Heinrich (Anhalt-Koethen)

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Duke Heinrich von Anhalt-Koethen

Duke Heinrich von Anhalt-Koethen (born July 30, 1778 in Pless , † November 23, 1847 in Koethen ) was the last Duke of Anhalt-Koethen, succeeding his brother Ferdinand .

Life

Heinrich was born as the fourth son of Prince Friedrich Erdmann von Anhalt-Köthen-Pleß and Countess Luise Ferdinande zu Stolberg-Wernigerode. He married Auguste in 1819 (August 3, 1794 - July 13, 1855), daughter of Prince Heinrich XLIV. Reuss zu Köstritz (younger line) and Auguste Riedesel Freiin zu Eisenbach.

In 1818 Heinrich took over the government in the Upper Silesian class lordship of Pless as Prince of Anhalt-Köthen-Pless . When his brother Ferdinand rose to the throne in the Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen , he gave him the Prussian rule. After the death of the childless Ferdinand in 1830, Heinrich ascended the Koethen throne. He left Pless to his younger brother Ludwig , who died in 1841.

Thanks to Heinrich's efforts, the first railroad reached the city of Köthen in 1840, as the Bernburg Duke Alexander Carl had refused to move the Magdeburg-Leipzig line via Bernburg (Saale) . The "Heinrichsplatz" next to Köthen's earliest train station is a reminder of this.

Medal of the knighthood on the silver wedding anniversary of Heinrich and Auguste in 1844

From 1841 to 1847, Duke Heinrich was also Prince of Pless , and it was here in Upper Silesia that he met the meritorious historian Gottlieb Krause , whom he brought to Köthen in 1842 as the palace librarian and curator of the ducal collections.

With the benevolent reception of the homoeopathic "miracle healer" Arthur Lutze , similar to Samuel Hahnemann , personal physician to his brother and predecessor Duke Ferdinand , Heinrich again drew the world's attention to his small country in 1846 - even after his death, when Lutze in 1855 was an impressive homeopathic one Clinic opened, which every year attracted tens of thousands of patients from all five continents to Koethen.

Duke Heinrich had served in the Prussian army since 1796, in the 1806 campaign as a major, and when he left with the rank of major general. In 1830 he was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle . In the Prussian service again since 1841, he was promoted to General of the Infantry in 1847, the year he died.

Duke Heinrich died in 1847 and was buried in the princely crypt of St. Jakob's Church in Köthen . With the death of the childless duke, Anhalt-Köthen fell to Anhalt-Bernburg in 1847 and to Anhalt-Dessau in 1853 . A division was waived in view of the foreseeable expiry of the Anhalt-Bernburg line and the subsequent succession to Anhalt-Dessau.

Web links

Commons : Heinrich von Anhalt-Köthen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

See also

literature

predecessor Office successor
Ferdinand Duke of Anhalt-Köthen
1830–1847 		Leopold IV.
personal data
SURNAME Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anhalt-Koethen, Heinrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Anhalt-Koethen
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH Pleas
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1847
Place of death Koethen