Emanuel Lebrecht (Anhalt-Koethen)

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Prince Emanuel Lebrecht of Anhalt-Koethen

Prince Emanuel Lebrecht von Anhalt-Köthen (* May 20, 1671 in Köthen ; † May 30, 1704 ibid) was a ruling German sovereign from the Ascanians .

Life

Coat of arms of the Principality of Anhalt-Köthen in the 18th century.

Emanuel Lebrecht was the only, posthumously born son of Prince Emanuel von Anhalt-Köthen (1631-1670) and Countess Anna Eleonore zu Stolberg-Wernigerode (1651-1690). The parents were married on March 23, 1670, but the prince died on November 8, 1670 at the age of 39, leaving behind a widow who was expecting his child. Emanuel Lebrecht was born six months after the death of his father and was therefore formally Prince of Anhalt-Köthen from his birth . Dowager Princess Anna Eleonore took over the reign for 19 years and directed the country's fate until her death. Johann Georg II. Von Anhalt-Dessau then administered the principality for two years until Emanuel Lebrecht took over the government himself when he came of age in 1692.

As a young man, Prince Emanuel Lebrecht fell in love with Gisela Agnes von Rath (1669–1740), who came from an old Lutheran noble family from Anhalt . His mother, Princess Anna Eleonore, initially tried to prevent this improper relationship by sending Gisela Agnes to her sister in Stadthagen . Immediately after taking office, Prince Emanuel Lebrecht brought her back and married her "in silence" on September 30, 1692.

The secretly carried out morganatic marriage of the Reformed prince to a Lutheran woman from the lower nobility sparked vehement protests on the part of the Reformed Church and the Princely House. It was not until 1698 that all male descendants of the couple were officially recognized by the Anhalt princes; the imperial confirmation followed in 1699. The entire princely, later ducal line of Anhalt-Köthen stems from this "improper" love marriage.

In order to upgrade his wife, Emperor Leopold I made her Countess of Nienburg in 1694 . In 1699, Emanuel Lebrecht left the city, the country and Nienburg Castle (Saale) as personal property for life. When her son, Prince Leopold , took office in 1715, she therefore retired to Nienburg, from where she continued to actively represent the interests of her Lutheran co-religionists against the Reformed Protestantism represented by her sons until her death in 1740. It was also at her court in Nienburg that Johann Sebastian Bach met her son, Prince Leopold, in 1716, who signed him to Koethen as Kapellmeister the following year.

Emanuel Lebrecht's independent rule lasted only twelve years. He died at the age of 33 and was buried in the royal crypt of the St. Jakobs Church in Köthen . As a special legacy, he left in his will of 1702 the introduction of the Primogenitur in Anhalt-Köthen, which should lead to a dispute between his two sons. The guardianship for his still under-age successor Leopold took over from 1704 to 1715, his widow Princess Gisela Agnes.

progeny

I. ⚭ 1714 Prince Friedrich Erdmann of Saxony-Merseburg (1691–1714)
II. ⚭ 1716 Duke Ernst August I of Saxe-Weimar (1688–1748)
  • August Ludwig (1697–1755), Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1728–1755)
  • Gisela Auguste (1698–1698)
  • Christiane Charlotte (1702–1745)

See also

literature

predecessor Office successor
Emanuel Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
1671–1704 		Leopold
personal data
SURNAME Emanuel Lebrecht
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anhalt-Köthen, Emanuel Lebrecht Prince of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Anhalt-Koethen
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1671
PLACE OF BIRTH Koethen
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1704
Place of death Koethen