Roman Empire. It is generally well-watered by tributaries of its two principal rivers, the Elbe and the Oder, and is besides remarkable for the number of its lakes, of which no fewer than 600 or 700 great or small are enumerated. The mineral products comprise coal, limestone, gypsum, alum, and potter s earth ; barley and rye are tho usual cereals ; fruits and vegetables are abundant ; and consider able quantities of hemp, flax, hops, and tobacco arc raised. The breeding of sheep receives great attention, and the province furnishes a greater export of wool than any other in the kingdom. Bees are kept in considerable numbers, especially in the neighbourhood of Sorau. The climate is cold and raw in winter, excessively hot in summer, and there are frequently violent storms of wind. The manu facturing industry of the province is both varied and extensive, but is for the most part concentrated in the principal cities. The most important branches are the spinning and weaving of wool and cotton, the manufacture of paper, and the distillation of brandy. Educational institutions are very numerous, not only in the capital, but throughout the province. There are in all 135 towns in
the province, the most important being— | A table should appear at this position in the text. See Help:Table for formatting instructions. |
Potsdam, population 43,834 Frankfort 43,214 Brandenburg 25, 822 Spandau 19,690 Prenzlau 14,442 Luckenwalde Ruppin .13,539 .11,590 In 1871 the population was 2,863,229, of whom 2,720,242 were Protestants, 86,047 Roman Catholics, and 47,484 Jews.
Brandenburg, a town of Prussia, capital of the circle of West Havelland, in the government of Potsdam, and province of Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, and on the Magdeburg and Berlin Railway, 37 miles W.S.W. of Berlin. The town is enclosed by walls, and is divided into three parts by the river, the old town on the right and the new town on the left bank, while on an island between them is the " cathedral town," also called, from its position, " Venice." Many of the houses are built on piles, through which the water of the river flows. Tho cathedral, an ancient structure of the 14th century, the old church of St Katharine, erected in 1410, and the council-house, deserve notice for their antiquity and as works of art. There are also a castle, a gymnasium, a riding academy, a public library, a theatre, and several hos pitals. In the market-place stands a Rolandssaiile, a colossal figure 18 feet in height, hewn out of a single block of stone ; and a little to the N. of the town is the Marien- berg, on which the heathen temple of Triglaff and afterwards the church of St Mary s were built. The town has a very considerable trade, with manufactures! of woollens, silks, linens, hosiery, and paper, as well as breweries, tanneries, and boat-building. Population in 1871, 25,822.
Brandenburg, originally Brennabonch, was founded by some Slavonian tribes, from whom it was captured in 928 by the emperor Henry I., who surrounded it with strong fortifications. A bishopric was founded there in 949, subject to Mayence, and subsequently (968) to Magdeburg ; but the heathen Wends succeeded in getting possession of the town, and were only expelled by Albert the Bear in 1161.
BRANDIS, Christian August, a distinguished scholar and historian of Greek philosophy, was born on 13th February 1790 at Hildesheinv His father, a physician of some distinction, held for a time a professorship at the university of Kiel. His education was begun at the gymnasia of Holzminden and Kiel, and in 1806" he entered the university of the latter town. His attention was soon drawn from theology, in the study of which he was then engaged, to philosophy, particularly to Plato. In 1809 he accepted the post of private tutor in the family [of Count Adam Moltke at Nutschau, and there became acquainted with JStiebuhr, whose noble character made a deep impres sion on him. In 1812 he graduated at the university of Copenhagen, and presented as his thesis " Commentationes Eleaticse." a careful collection of the fragments of Xenophanes, Parmenides, and Melissus. Two years later he attended the university of Gottingen, and in 1815 presented as his inaugural dissertation at Berlin an essay On the Idea of the History of Philosophy ( Von dem Berjriff der Geschichte der Philosophic). In 1816 he had the offer of an extraordinary professorship at Heidelberg, but preferred to accompany Niebuhr to Italy. Six years were spent in examination of the principal libraries, and Brandis began the labours on Aristotle which were to occupy many years of his life. In 1821 he was made professor of philosophy in the newly founded university of Bonn, and in 1823 appeared his edition of the Metaphysics of Aristotle (Aristotdis et Theophrasti Mctaphysica). To this was added in 1837 a second part, /Scholia Grceca in Aristotdis Metaphysica. He became part editor, along with Boeckh and Niebuhr, of the new classical journal liheinisches Museum, and contributed largely to it. His articles on Socrates (1827, 1829) are particularly deserving of notice. In 1835 appeared the first part of his great work, Handbuch der Geschichte der Griechisch-rom. Phil., and in 1836 the Scholia in Aristo- telem, forming the 4th volume of the Berlin edition of Aristotle. The following three years were spent in Greece, whither he had gone as instructor to the young king Otho. Some of his experiences in Greece were published in 1843 (Mittheilungen uber tGrieckenland). The remainder of his life was devoted to his history of Greek philosophy, the last part of which was published in 1866, little more than a year before his death, which took place on the 24th July 1867.
Brandis s great work, that by which he will be best remembered, appeared at intervals from 1835 to 1866, and altogether fills six volumes. It is characterized generally by great extent of reading, sound judgment, and critical examination of authorities. But it is to some extent defective in speculative insight and in power of ex position. The history for the most part is moulded too rigidly on the work of the author under consideration, and the whole course of exposition follows the order of the author s thought. Thus in many cases it is apt to degenerate into what is little more than a running commentary or summary of the original text. This is particularly noticeable in the portions on Plato and Aristotle. There is no attempt made to bring together information from all quarters and to work the whole into an organic unity. A com parison of the work of Brandis with that of Zeller would bring out the contrast between the two methods. At the same time the Handbuch will always retain a high value, even by the side of Zeller s later work, and its best portion, that on Aristotle, is per haps as complete and accurate an account as can be desired. That Brandis himself felt the defects of his own method of history is shown by the fact that he threw the whole matter of his larger treatise into a smaller and more systematic form, the very title of which, History of the Developments of Greek Philosophy (Geschichte der Entwickclungcn der Gricchischcn Philosophic, 2 vols., in three parts, 1S62, 1864, 1866), indicates the change made. This smaller work is decidedly one of the best and completest histories of Greek thought in existence.
A sketch of the life of Brandis, with full list of his works, will be found in the notice read by Trendelenburg to the Berlin Academy. 1868 ("Zur Erinnerung an C. A. Brandis," Abh. der KSn. Akad. d. Wisscn., 1868, pp. 1-24).
Strasburg about 1458. He studied at Basel, took the degree of doctor, and seems to have held a professorship for some time. After his return to Strasburg he was made syndic and then chancellor of the town. He died in 1521. Among his writings are some Latin poems and treatises on law ; but the work by which he is best known is the satirical poem Das Narrenschyff, published in 1494. The Ship of Fooh, though without artistic beauty of structure,
and though its satire is often coarse, took the popular taste.