Miracle of the House of Brandenburg

The Miracle of the House of Brandenburg is the name given by Frederick II of Prussia to the failure of Russia and Austria to follow up their victory over him at the Battle of Kunersdorf on 12 August 1759 during the Seven Years' War.

On 16 August, he wrote that if the Russians had crossed the Oder and marched on the Prussian capital, Berlin, "We'll fight them – more in order to die beneath the walls of our own city than through any hope of beating them".

The Austrians and the Russians proved reluctant to follow through their victory by occupying Berlin, and in September, they began withdrawing their forces.

As Frederick wrote on 10 December: The Austrians are masters of Schweidnitz and the mountains, the Russians are behind the length of the Warthe from Kolberg to Posen ... my every bale of hay, sack of money or batch of recruits only arriving by courtesy of the enemy or from his negligence.

Austrians controlling the hills in Saxony, the Imperials the same in Thuringia, all our fortresses vulnerable in Silesia, in Pomerania, Stettin, Küstrin, even Berlin, at the mercy of the Russians.