From the Beginnings to Before 1212 The Askanier are documented as Counts of
Ballenstedt, originating from an area now part of the
Harz district in
Saxony-Anhalt. From the outset, the family held possessions in the present-day districts of
Salzlandkreis and
Anhalt-Bitterfeld. Ballenstedt, Aschersleben, and ultimately
Anhalt Castle were the most significant ancestral seats, with Ballenstedt as the eponymous seat in the 11th and 12th centuries. These possessions, along with further holdings in present-day Anhalt, led to the emergence of several Anhalt principalities in the 13th century. Due to numerous
land divisions, concentrated ownership in a single hand was the exception over the centuries. The earliest known Askanier,
Esico of Ballenstedt, is reported in older literature to have built Anhalt Castle. The ruins of Anhalt Castle are located on a spur of the Great Hausberg on the right bank of the
Selke. The origins and earlier history of the Ballenstedt family are unknown. The family name, derived from Anhalt Castle, is still used by members of the house today. The term "Askanier" became a common designation for the Counts of Aschersleben starting in the 14th century. The
Margraves of Brandenburg,
Dukes of Saxony, and all other lines are also referred to as Askanier. in brown. Family history often begins in literature with an Askanier whose name is unknown. Traditionally, this figure is still referred to as
Adalbert, though it is agreed that the name is merely speculative based on his grandson. He was married to Hidda, a daughter of
Hodo I, Margrave of the
Ostmark. Their children are typically listed as
Esico, Theoderich, Ludolf,
Uta, and
Hazecha. His clan was based in the eastern Saxon
Schwabengau, which is why they are classified in the
Sachsenspiegel as part of the
Swabian ancient nobility. The Schwabengau (Suavia) was a
county located east of
Quedlinburg. The primary source for the genealogy of the early Askanier is the chronicle of the
Annalista Saxo, written in the mid-12th century. According to it, Esico was maternally a grandson of Margrave
Hodo († 993) and inherited several
allodial estates in the Schwabengau and Serimuntgau after the death of his uncle Siegfried († c. 1030). The name of Esico's father is unknown; only in much later genealogies was he assigned the name
Adalbert (I), as the Saxon annalist names the Count
Adalbert (II), murdered around 1080, as Esico's son. On the present-day Schlossberg of
Ballenstedt, Esico established the
collegiate church St. Pancratius und Abundus, consecrated in 1046 in the presence of King
Henry III. He was
advocate of the monasteries
Nienburg and Hagenrode.
Adalbert II of Ballenstedt, son of Esico and his wife
Matilda, was a count in the
Nordthüringgau and is mentioned in connection with the Nizizi and Serimunt counties. It is presumed that his mother was the daughter of Duke
Herman of Swabia. He married
Adelheid, daughter and
heiress presumptive of Count
Otto I of Weimar-Orlamünde,
Margrave of Meissen, and had two sons,
Otto the Rich and
Siegfried. Adalbert was killed around 1080 by
Egeno II of Konradsburg. While speculations about the motive exist, the reasons remain unclear. A seal depicting Adalbert exists, representing the earliest known stylized depiction of an Askanier. The Saxon annalist referred to Esico, Adalbert II, and
Otto the Rich as "Counts of Ballenstedt," but this title is historically verified only for Otto (
Ottoni comiti de Ballenstide) in 1106. Thus, it is confirmed that he named himself after Ballenstedt Castle in the eastern Harz. Otto was briefly Duke of Saxony in 1112. He married
Eilika, daughter of Duke
Magnus of Saxony. Through this, he acquired Billung allodial estates and later received the Duchy of Saxony from the emperor. The count died in 1123 and was buried in Ballenstedt. His widow Eilika lived in
Halle and Bernburg after his death. Otto the Rich and his son
Albert the Bear converted the Ballenstedt collegiate church into a
