List of the rulers of Brandenburg
The list of rulers of Brandenburg includes princes , margraves , electors and kings who ruled in the territory of the state of Brandenburg from around the 12th century .
Slavic princes
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Meinfried † 1127 |
? -1127 | probably Christian prince in Havelland and the Zauche (Heveller) | |
|
Pribislaw (Heinrich) * around 1085, † 1150 |
1127-1150 | Christian prince, ruled over the Havelland and the Zauche, around 1134 probably even "King of Brandenburg", founded the Premonstratensian monastery in St. Gotthard in the old town of Brandenburg |
Ascanians
Margrave in Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Albrecht I, "the bear" (* around 1100, † November 18, 1170) |
1150-1150 / 57 | 1134 Margrave of Nordmark, 1138 Duke of Saxony, inherited Brandenburg with Havelland in 1150. |
Polish prince
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Jacza von Köpenick * before 1125, † 1176 |
1150 / 57-1157 | Polish Christian prince in Köpenick, conquered Brandenburg between 1150 and 1157 and thus ruled over the entire later Central Mark, expelled by Albrecht in 1157, until 1168/76 Prince of Köpenick |
Ascanians
Margrave of Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Albrecht I, "the bear" (* around 1100, † November 18, 1170) |
1157-1170 | On June 11, 1157, he took back the castle, which had been lost shortly before through betrayal, on October 3, 1157, referred to himself as Margrave in Brandenburg for the first time , ruled over the Altmark, the Havelland and the Zauche, parts of the western Prignitz, Havelberg and the ancestral property of the Counts of Ballenstedt, furthermore about Weimar-Orlamünde. |
|
Otto I. (* around 1125; † July 8, 1184) |
1170-1184 | Son of Albrecht I. He had ruled alongside his father since 1144. Ruled in the Altmark, the Havelland and the Zauche, the western Prignitz and Havelberg |
|
Otto II. (* After 1147; † July 4, 1205) |
1184-1205 | Son of Otto I. He secured the Mark Brandenburg through military campaigns against Slavs and Danes . |
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Albrecht II. (* Around / after 1150; † February 25, 1220) |
1205-1220 | Son of Otto I. He was finally able to secure some disputed areas for Brandenburg, but lost Pomerania . |
|
Johann I (around 1213 - April 4, 1266) |
1220-1266 | Son of Albrechts II, ruled together with his brother Otto III. Numerous cities were founded or enlarged under their rule, including Berlin . For the first time, the Mark Brandenburg areas east of the Oder were incorporated. From then on, Brandenburg was one of the most important principalities in the empire. |
|
|
Otto III, "the pious" (* 1215 - † October 9, 1267) |
1220-1267 | Son Albrechts II, ruled together with his brother Johann I. In 1258 the empire was divided between Johann and Otto, but they continued to rule by mutual agreement and after their death the sovereignty remained with the descendants of Johann. |
|
Otto IV., "With the arrow" (* around 1238; † November 27, 1308) |
1267-1308 | Son of Johann I, co-regents were his brothers Johann II (until 1281), Konrad I (until 1304) and Heinrich I, "without land" (until 1318), his cousins Johann III, "the Prague" (until 1268 ) and Albrecht III. (until 1300), Otto (V.), "the Tall One " (until 1299) and Otto VI., "the Little One" (until 1286) and Johann IV , a son of Conrad I (1286–1305), and Hermann "The Tall One " , a son of Otto (V.) (1298–1308). |
|
Waldemar "the Great" (* around 1280; † August 14, 1319) |
1308-1319 | Son of Konrad I and grandson of Johann I, co-regent until 1317 was his cousin Johann V, "the illustrious" , Hermann's only son. In 1348 a con man appeared who posed as Waldemar and was actually recognized as ruler for a short time. |
|
Heinrich II., "The child" (* around 1308; † July 1320) |
1319-1320 | Son of Heinrich I and grandson of Johann I, was under the tutelage of his cousin Waldemar. After only one year of independent government, the rule of the Ascanians in Brandenburg expired with his death. |
Brandenburg interregnum
| Name (data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Brandenburg interregnum | 1320-1323 | Rudolf I , Duke of Saxony-Wittenberg (1298–1356) fought for the best starting position for the successor . He ruled without enfeoffment and left the Mark Brandenburg in the spring of 1324. |
Wittelsbacher
King Ludwig appointed his underage son Ludwig the Elder as the new margrave in 1323 , thereby overriding the inheritance claims of Duke Rudolf I of Saxony-Wittenberg.
Margrave of Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ludwig I "the Elder" (* May 1315; † September 18, 1361) |
1323-1348 | Cousin of Heinrich II. And son of Emperor Ludwig IV., Ruled until 1330 under the tutelage of Berthold VII. Von Henneberg because of being a minor . Count of Tyrol since 1342 and Duke of Bavaria since 1347 . In 1348 almost the entire Mark Brandenburg lost to the wrong Waldemar. |
Wrong Waldemar
In 1348 an old man appeared who claimed to be Margrave Waldemar , who had died in 1319 . The new King Charles IV of the Luxembourgers enfeoffed him with the margravate.
