Duchy of Prussia. The resulting Brandenburg-Prussia was the predecessor of the Kingdom of Prussia, although the electors highest title was King in/of Prussia, their power base remained in Brandenburg and its capital Berlin. Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, despite its meager beginnings in the Holy Roman Empire, the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871. The Mark Brandenburg is still used today to refer to the federal state of Brandenburg in the Federal Republic of Germany. The territory of the margraviate, commonly known as the Mark Brandenburg, lies in present-day eastern Germany. Geographically it encompassed the majority of the present-day German states Brandenburg and Berlin, the Altmark, parts of the present-day federal state Brandenburg, such as Lower Lusatia and territory which had been Saxon until 1815, were not parts of the Mark. Colloquially but not accurately, the federal state Brandenburg is sometimes identified as the Mark or Mark Brandenburg, the region was formed during the ice age and characterized by moraines, glacial valleys, and numerous lakes. The territory is known as a Mark or march because it was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark is defined by two uplands and two depressions, the depressions are taken up by rivers and chains of lakes with marsh and boggy soil along the shores, once used for peat collection, the riverbanks are now mostly drained and dry. The Northern or Baltic Uplands of the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau have only minor extensions into Brandenburg, the southern depression is generally to the north of this ridge and appears strikingly in the Spreewald. Between these two depressions is a low plateau that extends from the Poznań area westward to Brandenburg through Torzym, the Spree plateau, the region is predominantly marked by dry, sandy soil, wide stretches of which have pine trees and erica plants, or heath. However, the soil is loamy in the uplands and plateaus and, Mark Brandenburg has a cool, continental climate, with temperatures averaging near 0 °C in January and February and near 18 °C in July and August. Precipitation averages between 500 mm and 600 mm annually, with a modest summer maximum, by the 8th century, Slavic Wends, such as the Sprevjane and Hevelli, started to move into the Brandenburg area. They intermarried with Saxons and Bohemians, the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg were established at the beginning of the 10th century
4.
John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg
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John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He became the Duke of Prussia through his marriage to Duchess Anna and their marriage resulted in the creation of Brandenburg-Prussia. John Sigismund was born in Halle an der Saale to Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg and he succeeded his father as Margrave of Brandenburg in 1608. In 1611, John Sigismund traveled from Königsberg to Warsaw, where on 16 November 1611 he gave homage to Sigismund III Vasa. He officially became Duke of Prussia in 1618, although he had served as regent on behalf of the mentally-disturbed Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, John Sigismund died in the following year. He was probably won over to Calvinism during a visit to Heidelberg in 1606, the vast majority of his subjects in Brandenburg, including his wife Anna of Prussia, remained deeply Lutheran, however. Resistance was so strong that in 1615, John Sigismund backed down, instead, he allowed his subjects to be either Lutheran or Calvinist according to the dictates of their own consciences. Henceforward, Brandenburg-Prussia would be a bi-confessional state, on 30 October 1594, John Sigismund married Anna of Prussia, daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia. They were parents to eight children, George William, married Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They were parents of Christina of Sweden, married first Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania and secondly Franz Karl of Saxe-Lauenburg
5.
Anne Catherine of Brandenburg
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Anne Catherine of Brandenburg was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway from 1597 to 1612 as the first spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark. Anne Catherine was born in Halle and raised in Wolmirstedt and her parents were Joachim Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg and his first wife Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Christian met her on his journey in Germany in 1595 and decided to marry her, in 1596, Anne Catherine and her parents were present at his coronation, and the next year, the marriage was arranged. Anne Catherine became Queen of Denmark on 27 November 1597 when she was married to Christian IV, the wedding took place in the castle of Haderslevhus in South Jutland the year after the coronation of Christian IV. She was crowned queen in 1598, together they had six children, among them Christian, the Prince-Elect, who died a year before his father, and Frederik III who introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark. Her son, Ulrik, was murdered in 1633 and their two daughters, Sophia and Elisabeth, and the elder son, Frederick, died at a very young age. Anne Catherine was the first wife of Christian IV, but not much is known about her and she does not seem to have had much political influence. She often accompanied the King on his travels, in her time, she was praised for her modesty and deep religious feelings. There is no mention as to whether the marriage was happy or not, the building of the Rosenborg Castle began while she was queen, but the extent of her influence on the building and its interior is not known. Despite her good relationship with the Lutheran archbishop, she called upon a Calvinist vicar to give her the last sacrament on her death bed and she died in Copenhagen and was buried in the Roskilde Cathedral. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark died in infancy, Christian, Hereditary Prince of Denmark married Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony. Frederick III married Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and had issue, Ulrik, Prince-Bishop of Schwerin died unmarried. Article in the Dansk biografisk Lexikon Queen Anna Cathrine at the website of the Royal Danish Collection