Benedictine monastery in 1123. His brother Siegfried was Count of Weimar-Orlamünde and
Palatine of the Rhine. in the
Spandau Citadel,
Berlin Albert the Bear was the first significant family member and the most prominent Askanier in the Middle Ages. A contemporary and rival of
Henry the Lion (
Welfs) and
Conrad the Great (
Wettins), he significantly advanced the
German settlement of Slavic border marks and founded the
Margraviate of Brandenburg on the territory of the former
Nordmark. He briefly served as
Duke of Saxony before becoming
Margrave of Brandenburg, establishing his family's power in the Saxon eastern marches. His extensive territorial possessions were divided among his sons
Otto, Herman,
Bernhard, and
Adalbert. This created the four main Askanier branches at the time: Brandenburg (until 1320), Weimar-Orlamünde (until 1486), Saxe-Wittenberg (until 1422), Saxe-Lauenburg (until 1689), and Anhalt (to the present). Albert is referred to as a Count of Aschersleben, indicating that the title "Counts of Aschersleben" emerged in the 12th century. He was first documented as
comes Asscherslovensis on August 8, 1147, during a court session he presided over. Whether Albert used this title himself is unclear, but he referred to himself as Margrave of Brandenburg in a document dated October 3, 1157 ("Adelbertus dei gratia marchio in Brandenborch"). The epithet "the Bear" was used in contemporary sources. Albert the Bear died in November 1170 and was almost certainly buried in the Ballenstedt house monastery. The bear is the heraldic animal of Anhalt. His son Bernhard used various Latin variants of Count of Aschersleben and later Duke of Saxony. The Gelnhausen Charter of 1180 included the division of the
Stem Duchy of Saxony. In this arrangement, Bernhard was enfeoffed with the eastern part, which continued to bear the name Saxony. He received the ducal title the following year after the Erfurt Reichstag.
From 1212 to 1603 After the death of Bernhard III, Duke of Saxony, in February 1212 in Bernburg, his eldest son
Henry received the Anhalt house estates between the
Lower Harz and the lower
Mulde River, while his brother
Albert inherited the Duchy of Saxony. Their father Bernhard III inherited the County of Aschersleben from Adalbert, who had no male heirs. Although Albert held a higher title, Henry's possessions were securely in the family's hands. Part of the County of Anhalt was also
allodial property. The division of 1212 marks the beginning of Anhalt's independent development, with Henry I as its first ruler. It is likely that he controlled a relatively cohesive area around Aschersleben, Ballenstedt, and Anhalt Castle, with a narrow connection to larger eastern complexes around Bernburg, Köthen, Wörbzig, Dessau, and Wörlitz, extending to the right bank of the Elbe around Coswig. Henry I of Anhalt appeared as Count of Askanien (
comes Aschariae) in a document issued on November 4, 1213.
Ascharia is a term used by the document's issuer. Henry I was also the first to be called Prince in or of Anhalt (
comes Ascharie et princeps in Anahalt) and was also Count of Aschersleben. The prince was considered cruel, as he mistreated Abbot Gernot at
Nienburg. In the early 14th century, family members used Anhalt as their designation, regardless of whether they held Anhalt Castle. in 1252|353x353px In the 13th century, the Anhaltiner were among the elite in their region, i.e., the Anhalt area. However, their significance declined sharply in the 14th and 15th centuries, as evidenced by their reduced imperial political influence and marriage alliances. Like other imperial princes, the Askanier benefited from the
Statutum in favorem principum, enacted in 1231 at the
Worms Hoftag, which regulated the sovereign rights of princes. The first formation of lines in the present-day Anhalt region occurred through the land division of 1252 among the sons of
Henry I of Anhalt.
