Anhalt-Köthen

Anhalt-Köthen was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the House of Ascania in the region of Anhalt, in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was created in 1396, when the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst was partitioned between Anhalt-Dessau and the new line of Anhalt-Köthen. That first creation ended in 1562, when its territory passed to Prince Joachim Ernest of Anhalt-Zerbst and was merged into the reunited principality of Anhalt. The state was created a second time in 1603, when Anhalt was divided among the sons of the ruling prince, and it was raised to a duchy in 1806 during the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Köthen, where Prince Leopold engaged Johann Sebastian Bach as court music director from 1717 to 1723, a period that produced the Brandenburg Concertos and much of the composer's instrumental music. The Anhalt-Köthen line died out with Duke Henry on 23 November 1847, and by a patent of 1853 its lands were united with Anhalt-Dessau, forming part of the duchy of Anhalt.