Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden

Charles Frederick
Charles Frederick of Baden, painting by Johann Ludwig Kisling, 1806/1807.
Reign	12 May 1738 - 10 June 1811 (&1000000000000007300000073 years, &1000000000000002900000029 days)
Predecessor	Charles III William,
Successor	Charles
Spouse	Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt Louise Caroline, Baroness Geyer of Geyersberg
Issue
Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden Prince Frederick Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden Princess Louise Auguste Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden Prince William Prince Frederick Alexander Princess Amalie von Fürstenberg Prince Maximilian
Father	Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Durlach
Mother	Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz
Born	22 November 1728(1728-11-22)
Died	10 June 1811(1811-06-10) (aged 82)

Charles Frederick, 1st Grand Duke of Baden (November 22, 1728 – June 10, 1811^[1]) was Margrave, elector and later Grand Duke of Baden (initially only margrave of Baden-Durlach) from 1738 until his death.

Biography

Born at Karlsruhe, he was the son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Baden-Durlach and Amalia of Nassau-Dietz (October 13, 1710 – September 17, 1777), the daughter of Johan Willem Friso of Nassau-Dietz.

He succeeded his grandfather as Margrave of Baden-Durlach in 1738, and ruled personally from 1746 until 1771, when he inherited Baden-Baden from the Bernhard Line. Upon inheriting the latter Margraviate, the original land of Baden was reunited. He was regarded as a good example of an absolute ruler, supporting schools, universities, jurisprudence, civil service, economy, culture, and urban development. He outlawed torture in 1767, and serfdom in 1783. He was elected a Royal Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747 ^[2]

In 1803 Charles Frederick became elector of Baden, and in 1806 the first grand duke of Baden. Through the politics of minister Sigismund Freiherr von Reitzenstein, Baden acquired the Bishopric of Constance, and the territories of the Bishopric of Basel, the Bishopric of Strassburg, and the Bishopric of Speyer that lay on the right bank of the Rhine, in addition to Breisgau and Ortenau.^[3]

In 1806 Baden joined the Confederation of the Rhine.

Together with his architect Friedrich Weinbrenner, Charles Frederick was responsible for the construction of the handsome suite of classical buildings that distinguish Karlsruhe. He died in the latter city in 1811.

Marriage and children

Charles Frederick married Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt on January 28, 1751. She was the daughter of Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt, was born on July 11, 1723 and died on April 8, 1783.

Charles Frederick and Caroline Louise had the following children:

• Charles Louis (February 14, 1755 - December 16, 1801). Charles Louis's son, Charles, succeeded Charles Frederick as Grand Duke upon the latter's death in 1811.
• Frederick (August 29, 1756 - May 28, 1817) married on December 9, 1791 Louise of Nassau-Usingen (August 16, 1776 - February 19, 1829), the daughter of Duke Frederick of Nassau-Usingen
• Louis (February 9, 1763 - March 30, 1830) married Countess Katharina Werner of Langenstein in 1818. Louis succeeded his nephew Charles as 3rd Grand Duke in 1818.
• Son (July 29, 1764 - July 29, 1764)
• Louise Auguste (January 8, 1767 - January 11, 1767)

Charles Frederick statue in front of the Karlsruhe Palace (Schloss)

Charles Frederick married Louise Caroline, Baroness Geyer of Geyersberg as his second wife on November 24, 1787. She was the daughter of Louis Henry Philipp, Baron Geyer of Geyersberg and his wife Maximiliana Christiane, Countess of Sponeck. She was born on May 26, 1768 and died on July 23, 1820. This was a morganatic marriage, and the children born of it were not eligible to succeed. Louise was created Baroness of Hochberg at the time of her marriage and Countess of Hochberg in 1796; both titles were also borne by her children.

They had the following children:

• Leopold (August 29, 1790 - April 24, 1852)
• William (April 8, 1792 - October 11, 1859)
• Frederick Alexander (June 10, 1793 - June 18, 1793)
• Amalie (January 26, 1795 - September 14, 1869) married on April 19, 1818 Charles Egon II of Fürstenberg (October 28, 1796 - October 22, 1854).
• Maximilian (December 8, 1796 - March 6, 1882)

By 1817, the descendants of Charles Frederick by his first wife were dying out. To prevent Baden from being inherited by the next heir (and brother-in-law), King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, the reigning Grand Duke, Charles, (the first Grand Duke's grandson) changed the succession law to give the Hochberg family full dynastic rights in Baden. They thus became Princes and Princesses of Baden with the style of Grand Ducal Highness, like their elder half-siblings. Their succession rights were reinforced when Baden was granted a constitution in 1818, and recognised by Bavaria and the Great Powers in the Treaty of Frankfurt, 1819. Leopold's descendants ruled the Grand Duchy of Baden until 1918. The current pretenders are descendants of Leopold.

Leopold, the eldest son of the second marriage, succeeded as Grand Duke in 1830.

Ancestry

References

1. ^ von Weech, Friedrich von. "Karl Friedrich, Großherzog von Baden" (in German) (Online edition). Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 15 (1882). pp. 241–248. http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/artikelADB_pnd118560166.html. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
2. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27margrave%27%29. Retrieved 2011-07-15. 
3. ^ Frei, Alfred; Kurt Hochstuhl, G. Braun (1996) (in German). Wegbereiter der Demokratie. G. Braun Buchverlag. ISBN 3-7650-8168-X. 

Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden House of Zähringen Born: 22 November 1728 Died: 10 June 1811
Regnal titles
Preceded by Charles III	Margrave of Baden-Durlach 1738–1771	Reunification of Baden
Preceded by Augustus George Simpert	Margrave of Baden-Baden 1771
Preceded by Himself as Margrave of Baden	Margrave of Baden 1771–1803	Elevated to electorate
New title Electorate established	Elector of Baden 1803–1806	Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire
New title Grand Duchy of Baden established	Grand Duke of Baden 1806–1811	Succeeded by Charles

Persondata
Name	Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 22, 1728
Place of birth
Date of death	June 10, 1811
Place of death