Frederick Albert | |||||
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Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg | |||||
Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg | |||||
Reign | 18 May 1765–9 April 1796 | ||||
Predecessor | Victor Frederick | ||||
Successor | Alexius Frederick Christian | ||||
Born | Bernburg, Anhalt-Bernburg, Holy Roman Empire | 15 August 1735||||
Died | 9 April 1796 Ballenstedt, Anhalt-Bernburg, Holy Roman Empire | (aged 60)||||
Spouse | |||||
Issue | Alexius Frederick Christian, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg Pauline, Princess of Lippe-Detmold | ||||
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House | House of Ascania | ||||
Father | Victor Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg | ||||
Mother | Albertine of Brandenburg-Schwedt |
Frederick Albert of Anhalt-Bernburg (15 August 1735 – 9 April 1796), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and reigning prince of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg from 1765 to 1796.[1]
Frederick Albert was born in Bernburg on 15 August 1735 as the only son of Victor Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, by his second wife Albertine of Brandenburg-Schwedt, daughter of Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt.[2]
Frederick Albert succeeded his father as ruler of Anhalt-Bernburg when he died in 1765 and immediately changed his main residence from Bernburg to Ballenstedt.[3]
On 22 December 1785 he confirmed the entrance of his state into the Fürstenbund.
In 1788 a classical theater was built under his orders. He was considered as "Father of the Country" by the citizens of his principality, primarily for his good works: one of his reforms was to give women legal influence over their inheritance. Frederick Albert was also the founder of the Anhaltische Mineraliensammlung.
He died at Ballenstedt on 9 April 1796. It is unclear whether he died as a result of a hunting accident, or if he committed suicide.
In Augustenburg on 4 June 1763 Frederick Albert married Princess Louise Albertine (b. Plön, 21 July 1748 - d. Ballenstedt, 2 March 1769), daughter of Frederick Carl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön and a princess of Denmark by birth as a descendant in the male line of King Christian III. They had two children:
Frederick Albert also had an illegitimate daughter: