New Brandenburg

  

New Brandenburg Neu Brandenburg (de) Nai Branneborg (nds) ניי-בראַנדענבורג Ney Brandenburg (yid)
Nickname(s): New Bran, Pine City, Milktown, The Weaver City, Superior's Germantown
Motto(s): "Lever dood denn unvrei" (Superian Low German: "Better dead than unfree")
Country	Superior
State	New Hanover
County	New Brandenburg County
Government
• Type	Mayor-council government
• Mayor	Andreas Hirsch (FLP)
Area
• Total	252.3 km2 (97.4 sq mi)
Elevation	240 m (790 ft)
Population (2020)
• Total	403,281
• Density	Bad rounding here1,600/km2 (Bad rounding here4,100/sq mi)

New Brandenburg, officially the City of New Brandenburg (German: Stadt Neubrandenburg, in the local Low German dialect: Nai Branneborg, Yiddish: Ney Brandenburg) is a Superian city located in the western portion of New Hanover. With a population of over 400,000 it is the largest city with a German speaking majority in Superior, as around 60% of New Brandenburgers speaking German as a first language. Due to the large German population New Brandenburg is the seat of many German-speaking media companies in North America, such as the NBR Mediengruppe, the German studio of the Superian Broadcasting Corporation and several German speaking newspapers (notably Die Volkszeitung, a German-language national newspaper counted among Superian newspapers of record) and broadcasting stations. The area around the city is one of the largest dairy producing regions of North America and is historically an industrial center for textile and more recently machinery production. After much of industrial production relocated to east Asia in the 1990s the city declined while crime and unemployment increased. The region's economy is recovering since the late 2000s however, as the specialization on agricultural products and German-language media drew in investors.

Name

How the name New Brandenburg came to be is disputed, with conflicting sources on the matter. The first settlement by Europeans in the region was named "Eau Claire", meaning "Clear Water" in French, making up what is today the eastern portion of the historic city center that is still known under its germanized name Klarwasser. Much of the historic Eau Claire was destroyed during the Superian Revolution when a fire broke out after skirmishes between US-loyalists and German-Superian secessionists took place in the city. The claim that the German-Superians who settled the region before independence were primarily from the region of Brandenburg in Germany, or the German city of the same name has little direct evidence, the majority of settlers were from the Oldenburg Land and the Kingdom of Hanover. There are two theories that attempt to explain the name: one theorizes that it comes from the estate of a wealthy local landowner (Junker in German) named Otto Brandenburg, whose estate and surrounding buildings served as the primary location for the rebuilding of the city, the "Neu" or "New" in the name referring to the rebuilding of the city after the 1868 Eau Claire fire. The Brandenburg Villa, which used to be the residence of the Brandenburg family is located in the western portion of the city. The other popular theory states that the name comes from the founders of the modern city, who were relatives of both George I of Superior and the influential Brandenburger noble Blumenthal family. As supporters of the King they were holding prestigious positions in New Hanover, and the city was renamed New Brandenburg in their honor. The credibility of this claim is doubtful however, as it became popularized in the later 19th century by German speaking and Germanophile authors without any known correspondence on the matter between the Blumenthal family and George I.

History

Superian independence

During the Superian Revolution, the settlement of Eau Claire was split over the issue of independence. While most French and English-descendent Americans were against secession, while the Germans who by 1850 began to outnumber the former groups and were supportive of independence. The Battle of Eau Claire and and the subsequent 1868 Eau Claire fire destroyed much of the historic town, leading to the reconstruction of the city around the Brandenburg estate on the other western side of the Chippewa river.

After reconstruction, New Brandenburg began to industrialize rapidly, owed to a relatively large population and the connection to the Chippewa river, which is connected to the Mississippi river. The first large industrial plants were set up around 1880 and focused largely on the production of textiles. Large scale steel production and a large freight depot were built in 1892.

Great Wars

During the Great War, New Brandenburg was part of the Superian Continental Republic between 1932 and 1938. The area around New Brandenburg was surrounded by Continental forces in late April of 1932 when the Superian defense of the city collapsed due to a general strike of sympathetic trade unions and some nationalistic German paramilitaries, who saw the war as an opportunity for an independent German state after English became the dominant language in Superior and Anglo-American influences began to change the local customs of eastern Superior. New Brandenburg became the center of collaborationist activities in subsequent years, with the power of the German collaborationist government being roughly congruent with that of the modern Ostheide cultural area.

Government and politics

The city government of New Brandenburg is modeled after the German Magistrat system, as it is common in most cities of New Hanover. This means, that the city government consists of a collective governing body known as the Stadtmagistrat or City Magistrate, that has no superior official to it. The mayor of New Brandenburg is a first among equals and has no authority to give directions, while the city departments such as security, infrastructure, environment or education are divided among the members of the Stadtmagistrat. The City Magistrate is elected every five years and consists of ten members, who are elected through a First-past-the-post system. Alongside the magistrate there is a 25 member strong city council (German: Stadtrat), which is elected through a proportional representation voting system.

