Ĝhristopher Clark, Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 The topographer Nicolaus Leuthinger, author of an early description of Brandenburg, wrote in 1598 of a ‘flat land, wooded and for the most part swamp.’ ‘Sand,’ flatness, ‘bogs’ and ‘uncultivated areas’ were recurring topoi in all the early accounts, even the most panegyric…” Monotonous forests of birch and fir covered much of its surface. The rivers that cross it are sluggish meandering streams that lack the grandeur of the Rhine or Danube. Situated in the midst of the dreary plain that stretches from the Netherlands to northern Poland, the Brandenburg countryside has rarely attracted visitors. This was the heartland of the state that would later be known as Prussia. “In the beginning there was only Brandenburg, a territory encompassing some 40,000 square kilometers and centered on the city of Berlin.
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