Margrave of Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
False Waldemar † after 1356 |
1348-1350 | In 1348 enfeoffed with the margraviate, he received homage from almost all cities and ruled until 1350, when King Charles IV described him as "false" and deposed him. |
Wittelsbacher
In 1350 Ludwig the Elder was enfeoffed again with the Mark Brandenburg by Charles IV.
Margrave of Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Ludwig I "the Elder" (* May 1315; † September 18, 1361) |
1350-1351 | In 1350 he took over the rule in the Mark Brandenburg again, but abdicated in 1351 in favor of his half-brother |
|
Ludwig II, "the Roman" (* May 12, 1328 in Rome; † May 17, 1365) |
1351-1356 | Half-brother of Ludwig I. Since 1347 Duke of Bavaria . In 1351 he and his half-brother exchanged rulership over Upper Bavaria for Brandenburg. The "false Woldemar" was finally defeated by him. |
Elector of Brandenburg
The Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV of 1356 attributed the function of Arch Chamberlain in the Holy Roman Empire to the Margrave of Brandenburg and thus one of the seven electors .
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Ludwig II, "the Roman" (* May 12, 1328 in Rome; † May 17, 1365) |
1356-1364 / 1365 | After Ludwig had fallen out with his Bavarian brothers, he allied himself with Emperor Karl IV and promised his house rule over Brandenburg, should he and his brother Otto V die childless. |
|
Otto V., "the lazy" (* 1346 - † November 15, 1379) |
1364 / 1365-1373 | Brother Ludwig II. He sold Niederlausitz to the Wettins and lost territories to Poland . His policy prompted Charles IV to invade Brandenburg in 1371. Otto only remained formally ruler until 1373, when he finally sold the mark to Charles IV. |
Luxembourger
Elector of Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wenceslaus "the lazy" (* February 26, 1361 - † August 16, 1419) |
1373-1378 | Son of Emperor Charles IV , King of Bohemia since 1363 and King of the Holy Roman Empire since 1378 . |
|
Sigismund (February 15, 1368 - December 9, 1437) |
1378-1388 | Half-brother of Wenceslas, King of Hungary and Croatia since 1387 . In 1388, high spending forced him to mortgage Brandenburg to his cousin Jobst von Moravia. Later Roman-German King (from 1410/1411), King of Bohemia (from 1419/1420) and Roman Emperor (from 1433). |
|
Jobst (1351 - January 18, 1411) |
1388-1411 | Son of Johann Heinrich von Tirol , since 1375 Margrave of Moravia , since 1410 Roman-German King. Jobst died the following year under unexplained circumstances. |
|
|
Sigismund | 1411-1415 | After the death of his cousin, he took over power in Brandenburg again and was also his successor as Roman-German king. In 1415 he enfeoffed the burgrave of Nuremberg Friedrich VI. with the Mark Brandenburg (formal enfeoffment on April 18, 1417), which then became Friedrich I of Brandenburg . |
Hohenzollern
Elector of Brandenburg
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Friedrich I (1371 - September 20, 1440) |
1415-1440 | Since 1398 he was called Friedrich VI. Burgrave of Nuremberg. In 1415, King Sigismund granted him the hereditary dignity of Margrave and Elector of the Mark Brandenburg as a thank you for his support in his election as Roman-German King, whereupon he became Friedrich I of Brandenburg . The hereditary office of arch chamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire was connected with this. In 1425 Frederick I left the reign to his son Johann , but remained elector. |
|
Friedrich II., "The iron" (iron tooth) (born November 19, 1413, † February 10, 1471) |
1440-1471 | Son of Frederick I. He dedicated himself to strengthening and securing Brandenburg and in 1454 acquired the Neumark from the Teutonic Order . In 1470 he passed the reign to his brother Albrecht Achilles, but remained elector until his death in 1471. |
|
Albrecht Achilles (November 9, 1414 - March 11, 1486) |
1471-1486 | Son of Frederick I, since 1440 Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and since 1471 Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach . In 1473 he issued the Dispositio Achillea , in which the indivisibility of Brandenburg was established. In the same year he passed the reign to his son Johann Cicero, but remained elector until 1486. |
|
Johann Cicero (August 2, 1455 - January 9, 1499) |
1486-1499 | Son of Albrecht Achilles. He made Berlin a residential city. |
|
Joachim I., "Nestor" (* February 21, 1484; † July 11, 1535) |
1499-1535 | Son of Johann Cicero. Until 1513 he ruled together with his brother Albrecht . He founded the university in Frankfurt an der Oder and standardized inheritance law in the Hohenzollern countries. After his death, Brandenburg was divided between his two sons Joachim II and Johann , the latter receiving parts of the Neumark. |
|
Joachim II, "Hector" (born January 13, 1505 - † January 3, 1571) |
