The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Baden (grand duchy)

BADEN, a grand duchy of Germany, situated between lat. 47° 30' and 49° 50' N., and lon. 7° 30' and 9° 50' E., bounded N. by Hesse-Darmstadt and Bavaria, E. by Würtemberg and the Prussian province of Hohenzollern, S. by Switzerland, and W. by Rhenish Bavaria and Alsace; area, 5,910 sq. m.; pop. in 1867, 1,434,970, of whom 931,007 were set down as Catholics, 475,918 Protestants, 2,435 other Christian sects, 25,599 Jews; pop. in 1871, 1,461,428. In 1816 the population was 1,005,899; it increased about 10,000 a year till 1846, after which, owing to emigration, there was a period of decrease till 1855, since which time there has been a gradual increase. The grand duchy is divided into the administrative districts of Constance, Freiburg, Carlsruhe, and Mannheim.

The capital is Carlsruhe, which in 1871 had 36,622 inhabitants. The most important commercial city is Mannheim, with 39,614 inhabitants; and the most renowned cities are Heidelberg, the seat of a celebrated university, and Baden-Baden, the famous watering place. &mdash; On the western side of Baden, and stretching along the Rhine, is a fertile strip of land, from which the rest of the country rises toward the east. In the southern and eastern parts is the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), extending northward to the Enz, an affluent of the Neckar. North of the latter river is the Odenwald mountain range, connected by ranges of hills with the Schwarzwald, but much less elevated. The highest peaks of the Black Forest are the Feldberg, 4,789 ft., and the Belchen, 4,490 ft. The highest point of the Odenwald, the Katzenbuckel, is about 2,000 ft. high. Between the Rhine and the little river Dreisam is the Kaiserstuhl, an independent volcanic group nearly 10 m. in length and 5 in breadth; the highest point of this group is 1,784 ft. &mdash; The principal river is the Rhine, which forms the boundary of the duchy on the south and west. The other most important rivers are the Neckar, Main, and Elz. The Danube rises in Baden, on the extreme east of the Black Forest, under the name of the Brege. Near Donaueschingen it unites with the Brigach, and with another rivulet from the palace yard of Donaueschingen, when it takes the name of Danube. Baden has a number of small mountain lakes, the Mummel, Titti, &amp;c. A part of Lake Constance belongs to Baden. &mdash; In the plains and valleys the climate is mild and agreeable, but in the higher parts it is cold and moist, with snow during the greater part of the year, and with frequently very sudden transitions from winter to sum- mer. But on the whole the climate is very salubrious. &mdash; In the valleys and plains the soil yields wheat, maize, barley, beans, potatoes, flax, hemp, and tobacco; in the mountainous district, rye, wheat, and oats are cultivated. The extensive vineyards produce excellent wines, and the finest fruits abound. The manufactures are chiefly confined to iron and hardware, and the spinning and weaving of cotton. The Black Forest is distinguished for manufactures of wooden ornaments and toys, watches, wooden clocks, musical boxes, organs, and basket work. St. Blasien is an important seat of ribbon and cotton manufacture. The fabrication of jewelry and of tobacco and cigars occupies the next rank in importance. The chiccory, paper, and cloth manufactures, the tanneries, and breweries are also noticeable. There are extensive government salt works at Dürrheim and Rappenau. The most excellent iron mines are those of Oberwert and Kandern. Gold washing, formerly extensively carried on along the Rhine, is now little practised. Baden has more than 60 mineral springs, the most frequented of which are Baden-Baden, Badenweiler, Antogast, Rippoltsau, and Ueberlingen. The exports are wine, timber,