Due to the long tradition of organized labor in New Brandenburg, the Farmer Labor Party of Superior has a strong presence in the region, together with the Liberal Democratic Party of Superior. Both are represented with eight members each in the city council and a total of 6 positions in the magistrate. In recent times, the New Labor Party of Superior has also seen a rise in popularity. The main conservative party in the city council is the Christian Democratic Party of Superior with five council members and three positions in the magistrate. The United Conservative Party of Superior is present with one position in the magistrate and four council members.

Economy

Since the late 19th century New Brandenburg was a major industrial base for the production of textiles, dairy and the processing of timber. The first large weaving mill in the Area was founded by German immigrants in 1889 under the Tuch & Textilien Ackermann company, that operated under this name for nearly 90 years and was the largest employer in the region. More textile factories followed further upstream of the Chippewa River, such as the Smith & Sons Textile Company and the Lindström Weaving Company. Textile production in the city is today limited to two large scale production facilities which still employ several thousand workers, but much of the industry collapsed after textile production moved to China in the 1990s.

After Great War I large scale steel and aluminium production began and remains an important part of the region's economy: Wartburg and Venger have set up production facilities in the city in the 1970s, the consumer electronics producer Philips set up a facility in 2005.

Shortly after the construction of the Duluth-New Hamburg railway line in 1892, which passes through New Brandenburg the processing of timber into paper and other manufactured goods became another main industry of the city and remains such to this day, however is greatly reduced in importance today. Dairy and meat production is important as well and New Brandenburg is a renowned for its cheese production. Superior's largest creamery, the Neu-Hannoversche Molkerei Eckart is located in the Waldberg district. Since 2003 it has been part of the Herzog Gruppe, which established it's North American headquarters in New Brandenburg two years prior. The influence of the conglomerate over the city's government has become extremely controversial, with critics claiming the corporation is able to dictate policies favoring them and their numerous business endeavors in the city.

Culture

Cuisine

See also: German-Superian cuisine

The cuisine of New Brandenburg has often been treated as that of German-Superians as a whole, though there are regional differences. Many of the eating habits of the New Brandenburg area have been influenced or were directly imported from the region of East Frisia, Oldenburg Land and Westphalia such as rye bread, Korn and the practice of Grünkohlessen during the winter season.

Neu Brandenburger Stuten is a regional variety of the north German Stuten bread, a sweet bread with raisins. Sour dough breads and rye bread are also a staple of the local cuisine.

Tea culture has been important to all of German-Superian culture, but has a notable significance to the New Brandenburger identity, as New Brandenburg has the highest per capita tea consumption in all of Superior with over 230 liters annually. It is custom to drink tea for breakfast and dinner, often "Frisian style" with rock sugar and heavy cream. The tea is not stirred so the drinker drinks the cream first, then the bitter tea and finally the sweetened tea. For tea, Teekuchen, a type of vanilla or lemon flavored sheet cake is served, which may be occasionally changed with cookies or other sweet pastries.

Festivals

There is a large variety of festivals being held in the city throughout the year, many of them have roots in German or Scandinavian traditions. The largest festivals held regularly is the New Hamburg Christmas market in December, the Midsommar fair in June and the New Hamburg Schützenfest in May.

Schützenfest

The New Brandenburg Schützenfest (marksmen festival) is the largest of its kind in North America, taking place annually at the first and second weekend in May since 1870. Marksmen festivals have been a tradition in Germany and Switzerland since the early 19th century with German settlers introducing the custom to Superior. Today, gun associations and shooting sports are primarily associated with the Ostheide. The festivities begin on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday each weekend. At the first weekend, the "king" of the marksmen is determined by a shooting contest with a ca 3ft tall wooden bird on a ca. 15ft tall pole as the target. Whoever causes the bird to fall from its position or destroy the bird is named King until the next year. The contest is accompanied by smaller parades and festivities within the Marksmen Hall belonging the associations. On the following weekend the "royal court" is escorted by the other marksmen and marching bands to the Marksmen Hall, while fun rides and attractions are set up on the Marksmen squares of the halls. The festival has a number of 100,000 to 120,000 visitors for the second weekend, and up to 5,000 marksmen and musicians participating in the parade. The festivals are organized by the three main marksmen clubs (SSV Neu Brandenburg Blau-Weiß, GSV Heide Gold-Weiß, AWS Heidestadt) and are financed through the sales of food and drinks (primarily beer) and membership fees. In recent years there has been criticism from both politicians and (primarily evangelical) religious figures regarding the practice. According to them, the instances of property damage, theft and assault increase heavily as the city government relaxes the already lenient laws regarding alcohol consumption even further over the two weekends. Last calls are completely suspended as the bars of the marksmen halls usually serve until they run out of beverages around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning and laws regarding noise pollution for open-air establishments like beer gardens are suspended until 3 a.m (usually 0:30).

