Askanier

The Ascanians, or House of Anhalt, began as Ballenstedt counts in the Harz, documented from 1036; their names derive from Aschersleben, Latinized Ascania, and Anhalt Castle. The house's great figure, Albert the Bear, was duke of Saxony from 1138 to 1142 and first Brandenburg margrave from 1150, leading German colonization of the former Slavic Nordmark.

After Henry the Lion fell, the 1180 Gelnhausen charter gave the eastern remnant of Saxony to Albert's son Bernhard. The 1212 and 1296 divisions split off Anhalt and divided Saxony into Wittenberg and Lauenburg. Wittenberg gained hereditary electoral dignity in the 1356 Golden Bull, but died out in 1422, Electoral Saxony passing to Wettins; the Brandenburg line ended in 1320 with Henry the Child, Emperor Louis IV granting the mark to his son.

The Lauenburg line fell to the Welfs in 1689. From 1252 Anhalt spawned principalities such as Bernburg and Dessau, rulers taking ducal rank in 1806 and 1807. In 1337 Ascanian electors, dukes and princes held lands from the Elbe to the Harz.