), which is a public-law corporation established in 1865 succeeding the estates of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (established in 1397), now providing the local fire insurance in the shown area and supporting with its surplusses cultural efforts in and scientific works on the area. The ambit covers almost exactly the former Duchies of Bremen and Verden except of some of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

's northern quarters, incorporated in 1939, which prior belonged to the Landschaft's ambit too. , capital = Stade , common_languages = Low Saxon, German , title_leader = Monarch , leader1 = Christina , year_leader1 = 1648–1654 , leader2 = Charles I Gustav , year_leader2 = 1654–1660 , leader3 = Charles II

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, year_leader3 = 1660–1697
•1697–1712 , leader4 = George I Louis , year_leader4 = 1715–1727 , leader5 = George II Augustus , year_leader5 = 1727–1760 , leader6 =

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, year_leader6 = 1760–1820 , leader7 = George IV , year_leader7 = 1820–1823 , title_deputy = Governor-general , deputy1 = H. C. Königsmarck , year_deputy1 = 1646–1663 , deputy2 =

Henrik Horn Henrik Horn (''Henrik Horn af Marienborg'') (22 May 1618 – 22 February 1693) was a Swedish Nobleman ('' friherre''), Admiral and member of the Privy Council of Sweden. Biography Henrik Horn was born at Stade in the Prince-Archbishopric of Br ...

, year_deputy2 = 1668–1693, de facto
interrupted 1676–9 , legislature = ''Landschaft'' (also Stiftstände), convening at ''Landtage'' or ''Tohopesaten'' ( diets) , religion = mostly

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

,
some

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s, very few Jews and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

s , currency = Rixdollar , footnotes = Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden (; german: Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden), were two territories and immediate fiefs of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, which emerged and gained

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pr ...

in 1180. By their original constitution they were prince-bishoprics of the Archdiocese of Bremen and Bishopric of Verden. In 1648, both prince-bishoprics were

secularised In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

, meaning that they were transformed into hereditary monarchies by constitution, and from then on both the Duchy of Bremen and the Duchy of Verden were always ruled in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more State (polity), states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some e ...

, initially by the royal houses of Sweden, the House of Vasa and the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, and later by the House of Hanover. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Bremen-Verden's status as fiefs of imperial immediacy became void; as they had been in personal union with the neighbouring Kingdom of Hanover, they were incorporated into that state.

Territory and insignia

The territory belonging to the Duchies of Bremen and Verden covered a rough triangle of land between the mouths of the rivers

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...

and

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, in today's German federal states of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and

(the Elbe-Weser Triangle). This area included most of the modern counties (German singular: ''Kreis'') of Cuxhaven (southerly),

Osterholz Osterholz is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven, Rotenburg and Verden, and by the city of Bremen. History Originally the prince-archbishops ...

, Rotenburg upon Wümme, Stade and

Verden Verden can refer to: * Verden an der Aller, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany * Verden, Oklahoma, a small town in the USA * Verden (district), a district in Lower Saxony, Germany * Diocese of Verden (768–1648), a former diocese of the Catholic Chur ...

, now in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

; and the city of

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the R ...

, now an exclave of the State of Bremen. The city of

and Cuxhaven (an exclave of Hamburg) did not belong to Bremen-Verden. The Land of Hadeln, then an exclave of Saxe-Lauenburg exclave around Otterndorf, was not part of Bremen-Verden until 1731. Stade was the capital. Bremen-Verden's coat of arms combined the arms of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, a black cross on white ground, with those of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, two keys crosse
''Bremen-Verden's'' seal
, the symbol of

Simon Petrus ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupatio ...

, the patron saint of Bremen.

History

At the beginning of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

the predominantly

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen maintained neutrality, as did most of the Protestant territories in the

Lower Saxon Circle The Lower Saxon Circle (german: Niedersächsischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It covered much of the territory of the medieval Duchy of Saxony (except for Westphalia), and was originally called the Saxon Circl ...

, a fiscal and military subsection of the

. The neighbouring Prince-Bishopric of Verden also tried to maintain neutrality, but, being part of the

Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle Lower may refer to: * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Н� ...

, which was troubled by confrontation between Calvinist, Catholic and Lutheran rulers and their territories, Verden soon became involved in the war. In 1623 Verden's cathedral chapter, consisting mainly of Lutheran capitulars, elected Frederick II, Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden to be the ruler of the bishopric. Since he was Lutheran, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese