Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, called Otto the Rich (c. 1070 – 9 February 1123), was the first Ascanian prince to call himself count of Anhalt, and was also briefly named duke of Saxony.
He was the father of Albert the Bear,[1] who later conquered Brandenburg from the Slavs and called himself its first margrave.
Otto was the eldest son of Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt and Adelaide of Weimar-Orlamünde, daughter of Otto I, Margrave of Meissen.
[1] After the death of his father-in-law, Duke Magnus of Saxony, in 1106, Otto inherited a significant part of Magnus' properties, and hoped to succeed him as duke.
[2] In 1112, after Lothar had been banned, Otto was appointed duke of Saxony by Emperor Henry V; but in the same year, he came into a dispute with the emperor and was stripped of his ducal title.