Work / monument · text

Edict of Potsdam

1685 · 17th century

The Edict of Potsdam was issued by Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, in October 1685 in response to Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It offered French Huguenot refugees safe settlement, tax exemptions and freedom of worship, and some 20,000 settled in Brandenburg-Prussia, many in Berlin, bringing crafts and industries that strengthened the state.

Edict of Potsdam
Image: Der Große Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm (The Great Elector) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

Margraviate of BrandenburgSocioeconomy, SummaryKingdom of PrussiaSocioeconomy

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Edict of Potsdam. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/edict-of-potsdam
MLA
“Edict of Potsdam.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/edict-of-potsdam. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Edict of Potsdam.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/edict-of-potsdam.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Edict of Potsdam’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/edict-of-potsdam (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