John Louis I, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg

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John Louis I, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (4 May 1656, in

He was the sixth (but fourth surviving) son of John VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, by his wife Sophie Auguste, daughter of Frederick III, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp.

Life

After the death of his father in 1667, John Louis inherited the town of Dornburg with the title of prince. Because he was still a minor, his mother, the Dowager Princess Sophie Auguste, acted as regent on behalf of him and his brothers.

In 1672, the sixteen-year-old John Louis began his

John Louis spent two years in Italy, then went back to Zerbst. His trip was extensive and educational in all respects. His older brother Karl William received him enthusiastically upon his return. But in early 1681, the year when he began construction on Schloss Zerbst, he started traveling again. He visited the Netherlands and France, but after two years, John Louis returned home.

John Louis's military career was a minor activity for him. During his trips the fortresses he visited interested him only marginally. Nevertheless, in 1684 he joined the imperial army and held the rank of captain. Perhaps it was financial considerations that forced him to do so. He served in a regiment under the command of General von Scharfenberg and supervised an unsuccessful siege of a Hungarian fortress. The campaign was a disaster, but John Louis did acquire experience. Only two years later, in 1686, the army was able to take the fortress. John Louis's military career ended there, and he returned to the civilian life. Back home, he began to build his Schloss in Dornburg.

Marriage and issue

In

• John Louis II, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg, later Anhalt-Zerbst
  (b. Dornburg, 23 June 1688 – d. Zerbst, 5 November 1746).
• John Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (b. Dornburg, 31 December 1689 – d.
  Exiles, Dauphiné
  , 22 August 1709).
• Christian Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg, later Anhalt-Zerbst (b. Dornburg, 29 November 1690 – d. Zerbst, 16 March 1747), father of Catherine the Great.
• Christian Louis, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (b. Dornburg, 5 November 1691 – killed in action at Aire, Flanders, 20 October 1710).
• Sophie Christiane (b. Dornburg, 16 December 1692 – d. Zerbst, 3 May 1747).
• Eleonore Auguste (b. Dornburg, 13 May 1694 – d. Dornburg, 11 June 1704).
• John Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Dornburg (b. Dornburg, 14 July 1695 – d. Schaffhausen, 11 May 1742), married to Cajetana of Sperling (d. Schaffhausen, 17 December 1742), a childless union.

When a family compact was submitted to the Emperor for confirmation in 1689, John Louis obtained from the Emperor the insertion of a clause protecting the rights of his children as born of a legitimate and lawful marriage. In 1693 Karl Frederick, the younger son of John Louis's eldest brother, died, leaving only one sibling, the later Prince John Augustus; John Louis's next two older brothers were either unmarried or without male heirs, which made the possibility that the Zerbst inheritance would pass to his line more likely. Consequently, he took further steps to insure the succession for his children, and on 7 January 1698 secured an Imperial Decree making the children of his marriage princes and princesses of Anhalt. Indeed, they were considered dynastic, and at the death without heirs of Prince John Augustus in 1742, the surviving sons of John Louis succeeded him.

References

• Schloss Zerbst in Anhalt (only some fragments who were translated to English).
• Unequal and Morganatic Marriages in German Law
• Marek, Miroslav. "Complete Genealogy of the House of Ascania". Genealogy.EU.[
  better source needed
  ]