Bernhard VII. (Anhalt)

Bernhard VII of Anhalt (born March 17, 1540 in Dessau , † March 1, 1570 in Dessau) from the house of the Ascanians was a prince of Anhalt .

Life

Bernhard was the youngest son of Prince Johann II of Anhalt (1504–1551) from his marriage to Margareta (1511–1577), daughter of Prince Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg . One of the prince's godparents was Martin Luther . After his training, Bernhard went on a journey through Italy in 1561. After the death of his father he took over the government together with his brothers Karl and Joachim Ernst , who, however, were still minors under the tutelage of their uncle Georg III. and Joachim I. stood.

Bernhard later resided in Dessau, Joachim Ernst in Roßlau and Karl in Zerbst. Karl died as the first of the brothers in 1561. After the death of his uncles and the resignation of his cousin Wolfgang von Anhalt-Köthen in 1562, the entire state of Anhalt fell to him and his brother Joachim Ernst. In 1563 he shared the country with his brother and received Dessau, Zerbst , Plötzkau , Lippe, Lindau , Warmsdorf and later Coswig and Wörlitz .

On May 18, 1565, Bernhard married Klara (1550–1598), daughter of Duke Franz von Braunschweig-Lüneburg, in Dessau . The only son of this marriage, Franz Georg, who was born in 1567, died a year later. After Bernhard's death his territory fell to his brother Joachim Ernst, who was able to unite the whole of Anhalt in his hand.

literature

• Ferdinand Siebigk: Das Herzogthum Anhalt , Desbarats, 1867, p. 207 f.