Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden (German: Großherzogtum Baden), also known as the Baden Palatinate (German: Baden Pfalz), was a state in south-west Germany on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed as a sovereign state between 1806 and 1871 and as part of the German Empire from 1871 until 1918.
Grand Duchy of Baden Baden Palatinate Großherzogtum Baden Baden Pfalz | |||||||||
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| 1806–1918 | |||||||||
Flag
(1891–1918) | |||||||||
| Anthem: Badnerlied | |||||||||
The Grand Duchy of Baden within the German Empire | |||||||||
Map of the Grand Duchy of Baden (orange) | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Karlsruhe | ||||||||
| Official language | German | ||||||||
Common languages | Alemannic, South Franconian, Palatinate | ||||||||
| Religion |
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| Government | Constitutional 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) | ||||||||
| Legislature | Landtag | ||||||||
• Upper house | Erste Kammer | ||||||||
• Lower house | Zweite Kammer | ||||||||
| Establishment | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 27 April 1803 | |||||||||
• Grand Duchy | 24 October 1806 | ||||||||
• German Unification | 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 |
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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. 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.