Prussia/East Germany

About Prussia
Our family roots have been traced back to Freudenburg, Rheinland, KreisTrier, Prussia.

Prussia was an historic state originating in Brandenburg, an area that for centuries had substantial influence on German and European history. The last capital of Prussia was Berlin. Prussia attained its greatest importance in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century, it became a great European power under the reign of Fredrick II of Prussia (1740-1786). During the 19th century, Prime Minister Otto Von Bismarck pursued a policy of uniting the German principalities into a "Lesser Germany” that would exclude the Austrian Empire. This led to the unification of Germany in 1871, with Prussia forming the core of the German Empire.

In the course of its history, Prussia has had various meanings:
The land of the Baltic Prussians, so-called ‘Old Prussia’ (prior to the 13th century): conquered by the Teutonic Knights and gradually Christianised, Germanized, and Polonized - this region is now situated in parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and north-eastern of Poland.

Royal Prussia (1466 – 1772): territory awarded to Poland after its victory over the Teutonic Order in the Thirteen Years’ War.

The Duchy of Prussia (1525 – 1701): a territory formed by the secularization of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, originally under the sovereignty of Poland, later ruled by the Hohenzollem margraves and electors of Brandenburg.

Brandenburg Prussia (1618 – 1701): a personal union between the Hohenzollern rulers of Ducal Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

The Kingdom of Prussia (1701-1918): formed the elevation of Brandenburg-Prussia to a kingdom, this state went on to become the dominant state of the German Empire (1871-1918).

The Province of the Kingdom of Prussia (1829-1878) was created from the merger of the provinces East Prussia and West Prussia.

The Free State of Prussia (1918-1947) was the republic state of Weimer, Germany formed after the dissolution of the Hohenzollern monarchy at the end of World War I. Prussia as a state was abolished de facto by the Nazis in 1934 and de jure by the Allied Control Council in 1947 in the aftermath of World War II.

Since then, the term's relevance has been limited to historical, geographical, or cultural usage for today. Even in modern time a certain kind of ethic is called "Prussian virtues", for instance: perfect organization, sacrifice, rule of law, obedience to authority, and militarism, but also reliability, religious tolerance, sobriety, pragmatism, thriftiness, punctuality, modesty, and diligence. Many Prussians believed that these virtues promoted the rise of their country.