BRUNSWICK, a former duchy of northern Germany, pro claimed a republic on Nov. 8, 1918, as Freistaat Braunschweig. It comprises three larger and six smaller portions of territory. The principal or northern part, containing the towns of Bruns wick, Wolfenbiittel and Helmstedt, is situated between the Prus sian provinces of Hanover and Saxony. The western part, con taining Holzminden and Gandersheim, extends eastward from the river Weser to Goslar. The Blankenburg, or eastern portion, lies south-east of the latter, between Anhalt and the Prussian province of Hanover. The six small enclaves, lying in the Prus sian provinces of Hanover and Saxony, are: Thedinghausen, Harzburg and Kalvorde, Bodenburg, Olsburg and Ostharingen. A portion of the Harz mountains was, down to 1874, common to Brunswick and Prussia (Hanover) and known as the Communion Harz. In 1874 a partition was effected, but the mines are still worked in common, four-sevenths of the revenues derived from them falling to Prussia and the remainder to Brunswick.
The northern portion of Brunswick is mostly arable and has little forest. The other two principal portions are intersected by the Harz mountains, the higher parts of which are covered with forests of fir, oak and beech. Brunswick, though so scattered, be longs almost entirely to the basin of the river Weser. The area of Brunswick is 1,417 sq.m. ; about one-half is arable, while forests cover large areas. Pop. (1933) 512,868. Hildesheim is the seat of the Roman Catholic bishopric of North Germany, but Bruns wick is mainly Lutheran.
The land devoted to agriculture is excellently farmed, and cereals, beet (for sugar), potatoes and garden produce of all kinds, particularly fruit, obtain the best market prices. The pasture land rears fine horses, cattle and sheep. Timber cutting, in the forests of the Harz, employs a large number of hands. The mining industry, chiefly in the Harz, yields coal (bituminous), iron, lead, copper, sulphur, alum, marble, alabaster, lime, building-stone and salt ; and by-products, particularly chemicals and asphalt, are important.
The manufactures include beet-sugar, concrete, preserves and sausages; jute-spinning and weaving are carried on.
When, in 1181, Henry the Lion, the great duke of Saxony, was placed under the imperial ban and his duchy dismembered, he was allowed to retain his hereditary possessions, which con sisted of a large part of Brunswick and Luneburg. The bulk of these lands passed to Henry's grandson, Otto, and in the emperor Frederick II., anxious to be reconciled with the Welfs, recognized Otto's title and created him duke of Bruns wick and Liineburg. In 1252 Otto was succeeded by his sons Albert and John, who, in 1267 divided the duchy, Albert be coming duke of Brunswick, and John duke of Luneburg. The Luneburg line died out in 1369 and, after a long contest, the duchy was annexed to that of Brunswick-WolfenbUttel (1388). In 1285 the duchy of Brunswick had been divided between Duke Albert's three sons, who founded the lines of Wolf enbuttel, Gottingen and Grubenhagen. The WolfenbUttel branch died out in 1292, but was refounded in 1345 by Magnus I., (d. 1369) a younger member of the Gottingen family and ancestor of the later dukes of Brunswick. His grandsons, Frederick, Bernard and Henry, secured Liineburg in 1388, but in 1428 Bernard, the only survivor, was forced to divide the duchy, he himself receiving Luneburg, while his nephews, William and Henry, obtained Brunswick, which in 1432 they divided into Calenberg and Wolfenbuttel. In 1473, however, William, who had added Got tingen to his possessions in 1463, united these lands; but they were again divided from 1495 to 1584. In 1584 Brunswick was united by Duke Julius, and in 1596 Grubenhagen was added to it. Duke Frederick Ulrich, however, was obliged to cede this terri tory to Luneburg in and when he died in 1634 his family became extinct, and Brunswick was divided between the two branches of the Luneburg family.
The duchy of Luneburg, founded by Bernard in 1428, was divided in 1520 between the three sons of Duke Henry. Two of the branches thus founded soon died out ; and in 1569, after the death of Ernest I., the representative of the third branch, his two sons agreed upon a partition which is of considerable importance in the history of Brunswick, since it established the lines of Dan nenberg and of Luneburg-Celle, which divided the duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel in 1635. The dukes of Liineburg-Celle subsequently took the name of Hanover, and were the ancestors of the later electors and kings of Hanover. After the acquisition of 1635 the family of Dannenberg took the title of Brunswick Wolfenbiittel and ruled in the direct line until 1735. It was then followed by the family of Brunswick-Bevern, which had split off from the parent line in 1666, and ruled until 1884.
The constant partitions of its territories and the quarrels of its separate lines of princes prevented Brunswick from playing a great part in German politics. During the Thirty Years' War, indeed, Christian, bishop of Halberstadt, younger brother of Frederick Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, a notable cavalry leader, distinguished himself as "one of the most brutal condot tiere of the war and a foul-mouthed censor of would-be peace makers," while the astute conduct of Duke George of Brunswick Luneburg made possible the future greatness of the House of Hanover. But of ter the peace of 1648 Brunswick began to be overshadowed by the power of Brandenburg. Of its later dukes the most famous was Charles William Ferdinand, who suc ceeded his father, Charles I., in 1780, and was held to be the greatest captain of his age (see BRUNSWICK, KARL WILHELM FERDINAND, DUKE OF). After 18o6 Brunswick was included by Napoleon in the Kingdom of Westphalia, but in 1814 was restored to Duke Frederick William, who fell at Quatre Bras in 1815. During the minority of his son, Charles II., the duchy was ruled by George, Prince Regent of Great Britain, through Count Mun ster. On coming of age, Duke Charles made himself very unpopu lar and, during the revolutionary upheaval of 1830, was forced to leave the country for good. His brother William, who was formally proclaimed his successor in 1831, proved an able and popular ruler.
The Brunswick Succession Question.—Af ter the ques tion of the succession became acute. William was unmarried, and the next heir was the ex-King George of Hanover, whose terri tories had been annexed to Prussia. The attitude of Prussia being prohibitive, Duke William, with the consent of the Brunswick parliament, arranged in 1879 for a council of regency to take over the government on his death and, in the event of the heir being unable to succeed, to appoint a regent. On William's death (Oct. 18, 1884) Ernest, duke of Cumberland, son of George V. of Hanover, claimed the succession; but, since he had not formal ly renounced his claim to Hanover, the Federal Council de clared that his accession would endanger the peace of the Em pire, and the council of regency therefore ignored his claim and elected Prince Albert of Prussia regent. After his death, in 1906, the Brunswick diet elected Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg Schwerin regent (May, 1907). The question was settled in 1913, when Prince Ernest Augustus of Cumberland, after Renouncing his claim to Hanover, was recognized as Duke of Brunswick and married (May 24) to the Princess Victoria Louise, only daughter of the Emperor William II. After the revolution of the duchy became a separate state of the new republican Reich.