In 1681, the brothers divided their inheritance, with Anton Günther II receiving the districts Ebeleben, Schernberg, Keula, and Arnstadt and thus founding a short-lived cadet line.
In 1697, the brothers were raised to Imperial Princes, but Anton Günther II refrained from using this title until 1709.
He was a major patron of music and an avid collector of antiques and objets d'art.
In 1702, he invited Johann Sebastian Bach, who was 17 years old at the time, to become court organist in Arnstadt.
Their marriage remained childless and after his death, Arnstadt fell back to his brother Christian William.