Charles Louis, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym

Prince Charles Louis of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym; Schaumburg, 16 May 1723 – Schaumburg, 20 August 1806), was a German prince of the House of Ascania from the Anhalt-Bernburg branch and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym.
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.

First marriage

When Charles Louis was a young officer in a regiment in the service of the Netherlands, he fell in love with Benjamine Gertrude Keiser [also called Kaiserinn or Keyser] (b. Stevensweert, 1 January 1729 - d. Belleville, near Paris, 6 January 1787), daughter of a Dutch captain. Without the consent of his father, Charles Louis married her in Stevensweert on 25 March 1748. They had one daughter:

1. Victoria Hedwig Karoline (b. Stevensweert, 9 January 1749 - d. Eger, 26 June 1841), married on 21 November 1776 to Thomas de Mahy, marquis de Favras, an officer in the guards of the Count de Provence, later King Louis XVIII of France.

The marriage was declared null and void by a court in The Hague on 26 July 1757, and the Charles Louis and Benjamine's attempts to have their daughter recognized as a princess of Anhalt were rejected by the Reichshofrat on 11 May 1778; likewise. an attempt to obtain the title of countess of Anhalt was rejected on 14 September. Finally, Charles Louis obtained for his daughter the title of Baroness of Bärenthal (German: Freifrau von Bärenthal); however, some sourcesname Victoria Hedwig Karoline as a princess of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym.

Second marriage

In Braunfels on 12 December 1765 Charles Louis married Amalie Eleonore (b. Braunfels, 22 November 1734 - d. Schaumburg, 19 April 1811), daughter of Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels. They had five children:

1. Victor II Charles Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym (b. Schaumburg, 2 November 1767 - d. Schaumburg, 22 April 1812) married Amalie Charlotte of Nassau-Weilburg (August 7, 1776 - February 19, 1841) on October 29, 1793.
2. William Louis (b. Schaumburg, 19 April 1771 - killed in action, Stockach, 25 March 1799).
3. Alexius Klemens (b. Schaumburg, 19 August 1772 - d. Schaumburg, 12 July 1776).
4. Sophie Charlotte (b. Schaumburg, 29 September 1773 - d. Schaumburg, 25 February 1774).
5. Karoline Ulrike (b. Schaumburg, 22 September 1775 - d. Schaumburg, 4 March 1782).

• Morganatic and Unequal Marriages in German Law
• Princely House of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym by Paul Theroff
• Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan