Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen
| Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen | |
|---|---|
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, 1710
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| Spouse(s) |
Frederica Henriette of Anhalt-Bernburg Charlotte Frederike of Nassau-Siegen |
| Noble family | Ascania |
| Father | Emmanuel Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen |
| Mother | Gisela Agnes of Rath |
| Born |
28 November 1694 Köthen, Anhalt-Köthen |
| Died | 19 November 1728 (aged 33) Köthen, Anhalt-Köthen |
Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister between 1717 and 1723.
He was born at Köthen, the second (but eldest surviving) son of Emmanuel Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, by his wife Gisela Agnes of Rath.
At his birth, the agnates of the Anhalt principalities still did not recognize Leopold's right of inheritance due to the morganatic status of his parents' marriage. These rights were confirmed on 28 June 1698, however, and Leopold was able to succeed his father when he died in 1704, at age ten. His mother, the Dowager Princess Gisela Agnes, acted as regent on his behalf, but King Frederick I of Prussia, according to the late Prince's will, became his "upper guardian." From the beginning of the regency, conflicts arose between the king and the dowager princess: Frederick preferred a Reformed (Calvinistic) education for Leopold, but Gisela Agnes, a devout Lutheran, planned to raise her son in her own faith. In the meanwhile, the king had founded the Knight's Academy (German: Ritterakademie) in Brandenburg an der Havel, and in 1708 decided to send Leopold there for his education. In November of that year, during the festivities accompanying the King's new marriage, the Berlin court witnessed a performance of the opera Alexander and Roxana by Augustin Reinhard Stricker, in which the fourteen-year-old Leopold performed as a dancer.
On 9 October 1710 Leopold began his Grand Tour. He was escorted by the Lutheran Jobst Christoph von Zanthier, because "no suitable Reformed chaperone could be found." The Tour first took him to The Hague during the winter of 1710-1711, where his lifelong love of opera began: in only four months, he went to the opera twelve times. The operas of Jean-Baptiste Lully impressed him greatly, and he acquired a "Rare fascination for the Opera of Monsieur Lully." Also, he learned to play the harpsichord and violin. His travel diary is still preserved in the Köthen Historical Museum.
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