John VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
John VI of Anhalt-Zerbst (Zerbst, 24 March 1621 – Zerbst, 4 July 1667), was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst. He was the only son of Rudolph, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, by his second wife Magdalene, daughter of John VII, Count of Oldenburg. Life John succeeded his father in Anhalt-Zerbst at only four months of age; during his long minority, his paternal uncle Augustus of Anhalt-Plötzkau acted as regent in the principality. John's education was supervised primarily by his mother. Political instability caused by warfare during the Thirty Years War caused John to be educated in Zerbst, Coswig, and Wittenberg at various times. From 1633 he continued his education at the court of his maternal uncle Anthony Günther, Count of Oldenburg. Immediately after he reached adulthood and formally assumed the government of his state, John made Lutheranism the official religion of Zerbst. He increased the size of his principality noticeably by acquiring various fiefs. In 1642 his uncle Louis of Anhalt-Köthen, admitted John to the Fruitbearing Society together with the Hofrat Konrad Balthasar Pichtel and the Hofjunker Joachim von Boeselager. He chose the motto anmutiger Schärfe ("graceful sharpness"). As an emblem the