g male descendent of Peter the Great, he was also heir to the throne of Russia. In November 1741, Elizabeth seized the throne with the help of imperial guards, overthrowing the Empress Anna Leopoldovna. She was the governor for the infant Ivan VI. This line of succession came from Peter the Great's older half brother and co ruler from 1682-1696.
             The Empress Elizabeth declared her nephew, Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp heir to the throne, brought him to St. Petersburg and changed his name to Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Tsar Peter III. Peter was now 14 years old and it was time to look for a bride for him. Elizabeth had always remembered the family of her dead fiancée with love, and having heard Princess Sophia's name from the Prussian ambassador, she made a decision to send for Sophia.
             The elder branch of the Anhalt's had died out, and Prince Christian August and his brother became the princes of Anhalt – Zerbest it was here in Zerbest on the first day of January 1744, when a courier arrived with an invitation for the Princess Johanna to come to St. Petersburg, " Accompanied by the princess, your elder daughter." Sophia's farther was not asked to come . He was known for his strong Lutheran beliefs, and Sophia would have to change to the orthodox religion, if she were to marry the heir to the throne.
             The family left Zerbest on January 10, 1744. They stopped in Berlin to see King Frederick II. A few days later Sophia said good-bye to her farther in Schwedt on the river Oder, then she and her mother were on their way. The journey was long and it was even worse because it was in the middle of the winter . When they reached the border, sledges the Empress had sent met them. They traveled the rest of the way in comfort. At the arrival in St. Petersburg they learned that the court was at the time in Moscow. So, after a short rest, they again set out, because they wante...