Leopold III Frederick Franz, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau (10 August 1740 – 9 August 1817), known as "Prince Franz" or "Father Franz", was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
of the
House of Ascania
The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt.
The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...
. From 1751 until 1807 he was
reigning prince of the
Principality
A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...
of
Anhalt-Dessau
Anhalt-Dessau was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and later a duchy of the German Confederation. Ruled by the House of Ascania, it was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, and finally merged into t ...
and from 1807 the first
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...
of the
Duchy
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition.
There once existed an important difference between ...
of Anhalt-Dessau.
A strong supporter of the
Enlightenment, Leopold undertook numerous reforms in his principality and made Anhalt-Dessau one of the most modern and prosperous of the small German states. An
Anglophile
An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "fr ...
, Leopold also extended and altered the old gardens of
Oranienbaum that were laid out in Dutch style to create the first and largest of the
English park
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
s of his time, renamed the
Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, (German: ''Dessau-Wörlitzer Gartenreich'') is a cultural landscape and World Heritage Site in Germany, located between the city of Dessau and the town of Wörlitz in Central Germany. One of the first and large ...
.
Early life
Leopold was born at
Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßl ...
as the eldest son of the later
Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold II Maximilian, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (25 December 1700 – 16 December 1751), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau from 1747 to 1751; he also was a Prussian general.
Life
Leopold was ...
, by his wife
Gisela Agnes, daughter of
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...
.
After having lost both parents in 1751 (his mother on 20 April and his father on 16 December), the eleven-year-old Leopold inherited Anhalt-Dessau under the regency of his uncle, Prince Dietrich.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, Leopold joined the
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
. After the
Battle of Kolín
The Battle of Kolín on 18 June 1757 saw 54,000 Austrians under Count von Daun defeat 34,000 Prussians under Frederick the Great during the Third Silesian War (Seven Years' War). Prussian attempts to turn the Austrian right flank turned into pi ...
(18 June 1757), he was impressed so negatively by the spectacle of warfare that he resigned from the army and declared the neutrality of Anhalt-Dessau.
Rule
In 1758 he was declared of age and assumed the government of his lands.
An
Anglophile
An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "fr ...
and strong supporter of the
Enlightenment, Leopold took special interest in the education of the population of his principality in science and nature. His numerous reforms in the areas of education, health care, social services, roads, agriculture, forestry, and industry made Anhalt-Dessau one of the most modern and prosperous of the small German states.
The most conspicuous of his improvements included planting fruit trees along dykes and the construction of beautiful buildings. However his reforms included public works programs repairing dykes destroyed by flooding, providing social housing, education, sanitation, the first public parks, burial grounds irrespective of social rank, as well as liberal policies towards the Jewish community, including allowing for the founding of a Jewish school and the first Jewish newspaper in Germany.
He engaged
Friedrich Wilhelm von Erdmannsdorff
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Erdmannsdorff (18 May 1736 – 9 March 1800) was a German architect and architectural theoretician, and one of the most significant representatives of early German Neoclassicism during the Age of Enlightenment. H ...
to build
Wörlitz Palace (1769–1773), the first
Neoclassical building in Germany. In 1774 Leopold engaged von Erdmannsdorff to construct a small residence with a small English park as a gift to his wife; in her honor, the castle took the name
Schloss Luisium.
Leopold also extended and altered the old gardens of
Oranienbaum that were laid out in Dutch style to create the first and largest of the
English park
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
s of his time, renamed the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm.
In 1782 Leopold was tried by the
Fürstenbund for his opposition to Prussian hegemony. In 1806 he was invited to Paris by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
, who was impressed by his reputation. Leopold was one of the last princes to join the
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...
on 18 April 1807. On the other hand, despite his differences with the Prussian crown, he offered the Prussian rebel Major
Ferdinand von Schill an honorable reception in Dessau on May 2, 1809.
Leopold was elevated to the rank of duke in 1807. As the head of the senior Anhalt branch, he could not earlier by etiquette receive his kinsmen, the Princes of
Anhalt-Köthen
Anhalt-Köthen was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania. It was created in 1396 when the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. The first creation lasted until 1562 ...
and
Anhalt-Bernburg
Anhalt-Bernburg was a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subdi ...
, who were raised to that rank before him. He received the title by paying a considerable sum of money to the Emperor shortly before the dissolution of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
in 1806, just as the prince of Anhalt-Bernburg had done before him.
