Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1024

 902 GERMAN EMPIRE: — BADEN

BADEN.

(Grossherzogtum Baden.)

Reigning' Grand-duke- — Friedrich II. , born July 9, 1857, son of

the Grand-duke Friedrich I. and of the Grand-duchess Luise, Princess of Prussia ; succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, September 28, 1907; married, September 20, 1885, to Hilda, daughter of the Grand-duke of Luxemburg, Duke of Nassau.

Sister of the Grand- duke.

Victoria, born August 7, 1862 ; married, September 20, 1881, to Crown Prince Gustaf, now King Gustaf V. of Sweden.

Till 1771, Baden was a Margraviate divided into two or more lines ; it was then united, and subsequently received various additions, and its ruler took the title of Elector in 1803, and of Grand-duke in 1806.

The Grand-duke has a civil list of 79,499Z. (exclusive of the appanages of the other members of the Grand-duke's family).

Constitution. — The Constitution of Baden vests the executive power in the Grand-duke, the legislative authority is shared by him with a repre- sentative assembly (Landtag), composed of two Chambers. The Upper Chamber comprises the princes of the reigning family who are of age ; the heads of the mediatised families ; the Roman Catholic Archbishop ; the prelate of the Protestant Church ; elected for 4 j^ears are eight members by the territorial nobility ; one representative for each of the two Universities and one for the Technical High School ; three of the Chambers of Commerce, two of the Chamber of Agriculture, and one of the Chambers of Trades ; two Oberbiirgermeister of the towns subject to the municipal law, and one Btirgermeister of one of the other towns (of more than 3,000 inhabitants) ; one member of one of the District Councils ; and (at the most) eight members appointed for 4 years by the Grand-duke, two being high legal functionaries appointed during their term of office. The Second Chamber is composed of 73 representatives, 24 of whom are elected by towns, and 49 by rural districts for 4 years. Every citizen 25 years of age, not convicted of crime, nor receiving parish relief, has a vote. Citizens 30 years of age are eligible. The Chambers must be called together at least once every two years. Members of the First Chamber whose seats are not hereditary, are paid 1,500 marks (75Z.), of the Second Chamber 3,000 marks (150Z.), if living at Karlsruhe 1,000 and 2,000 marks (50i?. or lOOZ.) for the session, with de- duction of 15 marks for each day's absence ; they travel free of charge on the Baden State Railways during session.

Last election, October, 1909 : 26 Centre Party, 17 National Liberals, 20 Socialists, 2 Conservatives, 7 Democrats, 1 Peasants' League.

The executive is composed of four departments — the Ministers of the Interior, of the Grand-ducal House, Justice and Foreign Affairs, of Finance, and of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Instruction.

For general administrative purposes there are 53 * Amtsbezirke,' superin- tended by four general commissioners (Landes-Kommissare). For local government there are 11 circles (Kreise), and 1,595 communes (Gemeinden), 120 communal cities, and 1,475 parishes.