Brandenburg

History
Brandenburg is one of Germany's sixteen Bundesländers. Historically, Brandenburg was a quasi-independent country and the core of the unified German state. It contained the future German capital Berlin and since 1618 both Brandenburg and Prussia, then Brandenburg-Prussia, were ruled by Hohenzollern dukes and later kings of Prussia. The Frankish Nuremberg, Ansbach and southern German Hohenzollern and the eastern European connections of Berlin and the prince-elector together were instrumental in the rise of that state. Brandenburg is situated entirely in territory of Germania recorded by Tacitus in 98 AD. By 600 first groups of Slavic people arrived. In 948 Emperor Otto I the Great established German control over the now largely Slavic inhabitants of the area and founded the dioceses of Havelberg and Brandenburg; he died in 983. In the great uprising in 983 the Slavs wiped out German control from the territory of present day Brandenburg. The monasteries were buried, priests and Germans officials killed or expelled. The Slavic tribes living east of Elbe remained independent and pagan for the next 150 years.
For more on the history see:
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/brandenburg/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0860564.html
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/BRG/bb.html#hist
http://www.deutsche-kaiserreich.de/ (Old views of Brandenburg)
http://groups.msn.com/GermanGenealogy/brandenburg.msnw

Border Changes
http://wiki.genealogy.net/index.php/Neumark
http://wiki.genealogy.net/index.php/Neumark

The New Palace at Potsdam – photo by Paul Sternberg

E-Mail Lists
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/DEU/PRUSSIA-ROOTS.html

Maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Berlin.bezirke.png Showing the districts of Berlin
http://www.alt-berlin.info/pages/index.htm 1738 to 1999
http://mitglied.lycos.de/Pomerania2/images/Baed4.jpg Detailed 1809 map

Description: Historical map of Provinz Brandenburg
Source: Bibliothek allgemeinen und praktischen Wissens für Militäranwärter Band I, 1905 / Deutsches Verlaghaus Bong & Co Berlin * Leipzig * Wien * Stuttgart

Archives and Records
Archives for Brandenburg are located at Berlin, Potsdam and Posen/Poznan. For addresses and contents see:
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/BRG/bb.html
Check out the LDS site for your village. As always, check on towns around your village in case your village was too small to have its own church.
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp
http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=4121 (Emigration Records)
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=surnames.brandenburg Brandenburg as a surname, message board.

Books
The GGS collection of Germanic Genealogy Books at Minnesota Genealogy Center Mendota Heights, MN, has 10 books specifically on Brandenburg genealogy, 3 of those books are in English. Check the Library page for more information.
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/BRG/bb.html#lit

Brandenburg Records Kirchenbucher, Kirchenbuch-Duplikate, and Standesamtsregister Churchbooks, churchbook duplicates, and civil registers), compiled by Georg Griineberg Druckerei & Verlag, G. Griineberg, Finkenbergstr. 6, 19309 Lenzen (Elbe), Germany, Fax 038792/13 31. 304 pages of inventory listings, including a map of areas covered in a hardbound book.
The ISBN 3-9803515-3-X. Reviewed by Marjorie Beiser. This book covers the inventory list of records and where they can be found for the former Brandenburg Kreise (districts) of Konigsberg Neumark, Soldin, Landsberg, Arnswalde, Friedeberg Neumark, Oststernberg, Weststernberg, Crossen, Ziillichau-Schwiebus,. Guben (which is my research area), and Sorau (east of Neisse), Schwerin, Meseritz, and Bomst (in Posen). It was updated in 1998.

Flags
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Berlin.svg
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=berlin+flags&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Vl-zS9eNM4yENpbQ5ewD&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CB4QsAQwAw

Brandenburg Groups
http://www.cousinconnect.com/p/a/1085
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/BRG/neumark/