Albert I was a German prince of the House of Ascania and the second ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst from 1298 until his death.
Background
He was the eldest son of Prince Siegfried I of Anhalt-Zerbst, by his wife Catherine of Bjelbo, daughter of the Swedish regent Birger Jarl and sister of Kings Valdemar and Magnus III of Sweden. 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.
Career
He participated in the 1291 siege of Harly Castle against the Welf duke Henry I of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. He later obtained a part of Zerbst still controlled by the Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg as a fiefdom. After the murder of the Habsburg king Albert I of Germany in 1308 he was suggested by his brother-in-law Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg to be elected the new King of the Romans, but had no success in obtaining this dignity.
Membership
In 1295, Prince Albert was the first member of the House of Ascania who took his residence at Köthen Castle.