Frederick was born in Dessau in 1831 as the third child and only son of Duke Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau and his wife Princess Frederica of Prussia, the daughter of Prince Louis Charles of Prussia.

[1] He studied in Bonn and Geneva, and in 1851 entered the Prussian military at Potsdam.

He was present at the proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Versailles Palace on 18 January 1871.

On 23 January 1904 he suffered an apoplectic stroke and died the next day at Ballenstedt castle.

She was a daughter of Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife Princess Amalie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.