William Gustav of Anhalt-Dessau
Encyclopedia
William Gustav of Anhalt-Dessau (Dessau
, 20 June 1699 – Dessau, 16 December 1737), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and heir to the principality of Anhalt-Dessau
.
He was the eldest son of Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
, by his morganatic wife Anna Louise Föse.
in 1712. In 1713 he obtained the post of chief of the Prussian regiment of gene d'armes. In 1719 he participated in the Turk's War in Hungary
. Between 1734 and 1735 he served under Prince Eugene of Savoy
as a volunteer in the war against France.
on the night of 14 March 1726, after which she lived in Kleckewitz. They had nine children:
In 1737, during Johanna Sophia's ninth and last pregnancy, William Gustav came down with smallpox
and, wanting to see her before his death, he had her and his eldest son brought to Dessau, revealed the secret marriage and children to his father, and entrusted their care to him. Prince Leopold raised the eldest son at his court and gave a secret pension to the widow and her other children in Kleckewitz. Leopold was succeeded by his younger son Leopold Maximiliam, who gave his brother's widow a house in Dessau and obtained for his children from the Emperor the title of "Counts of Anhalt" on 19 September 1749, without any rights of succession.
At the same time, King Frederick II of Prussia
raised the two illegitimate sons whom William Gustav sired with one "Henriette Marianne Schardius" to the rank of nobility with the surname "of Anhalt":
Dessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
, 20 June 1699 – Dessau, 16 December 1737), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and heir to the principality of Anhalt-Dessau
Anhalt-Dessau
Anhalt-Dessau was a principality and later a duchy located in Germany. It was created in 1396 following the partition of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst. The capital of the state was Dessau. Anhalt-Dessau experienced a number of partitions throughout its existence with Anhalt-Köthen being...
.
He was the eldest son of Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau. He was also a Generalfeldmarschall in the Prussian army...
, by his morganatic wife Anna Louise Föse.
Life
In 1706 the eight-year-old William Gustav was appointed a captain and accompanied his father in in his campaign against FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1712. In 1713 he obtained the post of chief of the Prussian regiment of gene d'armes. In 1719 he participated in the Turk's War in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Between 1734 and 1735 he served under Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene of Savoy , was one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history, rising to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna. Born in Paris to aristocratic Italian parents, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV...
as a volunteer in the war against France.
Marriage and issue
William Gustav fell in love with Johanna Sophia Herre (surname Herr or Herrin according to some sources) (b. Dessau, 8 July 1706 - d. Dessau, 5 June 1795), a commoner. They married secretly in DessauDessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
on the night of 14 March 1726, after which she lived in Kleckewitz. They had nine children:
- William ["Count of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. HornburgHornburgHornburg is a town in the Wolfenbüttel district, in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated at the Ilse river, a tributary of the Oker. Hornburg is part of the Samtgemeinde Schladen and home to numerous historically valuable half-timber buildings...
, 15 March 1727 - killed in action at TorgauTorgauTorgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...
, 3 November 1760), a Prussian lieutenant-colonel. - Leopold Louis ["Count of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 28 February 1729 - d. Liegnitz, 28 April 1795), a Prussian general and bearer of the Order of the Black EagleOrder of the Black EagleThe Order of the Black Eagle was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg . In his Dutch exile after WWI, deposed Emperor Wilhelm II continued to award the order to his family...
; married on 1 November 1763 to Karoline Elisabeth Antoinette von Printzen (b. HavelbergHavelbergHavelberg is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875...
, 18 August 1734 - d. Liegnitz, 8 April 1799); they had one daughter:- Countess Wilhelmine Sophie Karoline of Anhalt (b. Halle, 15 January 1765 - d. Liegnitz, 9 March 1804), married on 6 June 1797 to Julius von Bonge (d. 1820).
- Gustav ["Count of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 26 May 1730 - killed in action at Breslau, 22 November 1757), a grenadier captain.
- Johanna Sophie ["Countess of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 9 July 1731 - d. Dessau, 15 July 1786), Abbess of Mosigkau.
