Baden ( /ˈbɑːdən/ ; German: [ˈbaːdən] ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine.
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. [1] Baden is named after the margraves' residence, Hohenbaden Castle in Baden-Baden. Hermann II of Baden first claimed the title of Margrave of Baden in 1112. A united Margraviate of Baden existed from this time until 1535, when it was split into the two Margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden. Following a devastating fire in Baden-Baden in 1689, the capital was moved to Rastatt.
The two parts were reunited in 1771 under Margrave Charles Frederick. The restored Margraviate with its capital Karlsruhe was elevated to the status of electorate in 1803. In 1806, the Electorate of Baden, receiving territorial additions, became the Grand Duchy of Baden.
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a state within the German Confederation until 1866 and the German Empire until 1918, succeeded by the Republic of Baden within the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. From 1945 to 1952, South Baden and Württemberg-Baden were territories under French and American occupation, respectively. They were united with Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form the modern Federal State of Baden-Württemberg in 1952.
Baden lies in the southwest of Germany, with most of its major cities on the Upper Rhine Plain. Bounded by Lake Constance on the south and by the river Rhine on the south and west, the region of Baden stretches from the Linzgau, Lörrach and Freiburg im Breisgau to Karlsruhe and then on to Mannheim, leading to the Main and Tauber rivers.
To its west lies the French historical region of Alsace, to its south Switzerland, the Palatinate to its northwest, Hesse to the north, and parts of Bavaria to the northeast. Its eastern border with the region of Württemberg runs from the Kraichgau through the Black Forest, and from some parts of the forest to the Rhine the distances become as low as 18 kilometres (11 mi) in the so-called "Wespentaille" near Gaggenau.
Baden-Württemberg, commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants as of 2019 across a total area of nearly 35,752 km2 (13,804 sq mi), it is the third-largest German state by both area and population. As a federated state, Baden-Württemberg is a partly-sovereign parliamentary republic. The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Tübingen, and Ulm.
The House of Zähringen was a dynasty of Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation for having conceded the title of Duke of Swabia to the Staufer in 1098. The Zähringer were granted the special title of Rector of Burgundy in 1127, and they continued to use both titles until the extinction of the ducal line in 1218.
Baden-Baden is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres east of the Rhine, the border with France, and forty kilometres north-east of Strasbourg, France.
The history of Baden-Württemberg covers the area included in the historical state of Baden, the former Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg, part of the region of Swabia since the 9th century.
Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald is a Landkreis (district) in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Fifty towns and municipalities with 133 settlements lie within the district. The district itself belongs to the region of Freiburg with the region of Southern Upper Rhine.
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of the German stem duchies, representing the historic settlement area of the Germanic tribe alliances named Alemanni and Suebi.
Markgräflerland is a region in the southwest of Germany, in the south of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, located between the Breisgau in the north and the Black Forest in the east; adjacent to west with France and in the south with Switzerland.
Rheinstetten is a town in the west of Baden-Württemberg on the border to Rhineland-Palatinate. It is situated to the south-west of Karlsruhe and belongs to the rural district of Karlsruhe. The city has fewer inhabitants than Bruchsal, Ettlingen, Bretten and Stutensee and is therefore the fifth largest city in the district of Karlsruhe. Since 2005 it has formed part of a regional organization for economy, science, culture and administration, the Technologieregion Karlsruhe.
Kehl is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig River, directly opposite the French and Alsatian city of Strasbourg. It is the third-largest city of the Ortenaukreis after Offenburg and Lahr/Schwarzwald.
Ettlingen is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the city of Karlsruhe and approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) from the border with Lauterbourg, in France's Bas-Rhin department. Ettlingen is the second largest town in the district of Karlsruhe, after Bruchsal.
The Margraviate of Baden was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the right banks of the Upper Rhine in south-western Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, when it was split into the two margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden. The two parts were reunited in 1771 under Margrave Charles Frederick, even if the three parts of the state maintained their distinct seats to the Reichstag. The restored Margraviate of Baden was elevated to the status of electorate in 1803. In 1806, the Electorate of Baden, receiving territorial additions, became the Grand Duchy of Baden. The rulers of Baden, known as the House of Baden, were a cadet line of the Swabian House of Zähringen.
The Circle of Swabia or Swabian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former German stem-duchy of Swabia. However, it did not include the Habsburg home territories of Swabian Austria, the member states of the Swiss Confederacy nor the lands of the Alsace region west of the Rhine, which belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. The Swabian League of 1488, a predecessor organization, disbanded in the course of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War later in the 16th century.
The coat of arms of the German state of Baden-Württemberg features a greater and a lesser version.
The Electorate of Baden was a State of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803 to 1806. In 1803, the Imperial diet bestowed the office of Prince-elector to Charles Frederick, but in 1806, Francis II dissolved the Empire. Baden then achieved sovereignty, and Charles Frederick became Grand Duke.
The Margraviate of Baden-Durlach was an early modern territory of the Holy Roman Empire, in the upper Rhine valley, which existed from 1535 to 1771. It was formed when the Margraviate of Baden was split between the sons of Margrave Christopher I and was named for its capital, Durlach. The other half of the territory became the Margraviate of Baden-Baden, located between the two halves of Baden-Durlach. Baden-Durlach became Lutheran during the Protestant Reformation, unlike Baden-Baden, which remained Catholic. Baden-Durlach occupied Baden-Baden from 1594 to 1622, but was driven out after being defeated at the Battle of Wimpfen, during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The territory was ravaged during the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). Following the extinction of the Baden-Baden line in 1771, the Baden-Durlach inherited their territories and reunited the Margraviate of Baden. The reunified territory was caught up in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, emerging in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Baden.
The Margraviate of Baden-Baden was an early modern southwest German territory within the Holy Roman Empire. It was created in 1535 along with the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach as a result of the division of the Margraviate of Baden. Its territory consisted of a core area on the middle stretch of the Upper Rhine around the capital city of Baden, as well as lordships on the Moselle and Nahe.
Baden is the western part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, named for Baden-Baden, which was named for its hot springs.
The Grand Duchy of 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.
The Baden Army was the military organisation of the German state of Baden until 1871. The origins of the army were a combination of units that the Badenese margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden had set up in the Baroque era, and the standing army of the Swabian Circle, to which both territories had to contribute troops. The reunification of the two small states to form the Margraviate of Baden in 1771 and its subsequent enlargement and elevation by Napoleon to become the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1806 created both the opportunity and obligation to maintain a larger army, which Napoleon used in his campaigns against Austria, Prussia and Spain and, above all, Russia. After the end of Napoleon's rule, the Grand Duchy of Baden contributed a division to the German Federal Army. In 1848, Badenese troops helped to suppress the Hecker uprising, but a year later a large number sided with the Baden revolutionaries. After the violent suppression of the revolution by Prussian and Württemberg troops, the army was re-established and fought in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 on the side of Austria and the southern German states, as well as in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 on the side of the Germans. When Baden joined the German Empire in 1870/71, the Grand Duchy gave up its military sovereignty and the Badenese troops became part of the XIV Army Corps of the Imperial German Army.