Albert I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
Albert I (born c. 1258; died 17 August 1316) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and the second ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst from 1298 until his death.He was the eldest son of Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt-Zerbst, by his wife Catherine, who was possible a daughter of the Swedish regent Birger Jarl.[1][2] From about 1290, after Prince Siegfried abdicated to become a preaching monk, Albert ruled the Anhalt territories of his father, then comprising the towns of Dessau and Köthen.Together with Abbot Konrad of Nienburg and his cousin Prince Bernhard II of Anhalt-Bernburg, Albert abolished the use of Polabian (Wendish) as a court language in his domains in 1293.Through her father she was a 2nd great-granddaughter of Margrave Otto I of Brandenburg, older brother of Count Bernhard of Anhalt, Albert's great-grandfather.