The New International Encyclopædia/Rastatt

RASTATT, or RASTADT, rä'stȧt. A town in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, on the Murg, three miles from its junction with the Rhine, and 15 miles by rail southwest of Karlsruhe (Map: Germany, C 4). Its strong fortifications were dismantled in 1890. The town has a large palace (now a barrack), a gymnasium, and an industrial school. It manufactures iron hearths, tobacco, and lace. Rastatt is memorable for the two congresses held here. At the first, in 1714, a treaty of peace (following that of Utrecht) was signed which brought the War of the Spanish Succession to a close. The second congress was that of 1797-99 between France and the German Empire. It effected nothing, a new coalition having been formed against France. Its dissolution was followed by the assassination of two of the French delegates, a crime which aroused great indignation throughout Europe. For about 20 years previous to 1866 the fortress of Rastatt was occupied by the troops of the German Confederation. The Baden revolution in 1849 began and ended in Rastatt, which finally surrendered to the Prussians. Population, in 1890, 11,557; in 1900, 13,940. Consult Hüffer, Der Rastatter Gesandtenmord (Bonn, 1896).