Karl Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg

Karl Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (b. Bernburg, 13 July 1668 - d. Ballenstedt, 22 April 1721), was a German prince member of the House of Ascania and ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Bernburg.

He was the eldest son of Victor Amadeus, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg by his wife Elisabeth, daughter of Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken.

Life

After the death of his father in 1718, the fifty-years-old Karl Frederick inherited Anhalt-Bernburg. His reign, who lasted only two years until his death, was unremarkable.

Marriages and Issue

In Bernburg on 25 June 1692 Karl Frederick married with his cousin Sophie Albertine (b. Sonnenwalde, 2 October 1672 - d. Bernburg, 12 June 1708), daughter of George Frederick, Count of Solms-Sonnenwalde by his wife Anna Sophia of Anhalt-Bernburg (sister of his father Victor Amadeus). They had six children:
#Elisabeth Albertine (b. Bernburg, 31 March 1693 - d. Arnstadt, 7 July 1774), married on 2 October 1712 to Günther XLIII, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
#Frederick William (b. Bernburg, 3 September 1694 - d. Bernburg, 28 December 1694).
#Charlotte Sophie (b. Bernburg, 21 May 1696 - d. Sondershausen, 22 July 1762), married on 19 July 1721 to Augustus I Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen-Ebeleben.
#Auguste Wilhelmine (b. Bernburg, 3 November 1697 - d. Harzgerode, 22 June 1767).
#Victor Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (b. Bernburg, 20 September 1700 - d. Bernburg, 18 May 1765).
#Fredericka Henriette (b. Bernburg, 24 November 1702 - d. Köthen, 4 April 1723), married on 11 December 1721 to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen.

Since 1711 Karl Frederick began to live with Wilhelmine Charlotte Nüssler (b. Harzgerode, 10 May 1683 - d. Gernrode, 30 May 1740), the daughter of a non-noble chancery counselor. They had two sons:
#Frederick ["Imperial Count of Bährnfeld since 12 June 1723"] (b. Harzgerode, 13 March 1712 - d. Gernrode, 8 September 1758). Born illegitimate, was legitimized after the wedding of their parents.
#Karl Leopold ["Imperial Count of Bährnfeld since 12 June 1723"] (b. Plötzkau, 1 July 1717 - d. Kassel, 3 October 1769).

Karl Frederick and Wilhelmine Charlotte secretly married in Bernburg on 1 May 1715 and inmediately he tried to have his wife raised to a Countess by the Emperor. When the Prince Victor Amadeus knew the actions of his son, he wrote to the Emperor on 15 November 1715 to prevent this, and added a codicil to his testament dated 13 July 1716 denying the children of that union any succession rights. The Emperor approved this codicil one year later, on 15 July 1717.

The Emperor also sent a rescript to Karl Frederick dated 20 August 1717 instructing him not to call his wife Princess or their sons Princes. Nevertheless, after succeeded his father when he died in 1718, Karl Frederick obtained from the Emperor that his wife be made Countess of Ballenstedt (German: "Gräfin von Ballenstedt") on 19 December 1719, and their two sons Imperial Counts of Bährnfeld (German: "Reichsgrafen von Bährnfeld") on 12 June 1723; this, however, without prejudice of the rights of the agnates. In 1722, the Reichshofrat forbade Karl Frederick's widow to use the Princely title for herself or her sons.

However, on 16 November 1742 the Emperor Charles VII raised the Counts of Bährenfeld to the rank of Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg with all the rights of succession. Victor Amadeus Adolph, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym protested, but the Emperor died in 1745. The Prince brought up the matter to the College of Electors gathered in 1745, but they declined to take up the matter in the electoral capitulation. He then brought the matter to the Reichshofrat, which ruled on 6 May 1748 by repealing the diploma of 1742, forbidding the Counts of Bährenfeld from calling themselves Princes of Bernburg or Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg, and allowing them only to call themselves Princes of Bährenfeld. They died unmarried.

References

* [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/royalty/g_morganat.htm#Anhalt Morganatic and Unequal Marriages in German Law]
* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/ascania/ascan8.html Complete Genealogy of the House of Ascania]
* [http://www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/cgi-bin/stoyan/l1/LANG=span/INDEX=I216548 Chronological dates of the rulers of Anhalt]