hemp, tobacco, fruits, oil, salt, and manufactured articles. The principal imports are colonial produce, southern fruits, medicines, horses, wool, cotton, silk goods, iron, steel, and various articles of luxury. The currency is the Rhenish, 60 kreutzers to the florin or gulden. The weights and measures are according to the decimal system. &mdash; There are two universities, one Protestant at Heidelberg, founded in 1386, and one Catholic at Freiburg, founded in 1457. At Pforzheim is an institution for the deaf and dumb, and at Freiburg one for the blind. The Carlsruhe polytechnic school, established about 1832, is one of the best in Germany. The population of the upper Rhine springs from the Alemanni; along the shores of the Murg and the lower Rhine the Frankish race preponderates; the population along the lake shores are of Suevian (Swabian) and Vindelician origin. The character of the people is marked by honesty, industry, and courage; but the population of the Black Forest is most typical of the ancient German character. &mdash; The executive government, besides the grand duke, is composed of six departments, the ministers being responsible to the legislature. The legislative authority is vested in a parliament of two chambers, called the first and second. The first chamber, having 31 members in 1873, consists of the princes of the reigning line, the heads of ten noble families, the proprietors of large hereditary landed estates, the Catholic archbishop of Freiburg, the superintendent of the Protestant church, two deputies of the universities, and eight other members appointed for life by the grand duke; the second chamber of 63 representatives, chosen for eight years, 22 from towns and 41 from rural districts. In 1867-'8 the revenue was 22,824,371 florins, the expenditures 22,834,371, showing a deficit of 10,000 florins, a little more than $4,000. In 1868-'9 there was a deficit of nearly 5,000,000 florins, more than $2,000,000. The estimates for 1870-'71 showed a probable excess of 465,982 florins, something less than $200,000. The general public debt on Jan. 1, 1871, was 37,644,083 florins, and the railway debt 118,015,028. There were 590 m. of railway, 977 m. of telegraph, and 487 sailing and steam vessels engaged in the navigation of the Rhine and the Neckar. Military service is obligatory upon all, the period being three years in active service, four in the reserve, and five in the landwehr; the annual contingent is 4,700 men. The actual force in time of peace is 13,695 men of all arms, besides 568 artillerymen garrisoning the fortress of Rastadt, and in time of war may be raised to 43,705. &mdash; The southern portions of Baden are supposed to have been originally peopled by Celts, who were dispossessed by Alemanni. The country subsequently formed a part of the Frankish empire. Berthold, a supposed descendant of the Alemannian dukes, was master of the castle of Zähringen, near Freiburg, and the first duke of Zähringen, in the latter half of the 11th

His descendants assumed the title of margraves of Baden, but in 1190 the family was split into two branches, Baden and Hochberg, and other divisions took place afterward, as well as various acquisitions by marriage or purchase. Christopher I., who died in 1527, united most of the possessions of the house, but on his death the margraviate was divided between his two surviving sons, who thus formed the two lines of Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach. The line of Baden-Baden became extinct by the death of Augustus George in 1771, and its possessions were united with Baden-Durlach, under the long and prosperous reign of the margrave Charles Frederick. By the treaty of Lunéville in 1801, Baden acquired a considerable addition of territory, and was further increased in 1803, when the margrave received the title of prince elector, and by the treaty of Presburg in 1805. In 1806, on the dissolution of the German empire, the elector joined the confederation of the Rhine, and, upon occasion of the marriage of the heir apparent with Stéphanie Beauharnais, received from Napoleon the title of grand duke and 1,950 square miles of additional territory; some smaller additions in 1809 and 1810 increased Baden to its present extent. After the battle of Leipsic in 1813 the grand duchy returned to the German confederation. It then formed a territory of about 5,800 sq. m., with a population of something more than 1,000,000. The public debt was large, and the taxes burdensome; and moreover a strong desire had grown up among the people for a constitutional government. This led to earnest discussions in the chambers, and to some administrative reforms. The revolutionary movements of 1830 produced little effect upon Baden; but after the proclamation of the French republic in 1848 a revolution broke out in Baden, which was soon suppressed. (See .) In May, 1849, a new revolution expelled the grand duke, set up a provisional government, and was only overcome in July by aid of the armed force of Prussia. (See .) In 1852 the grand duke died, and there arose a question as to the succession, which was further complicated by a dispute between the civil power and the Catholic archbishop of Freiburg. The question of succession was finally disposed of, the grand duke Frederick William Louis assuming the authority. He married in 1856 the daughter of the king of Prussia, now emperor of Germany. On the division between North and South Germany in 1866, Baden was forced by its geographical position to side with South Germany, although its sympathies were with Prussia. At the close of 1870 it was incorporated with the German empire. The troops of Baden form the largest part of the 14th German army corps.