ABSTRACT
The margraviate of Brandenburg was one of the most significant principalities of the German Reich that existed until 1806. It arose in 1157 and from the late thirteenth century onwards was one of the seven electoral principalities whose lords had the right to elect the king. Otto founded bishoprics for the Christianisation of the heathen Slavs based on Havelberg and Brandenburg in what became the region of Brandenburg. In 983 the Slav tribes which had joined together in the Luitizi union stormed the episcopal seats of Havelberg and Brandenburg and eradicated Saxon rule between the Baltic and the Flaming region. The first evidence of the essential elements of urban development in Brandenburg can be seen in Stendal, which had a council in 1215, and a guild in 1231. Eventually, in 1285, conflicts arose between these two. The Brandenburg Ascanians did not have a fixed residence, although they frequently stayed at the castles of Tangermunde and Spandau.
