Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Encyclopedia
Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden (Karlsruhe
, 29 August 1790 – Karlsruhe
, 24 April 1852) succeeded in 1830 as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden
.
Although a younger child, Leopold was the first son of Margrave Karl Friederich of Baden
by his second, morganatic wife Louise Karoline, Baroness Geyer of Geyersberg. Since Luise Karoline was not of equal birth with the Margrave, the marriage was deemed morganatic and the resulting children were incapable of inheriting their father's princely status or the sovereign rights of the Zähringen
House of Baden. Luise Karoline and her children were given the titles of baron and baroness and later count or countess of Hochberg
.
Baden gained territory during the Napoleonic Wars
. As a result, Margrave Karl Friederich was elevated to the title of Prince-Elector
of the Holy Roman Empire
(Kurfurst). With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, he took the title Grand Duke
of Baden.
, Leopold of Hochberg followed a career as an officer in the French army.
Starting in 1817, events resulted in a dramatic change in the situation of the Hochberg children when it became apparent that the Baden male line descended from Karl Friederich's first wife would die out. One by one, the males of the House of Baden died without leaving male descendants. By 1817, there were only two males left, the reigning Grand Duke Charles I and his childless uncle Louis I. Both of Charles's sons died in infancy. The dynasty faced a serious succession problem.
A series of agreements provided that Baden would be inherited by the Wittelsbach
kings of Bavaria
at the extinction of the Zähringen male line in Baden. King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria was married to Grand Duke Charles's eldest sister, Katharina Karoline
. The female most closely related to the last male often inherited in such circumstances (sometimes called Semi-Salic succession). As a result, Maximilian had a strong claim to Baden under the normal rules of inheritance and various agreements added weight to his claims. Following the Congress of Vienna
, a treaty of April 16, 1816 between Bavaria
and Austria
secured the Wittelsbach rights to Baden.
To save his dynasty from extinction, Grand Duke Charles needed to find a way to preserve the Zähringen line. Granting succession rights to his half-uncles seemed the ideal solution. Accordingly, in 1817 Karl issued a new succession law under which the children of the Hochberg marriage became princes and princesses of Baden with full dynastic rights. Leopold of Hochberg became His Grand Ducal Highness, Prince Leopold of Baden and second-in-line to the throne after his remaining half-brother, Louis.
In 1818, Charles granted a liberal constitution to the people of Baden. This constitution ensured the succession rights of the offspring of Louise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Finally, on July 10, 1819, a few months after Charles's death, the great powers (Great Britain
, France
, Austria
, Russia
, and Prussia
) joined with Bavaria and Baden in the Treaty of Frankfurt which recognized the succession rights of the former Hochberg morganatic line.
After Grand Duke Charles died on December 8, 1818, his full-uncle (the son of Charles Frederick's first marriage) succeeded as Louis I. To further improve the status of his half-brother and heir, Ludwig arranged for the new Prince Leopold to marry his great-niece, Sophie
, daughter of former King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
by Grand Duke Charles's sister, Frederica
. Since Sophie was a granddaughter of Leopold's oldest half-brother, Charles Louis, this marriage united the descendants of his father's (Grand Duke Charles Frederick's) two wives. Sophie's undoubted royal blood would help to offset the stigma of Leopold's morganatic birth.
When Grand Duke Louis died on March 30, 1830, he was the last male of the House of Baden not descended from the morganatic marriage of Charles Frederick and Louise Karoline Geyer of Geyersberg. The former morganatic child Leopold of Hochberg, recently raised to princely rank, now succeeded as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden.
his half-grand-niece Sophie of Sweden
(21 May 1801 – 6 July 1865), the eldest daughter of the former King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
and Queen Frederika
, who herself was a daughter of Hereditary Prince Charles Louis of Baden (Leopold's half-brother).
Sophia and Leopold had the following children.
According to church records in Baden, Leopold also had two children with Sophia Vittali, the daughter of an Italian-born merchant named Pietro Vittali.
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...
, 29 August 1790 – Karlsruhe
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...
, 24 April 1852) succeeded in 1830 as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden
Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
.
Although a younger child, Leopold was the first son of Margrave Karl Friederich of Baden
Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden
Charles Frederick, 1st Grand Duke of Baden was Margrave, elector and later Grand Duke of Baden from 1738 until his death.-Biography:...
by his second, morganatic wife Louise Karoline, Baroness Geyer of Geyersberg. Since Luise Karoline was not of equal birth with the Margrave, the marriage was deemed morganatic and the resulting children were incapable of inheriting their father's princely status or the sovereign rights of the Zähringen
Zähringen
Zähringen is the name of an old German family that founded a large number of cities in what are today Switzerland and Baden-Württemberg. While the junior line that first assumed the title Duke of Zähringen, a cadet branch of the House of Baden, became extinct in 1218, the senior line persists and...
