1648-1738 1815-1871







Baden, 1738-1815



Count KARL FRIEDRICH (1738-1803) ruled in the spirit of enlightened absolutism, had roads and canals constructed, had made wilderness turned into arable land, established model farms, introduced obligatory elementary schooling, had seminars for priests founded. In 1767 he abolished the practise of torture. In 1771 the line Baden-Baden went extinct, and in consequence of the INHERITANCE TREATY of 1765 he now ruled all of Baden, including a number of territories on the lrft bank of the Rhine - BEINHEIM, RHODT, SPONHEIM, RODEMACHERN, HESPERINGEN. In 1783 Karl Friedrich ABOLISHED SERFDOM in the entire county. The court at KARLSRUHE (countess Karoline Luise) attracted men such as VOLTAIRE, HERDER, LAVATER, GOETHE, KLOPSTOCK, WIELAND, GLUCK.
In 1794 resp. 1796 the territory on the left bank of the Rhine was occupied by French troops. Baden then sided with France and ceded her territories on the left bank; Baden diplomat SIGISMUND VON REITZENSTEIN achieved large territorial compensation in the REICHSDEPUTATIONSHAUPTSCHLUSS of 1803; the Count was elevated to an ELECTOR (in 1806 GRAND DUKE). In 1805 further territorial gains were made. Prince and heir-apparent Karl married Stephanie de Beauharnais, adoptive daughter of Napoleon Bomnaparte (1806); Baden joined the CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE. Further territorial gains were made (1806, 1810). Between 1803 and 1810 both population and area of Baden had quadrupled; what used to be a patchwork of territories now was a coherent state. The country had also gained two universities, Heidelberg and Freiburg. Karlsruhe remained capital. In 1810, Baden had a population of 924,307.
In 1808 an ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM abolished the SECRET COUNCIL and introduced ministries (foreign affairs, justice, finances, war). In 1810 the LANDRECHT (based on the Code Napoleon) was introduced. In 1813 Baden sided with the coalition; her territory was recognized by the VIENNA CONGRESS of 1815.



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EXTERNAL
FILES 		Schloss Rastatt, from Schlösser Magazin, in German
Karl Friedrich - Markgraf, Kurfürst und Grossherzog von Baden (1728 - 1811), from karlsruhe.de, in German
DOCUMENTS Rheinbund Statistics of 1810, from napoleon.net
Coins of Baden, from Napoleonic Medals, click A-D, Baden
Baden Army 1806-1815, from warflags.com
REFERENCE Territorien-Ploetz : Geschichte der Deutschen Länder, Vol.1, Würzburg 1964, pp.288-289
Coins of Baden, 1701-1800, in : Krause, Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins : Eighteenth Century 1701-1800, 2nd ed., 1997, pp.291-255



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on January 15th 2007

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