Prussia was a nation of grandeur, royalty, nobility, and central German governmental rule. A country of mixed nations both richest of the rich and poorest of the poor. A vast territory of deep political struggle, that allowed surrounding countries to usurp their share of the land as the Prussian Empire became no more. Physically yes it no longer exists but in the people of Prussia, the nation lives on in deep rooted culture, memories, written script, pictures, and many more traditions that we proud descendants try to unearth and retain. The history of Prussia may be said to begin in 1415, when the Hohenzollern family gained possession of the little electorate of Brandenburg. For two centuries there was no indication that this poor flat country was destined to be the nucleus of the greatest of the German states, but after the Hohenzollerns acquired East Prussia in 1618, their dominions steadily grew until they included two thirds of the territory and three fourths of the population of all Germany.