As regent, following the German revolution, he abdicated in the name of his nephew on 12 November 1918, thus ending the rule of the House of Ascania in Anhalt.

Prince Aribert was born in Wörlitz in the Duchy of Anhalt, then part of the German Confederation.

[citation needed] On 6 July 1891, he married Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

[2] Princess Marie Louise, on an official visit to Canada at the time, immediately returned to England.

[10] Prince Aribert entered the Prussian Army on 21 September 1882 as a Secondelieutenant à la suite of the Anhaltisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.

[11] During World War I, Prince Aribert served on the staff of the 8th Infantry Division and as a battalion and regimental commander.