Emanuel von Anhalt-Köthen

Emmanuel of Anhalt-Köthen was born on October 6, 1631, in Plötzkau, and died on November 8, 1670, in Köthen. A member of the House of Ascania, he was a German prince. He initially ruled the principality of Anhalt-Plötzkau and, from 1665, the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Emmanuel was the third and youngest son of Prince Augustus of Anhalt-Plötzkau and his wife, Sibylle, a daughter of Count Johann Georg I of Solms-Laubach. After his father’s death in 1653, he inherited Plötzkau jointly with his older brothers Ernst Gottlieb and Lebrecht. At the same time, the brothers assumed the regency of Anhalt-Köthen, whose prince, Wilhelm Ludwig, was still a minor. In practice, Emmanuel and Lebrecht played the leading roles in the regency. Ernst Gottlieb initially remained the sole ruler of Plötzkau, but he died just seven months later. Emmanuel and Lebrecht then governed the principality jointly. Their regency over Anhalt-Köthen lasted until 1659, when Wilhelm Ludwig was declared of age and took over the government of his principality himself. A new political situation arose in 1665, when Wilhelm Ludwig died without heirs. The division of the Anhalt principalities was consequently reorganized: Emmanuel and Lebrecht jointly received Anhalt-Köthen. The principality of Anhalt-Plötzkau, which they had previously governed, reverted to Anhalt-Bernburg, from which it had originally been separated. Emmanuel thus became ruler of Köthen alongside his brother. After Lebrecht’s death in 1669, also without descendants, Emmanuel became the sole prince of Anhalt-Köthen. His personal rule lasted only about a year. On March 23, 1670, he married Anna Eleonore in Ilsenburg. She had been born there on March 26, 1651. She was a daughter of Heinrich Ernst of Stolberg-Wernigerode and also the niece of Sophie Ursula, the widow of his late brother Lebrecht. When Emmanuel died on November 8, 1670, his wife was three months pregnant. Anna Eleonore was declared regent of Anhalt-Köthen until the child was born. The succession depended on the unborn child’s sex: if it were a son, he could succeed his father as prince; if it were a daughter, the territory of Köthen would have been divided among the other Anhalt principalities. On May 20, 1671, six months after Emmanuel’s death, the widowed princess gave birth to a son. The child was named Emmanuel Lebrecht and immediately became the new ruler of Anhalt-Köthen. Since he was still a minor, his mother initially continued to govern as regent.