Emmanuel Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
Prince Emanuel Lebrecht of Anhalt- Köthen ( born May 20, 1671 at Köthen, † May 30, 1704 ) was a German reigning sovereign of the race of Ascanians.
Life
Emanuel Lebrecht was the only one born posthumously, son of Prince Emanuel von Anhalt- Köthen (1631-1670) and Countess Anna Eleonore of Stolberg- Wernigerode ( 1651-1690 ). The marriage of the parents had been closed on 23 March 1670 but already on November 8, 1670 the prince died at the age of 39 years, leaving a widow, who expected his child. Six months after the death of his father Emanuel Lebrecht was born, and was thus formally since his birth, Prince of Anhalt - Köthen. Princess Eleonore widow Anna took over the regency for 19 years and directed the affairs of the country until her death. Johann Georg II of Anhalt- Dessau then managed for two years the Principality to Emanuel Lebrecht with his majority in 1692 even took over the government.
Even as a young man, Prince Emanuel Lebrecht fell in love with Gisela Agnes of Rath (1669-1740), who came from an old Lutheran Anhalt gentry family. His mother, Princess Anna Eleonore, initially tried to prevent this unstandesgemäße relationship by Gisela Agnes sent to her sister city of Hagen. Immediately after the commencement of the government brought Prince Emanuel Lebrecht but she returned and married her " quietly " on September 30, 1692nd
The secretly consummated morganatic marriage of the reformed princes with a Lutheran woman from the lower nobility triggered vehement protests from the Reformed Church and the royal house. Only in 1698 was the official recognition of all male descendants of the couple by the Princes of Anhalt; the imperial confirmation followed 1699th The entire royal, later duke of Anhalt- Köthen line comes this " unstandesgemäßen " love match.
To enhance his wife in 1694 this was raised by Emperor Leopold I to the Countess of Nienburg. 1699 left her Emanuel Lebrecht City, Country and Castle Nienburg ( Saale) as personal property for life. With the accession of her son, Prince Leopold, in 1715, they therefore withdrew to Nienburg, from where they remain active until her death in 1740 represented the interests of their Lutheran coreligionists against the position taken by their sons Reformed Protestantism. At its Nienburger court it was also where Johann Sebastian Bach in 1716 her son, Prince Leopold met, who signed him the following year as Kapellmeister to Köthen.
Emanuel Lebrecht's independent reign lasted only twelve years. At the age of 33 years he died and was buried in the royal crypt Köthener St. Jacob's Church. As a special legacy he left in his will of 1702 the introduction of primogeniture in Anhalt- Köthen, which should evolve dispute between his two sons. The guardianship of his still immature successor Leopold took over from 1704 to 1715, his widow Princess Gisela Agnes.
Progeny
- August Lebrecht (1693-1693)
- Leopold (1694-1728), Prince of Anhalt- Köthen (1704-1728)
- Eleonore Wilhelmine (1696-1726)
- August Ludwig (1697-1755), Prince of Anhalt- Köthen (1728-1755)
- Gisela Auguste (1698-1698)
- Christiane Charlotte (1702-1745)