In 1812 Leopold became regent of the duchy of Anhalt-Köthen during the minority of
Duke Louis Augustus Karl Frederick Emil.
Leopold died after a fall from his horse at
Schloss Luisium, near Dessau, in 1817. He was succeeded by his eldest grandson
Leopold IV, because his son, the
Hereditary Prince Frederick, had predeceased him.
Marriage and issue
In
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...
on 25 July 1767 Leopold married his cousin
Louise Henriette Wilhelmine (b.
Różanki,
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
, 24 September 1750 – d. Dessau, 21 December 1811), daughter of
Frederick Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
Frederick Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (21 August 1709, in Schwedt – 12 December 1788, in Schwedt) was the last owner of the Prussian secundogeniture of Brandenburg-Schwedt.
Early life
His was the son of Margrave Philip Wil ...
, by his wife
Leopoldine Marie of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopoldine Marie, Princess of Anhalt-Dessau (12 December 1716, in Dessau – 27 January 1782, in Kołobrzeg) was the ninth child of Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau and his wife, Anna Louise Föhse. She married on 13 February 1739 the last m ...
, a sister of his father. They had two children:
#A daughter (b. and d. Dessau, 11 February 1768).
#
Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
Frederick of Anhalt-Dessau (27 December 1769 – 27 May 1814), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and heir to the principality (and from 1807 the duchy) of Anhalt-Dessau.
He was born in Dessau, the only surviving child of Leopold III, P ...
(b. Dessau, 27 December 1769 – d. Dessau, 27 May 1814).
He also had ten illegitimate children:
[ :de:Leopold III. Friedrich Franz (Anhalt-Dessau)]
*With Johanna Eleonore Hoffmeyer (b. 12 November 1739 – d. 3 May 1816), by marriage von Neitschütz since 1765:
#Wilhelmine Eleonore Fredericka
f Waldersee(b. Dessau, 14 June 1762 – d. Dessau, 23 September 1762).
#Count Franz John George of Waldersee (b. Dessau, 5 September 1763 – d. Dessau, 30 May 1823), married in Dessau on 20 May 1787 to Countess Louise of Anhalt (morganatic granddaughter of the
Hereditary Prince William Gustav, eldest son and heir of Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau). They had six children, three sons (Franz Henry, Eduard and Frederick Gustav) and three daughters (Louise, Amalie Agnes and Marie). Their descendants through the eldest son Franz Henry are still alive. A descendant of Franz Heinrich and Bertha von Hünerbein was General
Alfred von Waldersee
Alfred Ludwig Heinrich Karl Graf von Waldersee (8 April 1832 in Potsdam5 March 1904 in Hanover) was a German field marshal (''Generalfeldmarschall'') who became Chief of the Imperial German General Staff.
Born into a prominent military family, ...
.
#Louise Eleonore Fredericka of Waldersee (b. Dessau, 30 August 1765 – d. 1804).
*With Leopoldine Luise Schoch, daughter of his Master Gardener, who was ennobled with the surname "von Beringer":
#Wilhelmine Sidonie von Beringer (b.
Wörlitz
is a town and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it has been part of the town Oranienbaum-Wörlitz. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, east of Dessau.
The historic p ...
, 5 January 1789 – d.
Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hal ...
, 20 April 1860), married in Wörlitz on 20 June 1815 to Wilhelm von Goerne.
#Louise Adelheid von Beringer (b. Dessau, 16 October 1790 – d. Halle, 5 June 1870), married in Wörlitz on 19 August 1812 to Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Georg von Glafey.
#Franz Adolf von Beringer (b. Wörlitz, 2 June 1792 – d. 28 February 1834), married to Auguste Wilhelmine Roeser (b. 2 June 1793 – d. 25 August 1855). They had one son Wilhelm, and one granddaughter, Magda, with the line apparently becoming extinct.
*With Johanna Magdalena Luise Jäger (b. 1763 – d. ?):
#Franziska Jäger (b. 1789 – d. ?).
#Leopoldine Jäger (b. 1791 – d. 1847).
#Amalie Jäger (b. 1793 – d. 1841).
*With Fredricka Wilhelmine Schulz (b. 1772 – d. 1843), by marriage Favreau:
#Louis Ferdinand Schulz (b. 1800 – d. 1893).
Ancestry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold 03 of Anhalt-Dessau, Duke
1740 births
1817 deaths
People from Dessau-Roßlau
Princes of Anhalt-Dessau
Prussian Army personnel
Deaths by horse-riding accident in Germany
German military personnel of the Seven Years' War
Royal reburials