Grand Duchy of Baden

Grand Duchy of Baden
Großherzogtum Baden
1806–1918
Flag of Baden
Flag
(1891–1918)
Anthem: Badnerlied
The Grand Duchy of Baden within the German Empire
The Grand Duchy of Baden within the German Empire
Map of the Grand Duchy of Baden (orange)
Map of the Grand Duchy of Baden (orange)
Status
CapitalKarlsruhe
Official languageGerman
Common languages
Alemannic, South Franconian, Palatinate
Religion
GovernmentConstitutional monarchy
Grand Duke 
• 1806–1811
Charles Frederick (first)
• 1907–1918
Friedrich II (last)
Minister-President 
• 1809–1810
Sigismund Reitzenstein (first)
• 1917–1918
Heinrich Bodman (last)
LegislatureLandtag
Erste Kammer
Zweite Kammer
Establishment
History 
27 April 1803
• Grand Duchy
24 October 1806
18 January 1871
14 November 1918
• Established
1806
• Disestablished
1918
Area
• Total
15,082 km2 (5,823 sq mi)
Population
• 1803
210,000
• 1905
2,009,320
Currency
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Electorate of Baden
Republic of Baden

The Grand Duchy of Baden (German: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in south-west Germany on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918.[1][2]

The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a margraviate that eventually split into two, Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden, before being reunified in 1771. The territory grew and assumed its ducal status after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire but suffered a revolution in 1848, whose demands had been formulated in Offenburg the previous year at a meeting now considered the first-ever democratic program in Germany.[3] With the collapse of the German Empire it became part of the Weimar Republic under the name Republic of Baden.

The Grand Duchy of Baden was bordered to the north by the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Hesse, to the west by the Rhine, to the south by Switzerland, and to the east mainly by the Kingdom of Württemberg. Its unofficial anthem has been the Badnerlied, or Song of the People of Baden, which has four or five traditional verses and many more added: there are collections with up to 591 verses.

  1. ^ "Baden". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  2. ^ Edmund C. Clingan (2010). The Lives of Hans Luther, 1879 - 1962: German Chancellor, Reichsbank President, and Hitler's Ambassador. Lexington Books. p. 142.
  3. ^ "The Salmen – a monument of national significance".