Wikipedia:WikiProject Germany/Portal:Saxony-Anhalt/Article of the month/March
Albert the Bear (German: Albrecht der Bär), also called Albert of Ballenstedt (Albrecht von Ballenstedt), was born around 1100 into the House of Ascania. He pressed ahead with the German colonisation of eastern Europe and, in 1157, founded the March of Brandenburg, becoming the first Margrave of Brandenburg. Thus Albert was responsible for bringing the area of the Northern March (Nordmark), an area that largely corresponds to the modern state of Brandenburg, into the Holy Roman Empire.