Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich (died 9 February 1123), was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt

Anhalt

Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...

, and was also briefly named duke of Saxony

Duchy of Saxony

The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...

. He was the father of Albert the Bear, who later conquered Brandenburg from the Slavs and called himself its first margrave.
Otto was the eldest son of Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt

Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt

Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt from the House of Ascania, the 23rd Great-Grandfather of Elizabeth II, was Graf in Saxony and Vogt of Nienburg Abbey.-Biography:...

 and Adelheid, daughter of Otto I, Margrave of Meissen

Otto I, Margrave of Meissen

Otto I was the Margrave of Meissen from 1062 until his death, the second margrave of the family of the counts of Weimar and Orlamünde. He was a younger son of Weimar III of Weimar and Oda, daughter of Thietmar, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark. He inherited Orlamünde from his father in 1039 and...

. After the death of his father-in-law, Magnus, Duke of Saxony

Magnus, Duke of Saxony

Magnus was the duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106. Eldest son and successor of Ordulf and Wulfhild of Norway, he was the last member of the House of Billung.-Rebellion:...

, in 1106, Otto inherited a significant part of Magnus' properties, and hoped to succeed him as duke. However, Lothar of Supplinburg was named duke in his stead. In 1112, after Lothar had been banned, Otto was appointed duke of Saxony by Emperor Henry V

Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...

; but in the same year, he came into a dispute with the emperor and was stripped of his ducal title. He now allied himself with Lothar, and helped Lothar defeat Hoyer I, Count of Mansfeld, who had been named duke of Saxony by the Emperor, in 1115.

Otto conquered the areas around Zerbst

Zerbst

Zerbst is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until the administrative reform of 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the Anhalt-Zerbst district. Since the 1 January 2010 local government reform, Zerbst has about 24,000 inhabitants.It is not clear when was it founded;...

 and Salzwedel

Salzwedel

Salzwedel of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwedel is located on the German Framework Road.-Geography:...

 from Slavs

Slavic peoples

The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

, and maintained Lothar's support once Lothar became king in 1125. He also claimed the County of Weimar-Orlamünde, of which his mother was the heir.

Family

Otto married Eilica, daughter of Magnus, Duke of Saxony

Magnus, Duke of Saxony

Magnus was the duke of Saxony from 1072 to 1106. Eldest son and successor of Ordulf and Wulfhild of Norway, he was the last member of the House of Billung.-Rebellion:...

, before 1095. They had the following children:

• Albert the Bear (1100-1170)
• Adelheid (died 1139), married Henry IV, Count of Stade, and in 1139, Werner, Count of Osterburg