Henry II founded the
Aschersleben line,
Bernhard I the
Bernburg line, and
Siegfried I the
Köthen line. Alongside
Köthen,
Dessau and
Coswig were part of this
Principality. Dessau later gained significance as a residence. Ballenstedt belonged to Anhalt-Aschersleben and gave the Askanier their name as Counts of Ballenstedt. The family ruled the Principality of Anhalt-Aschersleben until 1315. The Askanier acquired the lordship of
Zerbst in 1307 from the lords of
Barby, which was last administered by Anhalt-Köthen; the Principality of
Anhalt-Zerbst was established in 1396. Anhalt-Köthen was divided among the sons of John II, son of
Albert II of Anhalt-Zerbst. The brothers Sigmund I, Albert III, and Waldemar III initially ruled jointly. Waldemar III died soon after, and in 1396, the Sigmundian line (Zerbst) and Albertine line (Köthen) emerged. Sigmund I received the land on the right bank of the Elbe, while Albert III received the land on the left bank. Albert III's sons Waldemar IV, Adolf I, and Albert IV had significant disputes with their cousin
George I of Anhalt-Zerbst regarding possessions. The possessions were later redistributed. The Sigmundian line eventually gained partial ownership of the Albertine line, which ended at the beginning of the 16th century. The Bernburg branch expired in 1468, and its possessions passed to the Sigmundian line. The Sigmundian line split again in 1474 into the older Dessau line (Anhalt-Dessau; Ernestine-Dessau branch) and the so-called older Köthen line (Anhalt-Köthen), The latter line expired with
Wolfgang of Anhalt-Köthen in 1566, and the possessions had already passed to the older Dessau line in 1562. Wolfgang was the son of
Waldemar VI of Anhalt-Köthen and grandson of
George I. The older Köthen line acquired part of the Zerbst lands in 1508, which also passed to the older Dessau line. Through the
Imperial Reform starting in 1500,
imperial circles were created in the
Holy Roman Empire. The principalities were part of the
Upper Saxon Circle. Wolfgang of Anhalt-Köthen introduced the Reformation in 1525 and was a leading figure among Protestant princes. He signed the
Augsburg Confession in 1530, was a co-founder of the
Schmalkaldic League in 1531, and participated in the
Schmalkaldic War in 1546. In the mid-16th century, progressive legislation modernized administration. The older Dessau line split in 1546 into the Zerbst, Dessau, and Plötzkau branches. His rehabilitation by the Russian state occurred in 1992. From 1947, his son Leopold Friedrich was head of the house, and since 1963, his son Eduard has been.
The House of Anhalt today Since 1963,
Eduard has served as the head of the family. Born in 1941 in
Ballenstedt, he succeeded his older brother Leopold Friedrich, who died in a traffic accident. Both are sons of
Joachim Ernst, who was the last duke, still a minor in 1918. The family uses the traditional style of a reigning ducal family, "
Highness," applied to both the head and other family members. Eduard, Prince of Anhalt, is the last male Askanier; the family will become extinct in the
male line upon his death. The current head of the family and his three daughters are the only legitimate descendants of the Askanier in the
agnatic line. Two
morganatic lines, the Counts of Westarp and of Waldersee, descend from non-
house-law-compliant marriages of two Anhalt princes. Eduard, Prince of Anhalt, is related to the British King
Charles III and had initial contact with the
Windsors in 1947 when his mother was invited to
Buckingham Palace in London. Familial ties exist through his great-uncle
Aribert of Anhalt, who was married to a granddaughter of
Queen Victoria. In January 2010, the head of the house issued the "Dessau Declaration," amending the house law to introduce female succession. Thus, his eldest daughter, Julia Katharina, is designated as the future head of the House of Anhalt. This is a novelty within the German formerly reigning houses. Due to the unconventional nature of absolute
primogeniture allowing a female successor, the non-noble marriage of the designated heiress, and questions about whether monarchical house laws can be amended after the monarchy's abolition, this decision is controversial among conservative representatives of so-called noble associations, and the daughters' descendants are not yet included in the Gotha Genealogical Handbook.
Heads of the House of Anhalt • 1947–1963 Leopold Friedrich (* 1938; † 1963), son of
Joachim Ernst • Since 1963
Eduard (* 1941), brother == Territories of rule ==