County (Principality) of Anhalt Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Anhalt (German) | |||||||||
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| 1218–1806 | |||||||||
 Flag
.svg) Lesser arms of Anhalt
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.svg) Map of Anhalt (Zerbst, Dessau, Köthen, Bernburg) in 1793 | |||||||||
| Status | Principality | ||||||||
| Capital | Dessau (when united) | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic (until 1520s) Lutheran (from 1520s) | ||||||||
| Government | Principality | ||||||||
| Prince of Anhalt | |||||||||
• 1218–1252 | Henry I | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Partitioned from Saxony | 1212 | ||||||||
• Elevated to principality | 1218 | ||||||||
• Partitioned¹ | 1252–1570 | ||||||||
• Joined Council of Princes | 1582 | ||||||||
• Partitioned² | 1603–1863 | ||||||||
• Principalities³ raised to duchies | 1806 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
1: 13th-century partition into Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst. 2: 17th-century partition into Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Plötzkau and Anhalt-Zerbst. 3: Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. | |||||||||
The Principality of Anhalt (German: Fürstentum Anhalt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, located in Central Germany, in what is today part of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Under the rule of the House of Ascania, the Anhalt territory was split off the German stem duchy of Saxony in 1212 and granted to Count Henry I, who was raised to the rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1218. Ruled by Ascanian princes from the High Middle Ages to the Early modern period, Anhalt was divided several times amongst various lines of the dynasty until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, when Napoleon elevated the remaining states of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen to duchies.