Das Berliner Cambalache Ep 5: Albrecht Askanien “der Bär”

Berliner Cambalache is back and today we're doing a special episode I wanted to do in a long time. We're going to dig into German medieval history and talk about Albrecht der Bär von Ballenstedt/Askanien.

A Saxon knight from the High medieval ages, he was a confidant of Emperor Lothar III and served under Conrad III and Frederick I Barbarossa.

He was among the lords taking part in the Wende Crusade, he later established the Mark Brandenburg, becoming its first Markgraf and is often credited as the founder of Berlin, while there's no direct evidence for this last claim, we can still appreciate his influence in the crest of the Bundeshauptstadt: a bear just like the one Albert painted over his shield (hence the nickname)

An ambitious politician, a not so gallant knight and a conqueror and builder of castles, in the later centuries Albrecht became an icon for the worst Germans in history. So follow us in this journey that will bring us, somehow from the investiture controversies to DDR electronic music.