- Frederick ["Count of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 21 May 1732 - d. St. Petersburg, 2 June 1794), General Adjutant of the Empress Catherine II the Great of Russia.
- Wilhelmine ["Countess of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 12 February 1734 - d. Bosfeld, 4 June 1781), married on 8 April 1772 to August Wolfrath von Campen, illegitimate son of Albert Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-LippeAlbert Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-LippeAlbrecht Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe was a ruler of the County of Schaumburg-Lippe.-Biography:He was born in Bückeburg the son of Friedrich Christian, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe and his first wife Countess Johanna Sophia of Hohenlohe-Langenburg . He succeeded his father as Count on the 13...
. - Albert ["Count of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 24 June 1735 - d. Dessau, 26 April 1802), a Prussian major-general; married on 24 June 1764 to Sophie Luise Henriette von Wedel (b. Eilenstedt, 27 March 1750 - d. HalberstadtHalberstadtHalberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
, 2 July 1773). They had five children:- Countess Frederica Ferdinandine Wilhelmine of Anhalt (b. Halberstadt, 17 June 1765 - d. Halberstadt, 1 June 1767).
- Count Frederick Henry Leopold Albert of Anhalt (b. Halberstadt, 6 August 1766 - d. Magdeburg, after 1810?).
- Countess Louise Karoline Casimira Sophie of Anhalt (b. Halberstadt, 30 September 1767 - d. Potsdam, 4 April 1842), married in DessauDessauDessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
on 20 May 1787 to Count Franz John George of Waldersee, illegitimate son of Prince Leopold III of Anhalt-DessauLeopold III, Duke of Anhalt-DessauLeopold III Frederick Franz, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau , known as "Prince Franz" or "Father Franz", was a German prince of the House of Ascania...
. - Count Frederick Henry William of Anhalt (b. Halberstadt, 31 July 1769 - d. Breslau, 25 February 1792).
- Count Augustus Gustav of Anhalt (b. Halberstadt, 19 February 1772 - d. ElbingElbingElbing is the German name of Elbląg, a city in northern Poland which until 1945 was a German city in the province of East Prussia.Elbing may also refer to:- Ships :* SMS Elbing, light cruiser of the Imperial Germany Navy...
, 3 January 1823).
- Henry ["Count of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. Kleckewitz, 4 September 1736 - d. DresdenDresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, 14 September 1758), a Prussian captain. - Leopoldine Anna ["Countess of Anhalt" from 19 September 1749] (b. posthumously, Kleckewitz, 26 January 1738 - d. BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, 26 September 1808), married on 10 November 1773 to George Dietrich von Pfuhl.
In 1737, during Johanna Sophia's ninth and last pregnancy, William Gustav came down with smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and, wanting to see her before his death, he had her and his eldest son brought to Dessau, revealed the secret marriage and children to his father, and entrusted their care to him. Prince Leopold raised the eldest son at his court and gave a secret pension to the widow and her other children in Kleckewitz. Leopold was succeeded by his younger son Leopold Maximiliam, who gave his brother's widow a house in Dessau and obtained for his children from the Emperor the title of "Counts of Anhalt" on 19 September 1749, without any rights of succession.
At the same time, King Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
raised the two illegitimate sons whom William Gustav sired with one "Henriette Marianne Schardius" to the rank of nobility with the surname "of Anhalt":
- Karl Philipp of Anhalt (b. 1732 - d. 9 May 1806), a Prussian major-general; he married Frederica Albertine von Wedel and had two sons, Frederick William Karl (d. young) and William Karl Frederick (killed in a duel), and a daughter, Auguste, who married a man with the surname Binder.
- Henry William of Anhalt (b. 4 November 1735 - d. 12 February 1801), a Prussian general; on 10 December 1768 he married Caroline Frederica von Wedel; they had a son, Frederick William (whose descendants became extinct in the male line in 1863), and a daughter, Christiane Frederica Wilhelmine, who after the divorce of her first husband in 1797 married for a second time to Jules Gabriel of Seigneux, later the possible father of the eldest illegitimate son of Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (by marriage Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia); this second marriage also ended in divorce in 1805.