a city, the capital of a bailiwick of the same name, in the duchy of Anhalt Dessau, in Germany. It stands on the river Rute, is surrounded with walls, and is the seat of a superintendent of the superior court of law. It contains two Lutheran, and one reformed church, two hospitals, a gymnasium, 1600 houses, and 8440 inhabitants. It was the residence of the court of the now mediatised prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, and was the birth-place of the empress Catherine II. of Russia. The city has declined since the removal of the court, but has still some manufactures, and four large annual fairs, where the chief commodities are the products of the soil.