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Dorothea Maria of Anhalt (
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 ...
, 2 July 1574 –
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, 18 July 1617), was by birth a member 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 ...
and princess of
Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making i ...
. After her marriage, she became Duchess of
Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant b ...
. Dorothea Maria was the sixth daughter of
Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt Joachim Ernest of Anhalt (21 October 1536 – 6 December 1586), was a German prince of the House of Ascania, ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst from 1551, and from 1570 sole ruler of all the Anhalt lands. Life Early life Joachim Ernes ...
, but second-born daughter by his second wife Eleonore, daughter of
Christoph, Duke of Württemberg Christoph of Württemberg (12 May 1515 – 28 December 1568), ruled as Duke of Württemberg from 1550 until his death in 1568. Life In November 1515, only months after his birth, his mother, Sabina of Bavaria, fled to the court of her parent ...
.


Life

In 1586, the twelve-year-old Dorothea Maria was chosen by her father as Abbess of
Gernrode Gernrode () is a historic town and former municipality in the Harz District, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2014, it has been part of Quedlinburg.Frose as the successor to her elder sister Agnes Hedwig. In 1593 she was relieved of her post as abbess in order to marry John II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar. The wedding took place in
Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...
on 7 January of that year. Her successor as abbess was her niece, Sophie Elisabeth, eldest daughter of her half-brother
John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau , house = House of Ascania , father = Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt , mother = Agnes of Barby-Mühlingen , birth_date = , birth_place = Harzgerode,Principality of Anhalt-Dessau,Upper Saxon Circle,Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , dea ...
. During the twelve years of her marriage, Dorothea Maria gave birth to twelve children (the last one born posthumously), including Ernst I of Saxe-Gotha and the famous general
Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (german: Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar; 16 August 160418 July 1639) was a German prince and general in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Born in Weimar within the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Bernard was the eleventh son of Johann ...
.Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
Dorothea Maria died of injuries sustained while riding a horse. Her funeral took place on 24 August 1617 at
Schloss Hornstein ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognat ...
(later Wilhelmsburg Castle). On this occasion, the
Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...
was created and her younger brother, Louis of Anhalt-Köthen, was appointed its first leader.


References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorothea Maria Of Anhalt 1574 births 1617 deaths People from Dessau-Roßlau House of Wettin House of Ascania Duchesses of Saxe-Weimar Gernrode Daughters of monarchs