Sports

New Brandenburg's first sports clubs have been established in the 1880s as recreational and cultural clubs by German immigrants, inspired by the teachings of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and Francis Lieber and can be broadly categorized as part of the Turners movement, promoting German culture, liberal politics and catering towards the German-speaking population. While they were almost exclusively offering gymnastics as a sport, shooting sports and soccer quickly became the most popular sports in the city until the Great War. Several marksmen clubs (German: Schützenvereine) have formed such as the AWS Heidestadt, SSV Neu Brandenburg Blau-Weiß and GWS Neu Brandenburg Gold-Weiß, which are the largest marksmen clubs in North America. Association football (soccer) has also a long tradition in New Brandenburg, including Teutonia Neu Brandenburg (founded in 1907) and FK Mustol (founded in 1911), both of which are successful teams in the NAAFL. Their home stadiums are the Hans Gruene Stadion and the Isaak Rosenzweig Sportfeld in Marienkirchen and Mustol respectively. These two soccer clubs have been remarkably resistant towards being turned into franchises, instead they are mostly financed by sponsors and membership fees. A local ultra subculture developed in the 1980s, notable ultra groups include Kommando 90 and Legion Viridis for Teutonia and Brigade Zion and Bet David 707 for Mustol.

After the Great War, a local basketball club was established in 1941 under the name of BC Saxonia New Brandenburg, since 1982 it is known as the New Brandenburg Saxons. The team competes in the Superian Basketball Association and plays in the Herzog Arena New Brandenburg.

Besides the aforementioned clubs, there are several clubs for other sports as well, such as gymnastics, swimming, ice hockey and giridion football

Demographics

Languages

In contrast with most modern Superian cities New Brandenburg has retained German as its primary language. According to the 2020 census, around 240,000 of the ca. 400,000 New Brandenburgers speak German as their primary language on a daily basis. Out of this group around 100,000 live in bilingual households, with the most spoken second languages being English, Spanish and Swedish. Yiddish is spoken regularly by around 8,000 people, primarily elderly members of the Jewish community of the city. A local dialect of Low German has evolved in the mid-19th century and is spoken in the rural areas of New Hanover, especially around New Brandenburg. Low German used to be spoken within the city as a major language, but has vanished almost entirely and is primarily used by New Brandenburgers above the age of 60.

In recent years Spanish and Arabic have seen an increase in usage through immigration from Latin America (primarily Central America and Mexico) and the Middle East (primarily Syria, Palestine and Egypt).

Religion

Traditionally New Brandenburg and the surrounding areas have had a Lutheran plurality with significant Avignonese Catholic and Calvinist communities. Further, Judaism has a long tradition in New Brandenburg, with the first Synagogue being build in 1870 by Ashkenazi Jews from Germany. Today the majority of New Brandenburger Jews identify as liberal Jews with minor communities of Orthodox and Chassidic Jews being present as well. As of 2020, 59% identified as Lutheran Christians, followed by roughly 10% Catholics (both Roman and Avignonese) and 8% Calvinists, 2% identify themselves as members of other denominations. Jews make up 7% of the population, while 4% of citizens are Muslims, primarily Sunni Muslims. The remaining 10% are mostly made up of irreligious or atheists, with >1% adhering to native beliefs.

There are multiple catholic churches in the New Brandenburg, most notably the Roman-Catholic St. Matthew Cathedral and the Avignonese-Catholic St. Thomas Cathedral. Both the Avignonese and Roman Dioceses of New Brandenburg have their seat in the city. The numerous protestant churches of the city primarily adhere to the Lutheran denomination, most of which belong to the National Lutheran Church of Superior. Three synagogues are located in the city, the largest is the King David Synagogue in Waldberg, the district is the home to a considerable Chassidic community. Furthermore there is a Sunni mosque, namely the New Brandenburg Islamic Center, in the Heidestadt district and the Shia Islamic Education Center mosque in North New Brandenburg district.

Crime

Crime levels in New Brandenburg are among the highest in Superior. In particular drug related crimes and gun violence began to surge in the 1990s and 2000s, when much of the domestic industry declined. Mass unemployment and homelessness became major issues for the entire Ostheide and both drug production (especially Amphetamines) and gang violence increased drastically as a result. Between 1999 and 2010 seventeen laboratories with the capacities to produce at least one metric ton per year were raided by the police in New Brandenburg and the surrounding areas. As of 2021 a total of 37 methamphetamine laboratories were raided since 2000. Gang activities and homicides have increased dramatically since the rise of the meth-cartels, from only 6 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 1989 to 34,5 per 100,000 in 2009, staying on similar levels ever since. This puts New Brandenburg in the top 5 of the most dangerous cities in Superior.

In order to cut expenses and free capacities for the local authorities, New Brandenburg's city council has generally favored a liberal drug policy towards recreational users of cannabis and other "soft drugs", however harsh punishments are given regularly to drug dealers and producers.

Sister cities

New Brandenburg is twinned with:

• Apfelhain, Sierra (1964)
• Kosakenstadt, Russia (1968)
• Kiel, Germany (1969)
• Malmö, Sweden (1972)
• Gomel, Belarus (1987)
• Allentown, United Commonwealth (1999)
• Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen, German New Guinea (2001)