Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden

For the first margrave of Baden of this name, see Frederick I, Margrave of Baden.
Frederick I
Grand Duke of Baden
Reign 22 January 1858 – 28 September 1907
Predecessor Louis II
Successor Frederick II
Born (1826-09-09)9 September 1826
Karlsruhe
Died 28 September 1907(1907-09-28) (aged 81)
Mainau
Spouse Princess Louise of Prussia
Issue
Detail		 Frederick II
Victoria, Queen of Sweden
Prince Louis
Full name
Frederick William Louis
House House of Zähringen
Father Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Mother Sophie of Sweden
Religion Lutheranism

Frederick I (Frederick Wilhelm Ludwig) (9 September 1826 – 28 September 1907) was the Grand Duke of Baden from 1856 to 1907.

Life

Frederick was born in Karlsruhe, on 9 September 1826. He was the third son of Grand Duke Leopold (1790–1852) and of his wife, Grand Duchess Sophie (1801–1865), who was born Princess of Sweden, daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden.

He became the heir presumptive to the Grand Duchy upon the death of his father in 1852[1] and the accession of his brother as Grand Duke Louis II. Due to his brother's mental ill-health, he was Regent ad interim of Baden in 1852–1855, and took the title of Grand Duke in 1856. His brother, Louis II, died in 1858. He was considered a relatively liberal supporter of a constitutional monarchy. During his reign the option of civil marriages was introduced in Baden as well as direct elections to the Lower House of the Parliament of Baden in 1904.[2]

In 1856, he married Princess Louise, daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Weimar.[2] The couple had three children.

The Grand Duke had a pivotal role in the history of the Zionist Movement. In 1896 the Grand Duke met Theodor Herzl (the founder of political Zionism) via their mutual acquaintance the reverend William Hechler, and helped Herzl in obtaining an audience with his nephew, the German Emperor. After some persuasion on the part of the Grand Duke, the Emperor had finally accepted the appeal for an audience and it took place in Palestine in the 2 November 1898, while the Kaiser was in his trip to Palestine to inaugurate the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem.

Frederick I was present at the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles in 1871,[2] as he was the only son-in-law of the Emperor and one of the reigning sovereigns of Germany. He died at his summer residence at the island of Mainau in southern Germany on 28 September 1907. Today, Mainau is owned by the Lennart Bernadotte-Stiftung (the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation), created by Frederick's great-grandson Count Lennart Bernadotte, (1909–2004).

Issue

NameBirthDeathNotes
Grand Duke Frederick II of Baden 9 July 1857 9 August 1928 Married Princess Hilda of Luxembourg, no issue.
Queen Victoria of Sweden 7 August 1862 4 April 1930 Married King Gustav V of Sweden, had issue.
Prince Louis of Baden 12 June 1865 23 February 1888 Died unmarried, no issue.

Styles

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ The Statesman's year-book. Palgrave (Harvard University). 1868. pp. 201–202. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Engehausen, Frank (2012). "Herrscher im liberalen Musterland" [Ruler in a Liberal Model Country]. Damals (in German). Vol. 44 no. 7. pp. 64–69.
Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden
Born: 9 September 1826 Died: 28 September 1907
German royalty
Preceded by
Louis II		 Grand Duke of Baden
1856–1907 		Succeeded by
Frederick II
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