Background
He was the third (but second surviving) son of Victor I Amadeus Adolph, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, by his first wife Charlotte Louise, daughter of William Maurice, Count of Isenburg-Büdingen-Birstein. The death of his elder brother the Hereditary Prince Christian in 1758 made him the new heir of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. Fourteen years later, in 1772, Charles Louis finally succeeded his father in the government of the principality.