Brandenburg

The south façade of Sanssouci Palace with the rococo terraced vineyard steps in Potsdam. At the bottom centre: 'BRANDENBURG' and the country code 'D'. Above: the year '2020', the mint mark ('A', 'D', 'F', 'G' or 'J') to the left, and the interlocking initials 'JT' of artist Jordi Truxa.

Brandenburg is Germany's fifth-largest federal state by area and completely surrounds the capital, Berlin. The region along the middle Elbe and the Havel, Spree and Oder rivers is one of the oldest settled areas in eastern Germany — its name derives from Brandenburg Castle on the Havel, which became the nucleus of the later March of Brandenburg in the 10th century. Under the Hohenzollerns, the March developed into the core of the Kingdom of Prussia, whose political and cultural influence extended far beyond Central Europe. Today, Brandenburg is characterised by extensive forests, lakes and structural change: many regions have undergone profound economic transformation since reunification in 1990, while the metropolitan area around Potsdam and Berlin is among Germany's growing urban regions.

Potsdam, Brandenburg's state capital, was for centuries the residence city of the Prussian kings and remains one of the most important ensembles of European garden art to this day. Frederick the Great had Sanssouci Palace built from 1745 as a summer residence; the vine-covered terraces on the hill of the same name form the core of the Potsdam park landscape, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. The palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin together cover around 500 hectares and attract millions of visitors each year. To mark the 30th anniversary of German reunification, Germany dedicated a coin in its federal states series to this region in 2020.