Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt Christian Ludwig (24 May 1677 – 3 September 1734), a member of the House of Hohenzollern, was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt and a military officer of the Prussian Army. The margravial title was given to princes of the Prussian Royal House and did not express a territorial status. He is best known as the recipient of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Brandenburg concertos". Born in Berlin, Christian Ludwig was the youngest son of the "Great Elector" Frederick William (1620–1688), ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, and his second wife Princess Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1636–1689). Like his elder brothers, he
Brandenburg with Poland. Brandenburg originated in the Northern March in the 900s AD from areas conquered from the Wends, and later became the Margraviate of Brandenburg, a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire, with Albert the Bear as prince-elector. In the 17th century Brandenburg came under the rule of the House of Hohenzollern, the rulers of Prussia, who established Brandenburg-Prussia to become the core of the Kingdom of Prussia. Brandenburg became the Province of Brandenburg in 1815, a province within the kingdom and later within the Free State of Prussia. Brandenburg was established as a state in 1945 after World