Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst | |
Electress of Brandenburg | |
Noble Family: | Ascania |
Father: | Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt |
Mother: | Agnes of Barby |
Issue: | Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Magdalena, Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt Joachim Ernst, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach Agnes, Duchess of Pomerania and Saxe-Lauenburg Frederick IX, Margrave of Brandenburg Elisabeth Sophia, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg Dorothea Sibylle, Duchess of Brieg George Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg Sigismund John, Bishop of Havelberg John George |
Birth Place: | Zerbst |
Death Place: | Crossen |
Burial Place: | Cathedral in Berlin |
Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst (15 September 1563 - 8 November 1607) was Electress of Brandenburg by marriage to John George, Elector of Brandenburg.
Elizabeth was a daughter of Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt (1536–1585), from his first marriage to Countess Agnes of Barby-Mühlingen (1540–1569).
On 6 October 1577 she married John George (1525–1598), in Jagdschloss Letzlingen. Her husband was almost 40 years older than she was. Elisabeth was his third wife, and was 16 years younger than her stepson Joachim Frederick. The marriage was celebrated without many festivities, and Elizabeth was promised 400 guilders annually as her dower. Elizabeth brought as a dowry into the marriage 15 000 thalers and received as jointure, besides a considerable pension, the city of Crossen, including Crossen Palace, plus the district and city of Züllichau and the lordship of Bobrowice (German: Bobersberg).
Elisabeth was a patron of the scholar Leonhard Thurneysser. After her husband's death, weakened by child-bearing, she retired with her younger children to her widow seat of Crossen Palace. She is buried in the crypt of the Hohenzollerns in the Berliner Dom.
Her marriage to John George of Brandenburg produced the following children:
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