Baden. Friedrich I Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Baden (1826-1907)

9 letters from the Grand Duke to the British Ambassador, the Rt. Hon. Lord Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus (1817-1904) and Lady Emma Loftus, written between 1858-1863. Photograph of the Grand Duke to Lady Emma, Berlin, 3 July 1857.

Friedrich I Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Baden was born in 1826. He succeeded to the title in 1852. Frederick worked with liberals in his state on a series of political, social and economic reforms. In Baden, as in states across Germany at this time, electoral participation increased, organisations multiplied, and a new generation of political leaders began to shine. However, a crisis emerged in 1864 when a religious struggle between liberals and Catholics erupted. The local difficulty in Baden was a new school law, but the problem was part of the wider German struggle led by Bismarck against clericalism and reactionary Austrian influences. As an ally of Prussia, the Grand Duke assisted in the founding of the German Empire. Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Baden, died in 1907.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Sheehan, James J. German history 1770-1866. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Sheehan, James J. German history 1770-1866. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.