Brandenburg

For other uses, see Brandenburg (disambiguation).

Surrounding but excluding the national capital Berlin, Brandenburg is one of Germany's sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). Lying in the east of the country, in its current form it is one of the new states created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam.

Historically Brandenburg was an independent state which grew to become the core of modern Germany (see below).

Geography

Brandenburg is bordered by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the north, Poland in the east, Saxony in the south, Saxony-Anhalt in the west and Lower Saxony in the northwest.

The Oder river forms a part of the eastern border, the Elbe river a portion of the western border. The main rivers in the state itself are the Spree and the Havel. In the southeast there is a wetlands region called the Spreewald; it is the northernmost part of the Lausitz, where the Slavic people of the Sorbs still live. These areas are bilingual, i.e. German and Sorbian are both used.

See also: List of places in Brandenburg.

Administration

Brandenburg is divided into fourteen (rural) counties (Landkreise),

and four independent cities (Stadtkreise),

1. Brandenburg an der Havel
2. Cottbus
3. Frankfurt (Oder)
4. Potsdam

List of Minister-presidents of Brandenburg

1. 1945 – 1949: Karl Steinhoff
2. 1949 – 1952: Rudi Jahn
3. 1990 – 2002: Manfred Stolpe (SPD)
4. since 2002: Matthias Platzeck (SPD)

Miscellaneous

Brandenburg is served by the same three airports that serve Berlin. They are Tegel International Airport, Tempelhof International Airport, and Schönefeld International Airport. Schönefeld Airport will eventually become Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, while Tegel and Tempelhof will close after BBI is established.

External link

• State's official website: http://www.brandenburg.de/