Karl, Grand Duke of Baden
Encyclopedia
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Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
.
His father was Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden, the heir
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
to the Margraviate of Baden
Margraviate of Baden
The Margraviate of Baden were a historical territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It was already named so in 1112 and existed until the division in 1535 and lived with the reunion back in 1771, until the Electorate of Baden came up in 1803...
, which was raised to a grand duchy
Grand duchy
A grand duchy, sometimes referred to as a grand dukedom, is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a grand duke or grand duchess.Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy...
after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in 1806. His mother was Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt
Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt was the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Henriette Karoline of Palatine-Zweibrücken.-Marriage and issue:...
, the daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1768 - 1790. He was a son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Müntzenberg....
. He was the brother-in-law of the rulers of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and Sweden. His eldest sister Caroline was the queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, his second eldest sister Louise
Louise of Baden
Elizabeth Alexeievna was the wife of Emperor Alexander I of Russia.-Princess of Baden:...
was the Empress consort of Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
and his third eldest sister Frederica
Frederica of Baden
Friederike Dorothea Wilhelmina of Baden was Queen consort of Sweden from 1797 to 1809. Daughter of Karl Ludwig of Baden and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, she was the younger sister of Empress Elisabeth Alexeievna , wife of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.-Biography:She was born in Karlsruhe...
was the queen consort of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden also Gustav Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish...
.
At the age of 15, Charles went on a journey to visit his sisters in their courts in St. Petersburg and Stockholm. He was on his way home with his father, when his father died in a fall from his coach on December 15, 1801. Charles was a witness to this accident.
Due to the strong influence of France on the court of Baden, Charles was forced to marry, Stéphanie de Beauharnais
Stéphanie de Beauharnais
Stéphanie, Grand Duchess of Baden was the consort of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden.-Biography:...
, adopted daughter of Napoléon I of France in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on April 8, 1806. This despite his own protests and those of his mother and sisters. Charles apparently preferred the hand of his cousin Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg was the second child and eldest daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.- Marriage and issue :...
. It would be 5 years before the couple would produce an heir.
Charles went to war in 1807 as head of the Baden contingent under Marshal Lefebvre. There he took part in the siege of Danzig
Siege of Danzig (1807)
The Siege of Danzig was the French encirclement and capture of Danzig during the War of the Fourth Coalition. On 19 March, 1807, around 27,000 French troops under Marshall Lefebvre besieged around 11,000 Prussian and Russian troops under Marshall Kalckreuth garrisoning the city of...
.
In 1808, Charles returned to the side of his grandfather. His grandfather's age was beginning to show and Charles became coregent. Charles was 25 years old when he succeeded his grandfather Charles Frederick upon the latters death on June 11, 1811.
Events that occurred during his reign
- The end of Napoleon I's rule and the Congress of ViennaCongress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, which confirmed the territorial gains Baden had made during the Napoleonic era. - 1818 The passing of a new, liberal constitution
- The height of Friedrich WeinbrennerFriedrich WeinbrennerFriedrich Weinbrenner was a German architect and city planner admired for his mastery of classical style.- Birth and education :...
's career - 1817 The start of the administration of the Rhine by Johann Gottfried TullaJohann Gottfried TullaJohann Gottfried Tulla was a German engineer, who in the nineteenth century accomplished the straightening of the Rhine, improving navigation and alleviating the effects of flooding. His measures gave the upper Rhine a completely new appearance...
- The premiere of the velocipedeVelocipedeVelocipede is an umbrella term for any human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle....
by Karl DraisKarl DraisKarl Drais was a German inventor and invented the Laufmaschine , also later called the velocipede, draisine or "draisienne" , also nicknamed the dandy horse. This incorporated the two-wheeler principle that is basic to the bicycle and motorcycle and was the beginning of mechanized personal...
Marriage and family
Hereditary Prince Karl married Stéphanie de BeauharnaisStéphanie de Beauharnais
Stéphanie, Grand Duchess of Baden was the consort of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden.-Biography:...
(August 28, 1789 – January 29, 1860), daughter of Claude de Beauharnais in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on April 8, 1806. Their children:
- LouisePrincess Louise Amelie of BadenPrincess Louise Amelie Stephanie of Baden was a daughter of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden and his wife Stéphanie de Beauharnais.-Family:...
(June 5, 1811 – July 19, 1854) married her first cousin Gustav of Sweden (November 9, 1799 – August 4, 1877) on November 9, 1830. - Unnamed son (September 29, 1812 – October 16, 1812)
- JosephinePrincess Josephine of BadenPrincess Josephine Friederike Luise of Baden was born at Mannheim, the daughter of Karl, Grand Duke of Baden and his wife, Stéphanie de Beauharnais.-Life:...
(October 21, 1813 – June 19, 1900) married Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (September 7, 1811 – June 2, 1885) on October 21, 1834. - Alexander (May 1, 1816 – May 8, 1817)
- Marie (October 11, 1817 – October 17, 1888) married William Hamilton, 11th Duke of HamiltonWilliam Hamilton, 11th Duke of HamiltonWilliam Alexander Archibald Douglas-Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton and 8th Duke of Brandon , styled Earl of Angus before 1819 and Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale between 1819 and 1852, was a Scottish nobleman.He was the son of Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton and Susan Euphemia...
(February 15, 1811 – July 15, 1863) on February 23, 1843
As Grand Duke Charles did not have any surviving male children, upon his death in Rastatt
Rastatt
Rastatt is a city and baroque residence in the District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50'000...
, he was succeeded by his uncle Louis I. It has been speculated that the foundling Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death by stabbing, sparked much debate and controversy....
was his son, and therefore the actual hereditary prince, a claim now established as false.