Electorate of Baden

Territory in the Holy Roman Empire
Electorate of Baden
coat of arms
map
Area increase in 1802/1803 in purple
Alternative names	Spas
Arose from	Margraviate of Baden
Form of rule	monarchy
Ruler / government	Elector Karl Friedrich
Parliament	5 virile votes on the secular bench in the Reichsfürstenrat
Capitals / residences	Karlsruhe
Dynasties	House Baden ( Zähringer )
Denomination / Religions	Roman Catholic , Lutheran and Reformed
Incorporated into	Grand Duchy of Baden 1806

The Electorate of Baden was a short-lived and unofficial name for the margraviate of Baden in the last three years of the Holy Roman Empire . It was created on April 27, 1803 with the entry into force of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , when Margrave Karl Friedrich received one of the electoral dignities that became free through the dissolution of the spiritual principalities . When he signed the Rhine Confederation Act in 1806 and thereby supported the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the electoral dignity lapsed and the margraviate was elevated to the status of a Grand Duchy by Napoleon's grace .

Territorial changes

Overview

Territorial and population losses / gains 1796–1803

	Square miles	km²	Residents
Margraviate of Baden	64.88	3,572	229 040
Areas on the left bank of the Rhine under the jurisdiction of Baden	5.375	296	15 430
= Possessions of the House of Baden 1796	70.26	3 868	244 470
Losses on the left bank of the Rhine (1796) under Baden sovereignty	13.5	743	34 140
Losses on the left bank of the Rhine (1796) under Baden civil authority	5.375	296	15 430
compensation	61.77	3 401	253 396
Electorate of Baden 1803 (mathematical)	113.15	6 230	448 296
Electorate of Baden 1803	113.35	6 241	450 156

At the beginning of the 19th century, the margraviate of Baden, which emerged in 1771 from the union of the Protestant line of Baden-Durlach and the extinct Catholic line of Baden-Baden , comprised an area of ​​64.88 geographical square miles (3572 square kilometers) with around 229,000 inhabitants. On the left bank of the Rhine, the Margraviate of Baden lost 13.5 square miles (743 square kilometers) with 34 140 inhabitants to France with the Paris Peace Treaty in 1796 . Instead it was compensated for in 1803 by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss announced in Regensburg on the right bank of the Rhine with 61.77 square miles (3401 square kilometers) of new territory and 253 396 of new residents.

The compensation was therefore about three times for the area and five times for the population. During the negotiations, the Baden side asserted that their damage, in addition to the loss of territory, consisted of high contributions and war damage, which did not occur to this extent in the case of the imperial estates further away from the border.

The Electoral Palatinate - area consolidation of Bavaria

During the negotiations on a compensation plan for the loss of the areas on the left bank of the Rhine, the Baden ambassador in Paris, Sigismund von Reitzenstein , demanded that the areas on the right bank of the Electoral Palatinate be incorporated into Baden. Reitzenstein originally only wanted to build up a negotiating position for any exchange objects. Bavaria, however, agreed to waive it if it were compensated with areas closer to its heartland. Bavaria received this compensation - primarily the prince-bishopric of Augsburg - and renounced the then already over-indebted Electoral Palatinate (with Mannheim and Heidelberg ).

Secularization of clerical principalities, monasteries and monasteries

As further compensation for the loss of the areas on the left bank of the Rhine to France , Baden received the right bank holdings of the bishoprics of Constance , Basel , Strasbourg and Speyer . In addition there were the imperial monasteries Petershausen and Gengenbach , the imperial abbey of Salem and most of the imperial monastery Salmannsweiler , as well as the prelatures Schwarzach , Frauenalb , Allerheiligen , Lichtental , Ettenheimmünster , Reichenau and Öhningen .

Mediatization of the imperial cities

In addition, the Ortenau imperial cities ( Offenburg , Gengenbach , Zell am Harmersbach ) and the Reichstal Harmersbach Baden were added to the mediatization , as well as the Linzgau with Überlingen and Pfullendorf . The imperial city of Wimpfen was originally added, but was immediately ceded to the Grand Duchy of Hesse as part of an area exchange . Biberach an der Riss , which had also fallen to Baden , was exchanged in 1806 for the cities of Villingen , Bräunlingen and Tuttlingen as well as the county of Bonndorf at Württemberg , which the city took possession of on October 24, 1806.

population

After the principle of cuius regio eius religio had already been softened by the merger of the Roman Catholic margraviate of Baden-Baden with the Lutheran margraviate of Baden-Durlach to form the margraviate of Baden in 1771 , the new electorate received a territory that was shaped by reforms through the incorporation of the Electoral Palatinate . The elector had three major Christian denominations in his newly joined state.

literature

• Maria Schimke (Ed.): Government files of the Electorate and Grand Duchy of Baden 1803–1815 . Sources on the reforms in the federal states of the Rhine, vol. 8. Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag 2011, ISBN 978-3-486-58677-0
• Electoral Baden State Organization. In 13 edicts including supplements and appendices. Carlsruhe 1803 in the Google book search
• Adam Ignaz Valentin Heunisch : The Grand Duchy of Baden, described historically-geographically-statistically-topographically. Heidelberg, Julius Gross'sche Universitätsbuchhandlung publishing house, 1857 Google digitized version

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The margraviate of Hachberg as part of the margraviate of Baden-Durlach had its own vote, plus one vote each for the margravates of Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach; in accordance with § 32 of the Reichsdeputation Hauptschluss, Baden also received one vote each for the areas of the former principal dioceses of Speyer and Strasbourg
2. ↑ geographic square miles
3. ↑ 1 geographic square mile = 55.06 km²
4. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 31 Google digitized
5. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 32 Google digitized version
6. ↑ These are the rulers Rodemachern and Hesperingen, which were under Austrian rule
7. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 33 Google digitized
8. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 33 Google digitized
9. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 31 Google digitized
10. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 32 Google digitized version
11. ↑ These are the rulers Rodemachern and Hesperingen, which were under Austrian rule
12. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 33 Google digitized
13. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 33 Google digitized
14. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 44 Google digitized
15. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 44 Google digitized
16. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 44 Google digitized
17. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 46 Google digitized version
18. ↑ s. Heunisch p. 46 Google digitized version
19. ↑ Dieter Stievermann: History of the City of Biberach (special cover) . Konrad Theiss Verlag , Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-8062-0564-7 , p. 499 ff .