1535-1571 | Son of Joachim I. The Reformation found its way into Brandenburg under his rule . He himself confessed to the Augsburg Confession in 1558 by signing the Frankfurt Recession . The diocese of Havelberg fell to Brandenburg in 1571. |
|
Johann Georg (born September 11, 1525 - † January 18, 1598) |
1571-1598 | Son of Joachim II. Since his uncle Johann left no heir, Johann Georg was able to rule over a united Brandenburg again. He stood out above all for the consolidation of Brandenburg's finances. |
|
Joachim Friedrich (January 27, 1546 - July 18, 1608) |
1598-1608 | Son of Johann Georg. In 1603 he became regent of the Duchy of Prussia . He had the first glassworks in Brandenburg built and the Finow Canal built between the Oder and Havel . |
|
Johann Sigismund (8 November 1572 - 2 January 1620) |
1608-1619 | Son of Joachim Friedrich. In the Jülich-Klevischen succession dispute and the Treaty of Xanten of 1609, Brandenburg received the Duchy of Kleve , the County of Mark and the County of Ravensberg . In 1613 he converted from the Lutheran to the Reformed creed. In 1618 he became Duke of Prussia. |
|
Georg Wilhelm (born November 13, 1595 - † December 1, 1640) |
1619-1640 | Son of Johann Sigismund. In the Thirty Years' War Brandenburg lost a large part of its population. In 1638 Georg Wilhelm moved the residence to Königsberg in Prussia . |
|
Friedrich Wilhelm, "the Great Elector" (* February 16, 1620; † May 9, 1688) |
1640-1688 | Son Georg Wilhelm, issued the Potsdam Edict in 1685 , offering the Protestant Huguenots persecuted in France because of their religion free and safe settlement in Brandenburg. The refugees were granted generous privileges . The Diocese of Minden , the Diocese of Halberstadt and Western Pomerania fell to Brandenburg in 1648 and the Archbishopric of Magdeburg in 1680. |
|
Friedrich III. (July 11, 1657 - February 25, 1713) |
1688-1713 | Son of the "Great Elector". Title before the coronation as king in 1701: “Elector Friedrich III. from Brandenburg " |
Kings in Prussia
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Friedrich I. (* July 11, 1657 - † February 25, 1713) |
1688-1713 | Coronation in Königsberg on January 18, 1701 to: "Friedrich I. King in Prussia ". The county of Lingen fell in 1702 and the county of Tecklenburg fell to Prussia in 1707. |
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Friedrich Wilhelm I, "the soldier king" (* August 14, 1688; † May 31, 1740) |
1713-1740 | Son of Frederick I; Western Pomerania fell to Prussia in 1720 |
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Friedrich II., "The Great" / "Old Fritz" (* January 24, 1712; † August 17, 1786) |
1740-1772 | Son of Friedrich Wilhelm I, title until the First Partition of Poland in 1772: “King in Prussia”, East Frisia falls to Prussia in 1744. First Silesian War (1742–1744) and Second Silesian War (1744/1745). Silesia falls to Prussia. |
Kings of Prussia
| Name (life data) | Reign | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Friedrich II., "The Great" / "Old Fritz" (* January 24, 1712; † August 17, 1786) |
1772-1786 | Son of Friedrich Wilhelm I, title from the First Partition of Poland in 1772: "King of Prussia" |
|
Friedrich Wilhelm II (born September 25, 1744 - † November 16, 1797) |
1786-1797 | Nephew of the childless King Friedrich II of Prussia |
|
Friedrich Wilhelm III. (August 3, 1770 - June 7, 1840) |
1797-1840 | Son of Friedrich Wilhelm II., Until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, its last Arch-Chamberlain and Elector of Brandenburg .
Prussia was in Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, the bishoprics of Hildesheim and Paderborn ( Principality of Paderborn ), parts of the Bishopric of Münster ( Erbfürstentum Munster ), the Eichsfeld , the imperial cities of Muehlhausen / Thuringia , Nordhausen and Goslar and the kingdom pins Quedlinburg , Elten , food and Herford and Will , which it was awarded again in 1815 after the French occupation under Napoleon. Swedish Pomerania fell to Prussia in 1815. |
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Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (October 15, 1795 - January 2, 1861) |
1840-1861 | Son of Friedrich Wilhelm III. |
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Wilhelm I (March 22, 1797 - March 9, 1888) |
1861-1888 | Brother of the childless King Friedrich Wilhelm IV., From 1871 also German Emperor |
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Friedrich III. (October 18, 1831 - June 15, 1888) |
1888 | Son of Kaiser Wilhelm I, in personal union German Kaiser, 99-day Kaiser |
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Wilhelm II (born January 27, 1859 - † June 4, 1941) |
1888-1918 | Son of Emperor Friedrich III, last King of Prussia and, in personal union, last German Emperor, Wilhelminism |