Following the abolition of Prussia after World War II, Brandenburg was established as a state by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany.

After 1618 the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were combined to form Brandenburg-Prussia, which was ruled by the same branch of the House of Hohenzollern.

Franconian Nuremberg and Ansbach, Swabian Hohenzollern, the eastern European connections of Berlin, and the status of Brandenburg's ruler as prince-elector together were instrumental in the rise of that state.

The Slavs expanded from the east, possibly driven from their homelands in present-day Ukraine and perhaps Belarus by the invasions of the Huns and Avars.

Slavic settlements such as Brenna[10] (Brandenburg an der Havel), Budusin[11] (Bautzen), and Chośebuz[12] (Cottbus) came under imperial control through the installation of margraves.

In 948 Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River.

The Roman Catholic Church brought bishoprics which, with their walled towns, afforded protection from attacks for the townspeople.

Albert, and his descendants the Ascanians, then made considerable progress in conquering, colonizing, Christianizing, and cultivating lands as far east as the Oder.

In 1415, the Electorate of Brandenburg was granted by Emperor Sigismund to the House of Hohenzollern, which would rule until the end of World War I.

Brandenburg converted to Protestantism in 1539 in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, and generally did quite well in the 16th century, with the expansion of trade along the Elbe, Havel, and Spree rivers.

The result was a sprawling, disconnected country known as Brandenburg-Prussia that was in poor shape to defend itself during the Thirty Years' War.

Beginning near the end of that devastating conflict, however, Brandenburg enjoyed a string of talented rulers who expanded their territory and power in Europe.

At the Peace of Westphalia, his envoy Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal negotiated the acquisition of several important territories such as Halberstadt.

Under the Treaty of Oliva Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal (son of the above) negotiated the incorporation of the Duchy of Prussia into the Hohenzollern inheritance.

Although his self-promotion from margrave to king relied on his title to the Duchy of Prussia, Brandenburg was still the most important portion of the kingdom.

Most of Brandenburg lay within the Bezirke of Cottbus, Frankfurt, or Potsdam, but parts of the former province passed to the Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and Magdeburg districts (town Havelberg).

The industrial towns surrounding Berlin were important to the East German economy, while rural Brandenburg remained mainly agricultural.

Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that states may only merge after a specific federal Act of Parliament is enacted.

[20] However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments.

The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches.

[22] Brandenburg is bordered by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north, Poland in the east, the Freistaat Sachsen in the south, Saxony-Anhalt in the west, and Lower Saxony in the northwest.

Each of them is provided with state-financed administration and a park ranger staff, who guide visitors and work to ensure nature conservation.

Politically, Brandenburg is a stronghold of the Social Democratic Party, which won the largest share of the vote and seats in every state election.

The Greens, the Left, and the Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters all lost their representation while a new party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), gained 14 votes.

For example, the BSW is broadly anti-immigration and anti-Nato, and has been accused of having Russophile tendencies, partially based on their desire for the war in Ukraine to be ended by diplomacy.

[31] Other German parties have generally been unwilling to work with the AfD and that trend continued with the formation of the new government based on this election.

[32] This meant that at least 4 members of the opposition, whether from the AfD, the CDU, or a combination of the two, had voted with the coalition government to reelect Woidke.

[34] The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 72.9 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.2% of German economic output.

It was the second largest international airport of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region and was located 18 km (11 mi) southeast of central Berlin in Schönefeld.

[42] Universities in Brandenburg: The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments)[43] are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt,[44] in 1721 (though probably composed earlier).