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- BIOGRAPHY
Otto, known as 'der Fromme' (the Pious), was born about 1215, the younger son of Albrecht II, Markgraf von Brandenburg, and Mathilde, Markgräfin von der Nieder-Lausitz. From 1220 he ruled, first under a guardian, the margraviate of Brandenburg with his brother Johann until Johann's death in 1266, and alone until his own death in 1267.
The reign of the two Ascanian margraves was characterised by extensive land development toward the East, which took in the last parts of Teltow and Barnim, the Uckermark, the land of Stargard, the land of Lebus and the first parts east of the Oder in the Neumark. They were able to strengthen sustainably the political importance and position of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire, to the extent that in 1256 Otto was a candidate for selection as King of the Germans. They also founded several towns, and did a great deal for the development of the two founding cities Berlin and Cölln. They extended the Ascanian castle in Spandau into their preferred residence.
As both Otto and his two years older brother Johann were under age at the death of their father in 1220, Emperor Friedrich II transferred the feudal guardianship over Brandenburg to Archbishop Albrecht I of Magdeburg; the guardian of the two boys was Heinrich I, Fürst von Anhalt, the elder brother of Albrecht I, Herzog von Sachsen. As the sons of Bernhard III, Herzog von Sachsen, the brothers were the boys' paternal next of kin.
In 1221 their mother Mathilde purchased the feudal guardianship from the archbishop of Magdeburg, for 1900 Marks of Magdeburg silver, and then acted as joint regent for her sons with Heinrich I. When the archbishop of Magdeburg travelled to Emperor Friedrich II in Italy shortly thereafter, Albrecht I tried to take advantage of the situation to interfere in Brandenburg affairs, which led to a conflict with his brother Heinrich I. The conflict between the Saxon brothers prompted Mathilde's brother-in-law Heinrich I, Pfalzgraf am Rhein, to intervene. Friedrich II prevented an outbreak of hostilities by demanding that the Saxon brothers keep the peace.
Probably from the death of their mother in 1225 the brothers jointly exercised sovereignty over the march of Brandenburg; at that time Johann was probably aged twelve and Otto ten. In 1231 they were both knighted in the Brandenburg Neustadt - that year is also considered as the official start of their reign.
After the death in 1227 of Heinrich I, Pfalzgraf am Rhein, the brothers supported his nephew and heir, their brother-in-law Otto I 'das Kind', son of Wilhelm 'Longsword', Herzog von Braunschweig-Lüneburg, who was only able to prevail against the Hohenstaufen claims by force of arms. In 1229 a conflict arose with their former feudal guardian Archbishop Albrecht. Like their former adversaries and defenders they appeared in 1235 at the Diet at Mainz, where the peace of Mainz was pronounced.
In June 1243 Otto married Beatrix of Bohemia, daughter of Wenceslas I, king of Bohemia, and Kunigunde von Hohenstaufen. Of their six children, Otto V, Albrecht III and Mathilde would have progeny.
The joint rule of the margraves ended in 1258/60, when the margraviate was divided in accordance with the inheritance laws into the 'Otto' and 'Johann' lines. However a prudent allocation of government policy areas between them and their continued agreement on all issues of importance prevented the disintegration of the margraviate. The preparations for the reorganisation had probably already begun in 1250 after the final acquisition of Uckermark, but no later than 1255 after the marriage of Johann with his third wife Jutta von Sachsen.
After the clashes over Konrad IV von Hohenstaufen, son of Emperor Friedrich II, and Heinrich Raspe, Landgraf von Thüringen, over the throne of Germany, the two margraves in 1251 declared their recognition of Willem II, Graaf van Holland, as King of the Germans. In the election necessitated by Konrad IV's death in 1254 and his rival Willem's death in 1256, Alfonso X, king of Castile and León, was elected as King of the Germans; in the election the brothers for the first time exercised their right on behalf of the prince-electorate of Brandenburg. In 1256 Otto was one of the contenders for the kingship. Although he was not elected, his candidacy demonstrated the growing political importance of the margraviate founded in 1157 by the brothers' great grandfather Albrecht 'the Bear'. Their participation in the elections of the heads of the empire was seen as indispensable from the mid-13th century.
Together with his brother, Otto extended the area of the margraviate and built market towns or castle locations such as Spandau, Cölln, Berlin, Frankfurt a.d. Oder and Prenzlau into central locations or cities. The last parts of Barnim and the southern Uckermark up to the river Welse came to the march of Brandenburg between 1230 and 1245. On 20 June 1236 in the Treaty of Kremmen the brothers acquired the land of Stargard together with Beseritz and Wustrow from Wartislaw III, Herzog von Pommern. That same year they secured the northernmost parts of their land by beginning the construction of the castle of Stargard.
Although situated close to Berlin-Cölln and now part of the city of Berlin, the Slav castle of Köpenick, at the confluence of Spree and Dahme rivers, came under Ascanian rule only in 1245 after a seven-year battle against the Wettins of Meissen. After this war, the Wettin fortress of Mittenwalde also came under the ownership of the margraves, who then systematically built up their rule towards the East. In 1249 the Ascanian holdings, with parts of the land of Lebus, reached the Oder.
When in 1250, in the Treaty of Landin, the dukes of Pomerania had ceded to the Ascanians the northern Uckermark _(Terra uckra)_ up to the Welse, Randow and Löcknitz in exchange for half the land of Wolgast, Otto and Johann had created the basis for the German colonisation of the _Terra trans Oderam._ This exchange was achieved with the benefit of marriage politics: in 1230 Johann's first wife Sophie of Denmark, daughter of Valdemar II Sejr, king of Denmark, had brought half of Wolgast into the marriage as her dowry. The Treaty of Landin in the year 1250 is regarded as marking the birth of the Uckermark.
Through land acquisition, the brothers crossed the Oder and expanded their domain to the East out to the river Drage and north out to the river Persante. In 1257 Johann founded, some 80 kilometres northeast of Frankfurt a.d. Oder, the city of Landsberg by the river Warthe as a bulwark against the nearby Polish frontier fortress of Zantoch. In 1261 the margraves purchased from the Knights Templar the city of Soldin, which developed into the centre of power of the Neumark.
To stabilise the new parts of the land the two margraves reverted to the proven Ascanian method of establishing monastic settlements. Already in 1230 they had supported the foundation of the Cistercian abbey of Paradies (Paradise) by the Polish Count Nicolaus Bronisius near Midzyrzecz (Meseritz) as an affiliate of the abbey of Lehnin. The connection with the Polish count secured the border against Pomerania and prepared for the economic development of this part in the Neumark.
According to the _Chronica Marchionum Brandenburgensium_ from the year 1280, Otto and Johann established Berlin. As they had begun their joint rule of the margraviate in 1225, the period around 1230 can be taken as the founding period of Berlin as a city. While they cannot strictly be called the founding fathers of Berlin, which existed as a community much earlier, they played a decisive role in its expansion into a city through the award of a town charter by no later than 1240. This included the implementation of Brandenburg laws (including customs freedoms, free exercise of trade and commerce, and hereditary property law).
Otto died on 9 October 1267 at his residence in Brandenburg. Although the abbey of Lehnin remained the traditional Ascanian burial place of his line, Otto chose to be buried in the church of the Dominican abbey of Strausberg that he had founded in 1252.
The two lines came together briefly in 1309 through the marriage of Waldemar, Markgraf von Brandenburg, grandson of Johann I, to Markgräfin Agnes von Brandenburg, great granddaughter of Otto III. However he died without progeny in 1319.
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