Free State of Anhalt

Free State of Anhalt
*Freistaat Anhalt*
Free State of Anhalt Freistaat Anhalt
State of Germany
1918–1945
	Flag Coat of arms
	; The Free State of Anhalt (red) within the Weimar Republic
Anthem
	Anhaltlied; "Song of Anhalt"
Capital	Dessau
Area
• Coordinates	51°50′N 12°15′E / 51.833°N 12.250°E
• 1925	2,314 km2 (893 sq mi)
Population
• 1925	351,045
Government
• Type	Republic
Reichsstatthalter
• 1933–1935	Wilhelm Loeper
• 1935–1937	Fritz Sauckel
• 1937–1945	Rudolf Jordan
Minister-President
• 1918–1919	Wolfgang Heine (first)
• 1919–1924	Heinrich Deist
• 1924–1924	Willy Knorr
• 1924–1932	Heinrich Deist
• 1932–1940	Alfred Freyberg
• 1940–1945	Rudolf Jordan (last)
Historical era	Interwar / World War II
• Established	12 November 1918
• Disestablished	23 July 1945
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Duchy of Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (1945-1952)

The Free State of Anhalt (Template:Lang-de) was formed after Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt abdicated on 12 November 1918, ending the Duchy of Anhalt. It was a state of Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. In May 1932 the Nazi Party came to power in Anhalt and, after the Nazis attained power at the federal level in 1933, Anhalt was abolished (de facto) by the federal Nazi government, becoming part of the Gau of Magdeburg-Anhalt.

At the end of World War II, when Germany was divided into zones of occupation, Anhalt was merged with the bulk of the Prussian Province of Saxony to form the Soviet-administered German state of Saxony-Anhalt. This state was then dissolved in 1952 but reformed in 1990 after the reunification of Germany.