LEOPOLD I.

leopold i., prince of), the famous soldier who was generally known as the "old dessauer." the sons of leopold's eldest son were excluded from the succession on account of the marriage of their father being morganatic, and the principality passed in 1747 to his second son, leopold ii. the unrest of 1848 spread to dessau, and led to the interference of the prussians and to the establishment of the new constitution in 1859. leopold iv., who reigned from 1817 to 1871, had the satisfaction in 1863 of reuniting the whole of anhalt under his rule. he took the title of duke of anhalt, summoned one _landtag_ for the whole of the duchy, and in 1866 fought for prussia against austria. subsequently a quarrel over the possession of the ducal estates between the duke and the _landtag_ broke the peace of the duchy, but this was settled in 1872. in 1871 anhalt became a state of the german empire. leopold iv. was followed by his son frederick i., and on the death of this prince in 1904 his son frederick ii. became duke of anhalt. authorities.--f. knoke, _anhaltische geschichte_ (dessau, 1893); g. krause, _urkunden, aktenstucke und briefe zur geschichte der anhaltischen lande und ihrer fursten unter dem drucke des 30 jahrigen krieges_ (leipzig, 1861-1866); o. von heinemann, _codex diplomaticus anhaltinus_ (dessau, 1867-1883); siebigk, _das herzogthum anhalt historisch, geographisch und statistisch dargestellt_ (dessau, 1867).