Background
Henry"s parents were Margrave Henry I of Brandenburg-Stendal and Agnes, a daughter of the Wittelsbach duke Louis II of Bavaria.
Henry"s parents were Margrave Henry I of Brandenburg-Stendal and Agnes, a daughter of the Wittelsbach duke Louis II of Bavaria.
Henry II had three older sisters. The Pomeranian duke Wartislaw IV took the occasion to set himself up as regent and used this position to promote his own interests in the long-time Brandenburg–Pomeranian conflict. In turn, Henry"s Ascanian relative, Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg intervened and tried to take over the regency.
King Louis IV, half-brother of Henry"s mother Agnes, finally declared him an adult, though he did not enfeoff him with Brandenburg.
Henry"s early death in 1320 prevented him from acting independently, moreover, it also meant the end of the Brandenburg line of the Ascanian dynasty. A statue of Henry II by the sculptor August Kraus (1868-1934) was unveiled on 22 March 1900 on the former Siegesallee boulevard in Berlin.
Kraus used the young French cellist Paul Bazelaire, who happened to be visiting Berlin, as a model for the statue. Severely damaged in World World War II, the statue is currently on display at the Spandau Citadel.
