 Dorothea Maria was the sixth daughter of Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt, but second-born daughter by his second wife Eleonore, daughter of Christoph, Duke of Württemberg.In 1586, the twelve-year-old Dorothea Maria was chosen by her father as Abbess of Gernrode and Frose as the successor to her elder sister Agnes Hedwig.In 1593 she was relieved of her post as abbess in order to marry John II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar.