The Margraviate of Brandenburg had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were
In … See more

From 1619 to 1640, George William was elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia. He strove, but proved unable to break the dominance of the Electorate of Saxony in the Upper Saxon Circle. The Brandenbu… See more

During the Thirty Years' War, George William was succeeded by Frederick William, born 1620, who became known as "The Great Elector" (Der Große Kurfürst). The character of the young elector had been stam… See more

Frederick III of Brandenburg, since 1701 also Frederick I of Prussia, was born in Königsberg in 1657. Already in the last years of the reign of his father, the friendly relations with France established after Saint Germain (1… See more

In the mid-16th century, the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the estates (counts, lords, knights and towns, no prelates due to the Protestant Reformation in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities an… See more

In 1613, John Sigismund converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism, but failed to achieve the conversion of the estates by the rule of cuius regio, eius religio. Thus, on 5 February 1615, he granted the Lutherans religious fre… See more