Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst

Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst
Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst, Electress of Brandenburg
Spouse(s)	John George, Elector of Brandenburg
Noble family	Ascania
Father	Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt
Mother	Agnes of Barby
Born	15 September 1563 Zerbst
Died	8 November 1607 (aged 44) Crossen
Buried	Cathedral in Berlin

Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst (15 September 1563 – 8 November 1607) was a princess of Anhalt by birth and Electress of Brandenburg by marriage.

Life

Elizabeth was a daughter of Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt (1536–1585), from his first marriage to Agnes of Barby (1540–1569), daughter of Count Wolfgang I of Barby.

On 6 October 1577 married John George (1525–1598), in Jagdschloss Letzlingen. Her husband was almost 40 years older than she was. Elisabeth was his third wife, and was 16 years younger than her stepson Joachim Frederick. The marriage was celebrated without many festivities, and Elizabeth was promised 400 guilders annually as her dower. Elizabeth brought as a dowry into the marriage 15 000 thalers and received as jointure, besides a considerable pension, the city of Crossen, including Crossen Palace, plus the district and city of Züllichau and the lordship of Bobrowice (German: Bobersberg).

Elisabeth was a patron of the scholar Leonhard Thurneysser. After her husband's death, weakened by child-bearing, she retired with her younger children to her widow seat of Crossen Palace. She is buried in the crypt of the Hohenzollerns in the Berliner Dom.

Descendants

Her marriage to John George of Brandenburg produced the following children:

1. Christian (30 January 1581 – 30 May 1655)
2. Magdalena (7 January 1582 – 4 May 1616), married in 1598 to Landgrave Louis V of Hesse-Darmstadt
3. Joachim Ernest (22 June 1583 – 7 March 1625)
4. Agnes (17 July 1584 – 26 March 1629), married:
   1. in 1604 Duke Philipp Julius of Pomerania;
   2. in 1628 Duke Francis Charles of Saxe-Lauenburg
5. Frederick (22 March 1588 – 19 May 1611)
6. Elisabeth Sophia (13 July 1589 – 24 December 1629), married:
   1. in 1613 to Reichsfürst (Prince) Janusz Radziwiłł;
   2. on 27 February 1628 to Duke Julius Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg
7. Dorothea Sibylle (19 October 1590 – 9 March 1625), married in 1610 to Duke John Christian of Brieg
8. George Albert (20 November 1591 – 29 November 1615)
9. Sigismund (20 November 1592 – 30 April 1640)
10. John (13 July 1597 – 23 September 1627), Bishop of Havelberg
11. John George (4 August 1598 – 27 January 1637)

References and sources

• Friederike Bornhak: Elisabeth von Anhalt: Kurfürstin von Brandenburg, dritte Gemahlin des Kurfürsten Johann Georg von Brandenburg, geboren 1563, gestorben 1607, S. Geibel, 1889
• Ernst Daniel Martin Kirchner: Die Kurfürstinnen und Königinnen auf dem Throne der Hohhenzollern, part 2l: Die letzten acht Kurfürstinnen, Berlin, 1867, p. 34 ff. (digitized)