County of Anhalt
| County (Principality) of Anhalt | ||||||||||
| Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Anhalt | ||||||||||
| Principality | ||||||||||
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 Coat of arms of Anhalt (13th century)
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.svg) Map of Anhalt (Zerbst, Dessau, Köthen, Bernburg) in 1793
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| Capital | Dessau (when united) | |||||||||
| Government | Principality | |||||||||
| Prince of Anhalt | ||||||||||
| • | 1218–1252 | Henry I | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Partitioned from Saxony | 1212 | ||||||||
| • | Elevated to principality | 1218 | ||||||||
| • | Partitioned¹ | 1252–1570 | ||||||||
| • | Joined Council of Princes | 1582 | ||||||||
| • | Partitioned² | 1603–1863 | ||||||||
| • | Principalities³ raised to duchies | 1806 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Germany
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| 1: 13th-century partition into Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst. 2: 17th-century partition into Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Plötzkau and Anhalt-Zerbst. 3: Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen. |
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The Principality of Anhalt (German: Fürstentum Anhalt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, located in Central Germany, in what is today part of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Under the rule of the House of Ascania, the Anhalt territory was split off the German stem duchy of Saxony in 1212 and granted to Count Henry I, who was raised to the rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1218. Ruled by Ascanian princes from the High Middle Ages to the Early modern period, Anhalt was divided several times amongst various lines of the dynasty until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, when Napoleon elevated the remaining states of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen to duchies.
The Anhalt territory stretched from the Harz mountain range in the west to the Elbe River and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. Upon the 1315 loss of Anhalt-Aschersleben, the lands around Ballenstedt formed a western exclave. The area of the later duchy was 906 miles² (2300 km²).
In the west, the land is undulating and in the extreme northwest, where it forms part of the Harz mountains, hilly, with the Ramberg (Harz) peak as the tallest point at 1,900 ft (579 m). From the Harz the country gently shelves down to the Saale; the land between this river and the Elbe is particularly fertile. East of the Elbe, the land is mostly a flat sandy plain, with extensive pine forests, interspersed with bog-land and rich pastures. The Elbe is the chief river, intersecting the eastern portion of the former duchy, from east to west, and at Rosslau is met by the Mulde. The navigable Saale takes a northerly direction through the central portion of the territory and receives, on the right, the Fuhne and, on the left, the Wipper and the Bode.
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