House of Baden. Luise Karoline and her children were given the titles of baron and baroness and later count or countess of Hochberg
Hochberg
Hochberg may refer to* Princely families von Hochberg** Margraves of Baden-Hochberg ** Reichsgrafen of Hochberg-Fürstenstein at castle Fürstenstein near Wałbrzych in Silesia, since 1848 Duke of Pless...
.
Baden gained territory during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. As a result, Margrave Karl Friederich was elevated to the title of Prince-Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
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...
(Kurfurst). With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, he took the title Grand Duke
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...
of Baden.
The Hochberg heir
Since there were plenty of descendants from Charles Frederick's first marriage to Karoline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, no one expected the Hochberg children of his second wife to be anything except a family of counts with blood ties to the grand ducal family but no dynastic rights. With no prospects of advancement in BadenBaden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Leopold of Hochberg followed a career as an officer in the French army.
Starting in 1817, events resulted in a dramatic change in the situation of the Hochberg children when it became apparent that the Baden male line descended from Karl Friederich's first wife would die out. One by one, the males of the House of Baden died without leaving male descendants. By 1817, there were only two males left, the reigning Grand Duke Charles I and his childless uncle Louis I. Both of Charles's sons died in infancy. The dynasty faced a serious succession problem.
A series of agreements provided that Baden would be inherited by the Wittelsbach
Wittelsbach
The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...
kings of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
at the extinction of the Zähringen male line in Baden. King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria was married to Grand Duke Charles's eldest sister, Katharina Karoline
Caroline of Baden
Caroline of Baden of Baden was an Electress of Bavaria and later the first Queen of Bavaria as the spouse of King Maximilian I Joseph.- Biography :...
. The female most closely related to the last male often inherited in such circumstances (sometimes called Semi-Salic succession). As a result, Maximilian had a strong claim to Baden under the normal rules of inheritance and various agreements added weight to his claims. Following the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The 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,...
, a treaty of April 16, 1816 between Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
secured the Wittelsbach rights to Baden.
To save his dynasty from extinction, Grand Duke Charles needed to find a way to preserve the Zähringen line. Granting succession rights to his half-uncles seemed the ideal solution. Accordingly, in 1817 Karl issued a new succession law under which the children of the Hochberg marriage became princes and princesses of Baden with full dynastic rights. Leopold of Hochberg became His Grand Ducal Highness, Prince Leopold of Baden and second-in-line to the throne after his remaining half-brother, Louis.
In 1818, Charles granted a liberal constitution to the people of Baden. This constitution ensured the succession rights of the offspring of Louise Karoline Geyer von Geyersberg. Finally, on July 10, 1819, a few months after Charles's death, the great powers (Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
) joined with Bavaria and Baden in the Treaty of Frankfurt which recognized the succession rights of the former Hochberg morganatic line.
After Grand Duke Charles died on December 8, 1818, his full-uncle (the son of Charles Frederick's first marriage) succeeded as Louis I. To further improve the status of his half-brother and heir, Ludwig arranged for the new Prince Leopold to marry his great-niece, Sophie
Sophie of Sweden
Princess Sophie Wilhelmine of Sweden , was a Swedish princess and a consort Grand Duchess of Baden.- Biography :Sophie was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 May 1801. She was the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Queen consort Frederica of Baden...
, daughter of former King 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...
by Grand Duke Charles's 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...
. Since Sophie was a granddaughter of Leopold's oldest half-brother, Charles Louis, this marriage united the descendants of his father's (Grand Duke Charles Frederick's) two wives. Sophie's undoubted royal blood would help to offset the stigma of Leopold's morganatic birth.
When Grand Duke Louis died on March 30, 1830, he was the last male of the House of Baden not descended from the morganatic marriage of Charles Frederick and Louise Karoline Geyer of Geyersberg. The former morganatic child Leopold of Hochberg, recently raised to princely rank, now succeeded as the fourth Grand Duke of Baden.
Marriage and issue
On 25 July 1819, Leopold married in KarlsruheKarlsruhe
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 half-grand-niece Sophie of Sweden
Sophie of Sweden
Princess Sophie Wilhelmine of Sweden , was a Swedish princess and a consort Grand Duchess of Baden.- Biography :Sophie was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 May 1801. She was the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Queen consort Frederica of Baden...
(21 May 1801 – 6 July 1865), the eldest daughter of the former King 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...
and Queen Frederika
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...
, who herself was a daughter of Hereditary Prince Charles Louis of Baden (Leopold's half-brother).
Sophia and Leopold had the following children.
- Alexandrine (1820–1904), married Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1818–93), childless marriage due to which Ernest's younger brother Albert's British issue succeeded in that duchy.
- Louis (1822-22)
- Louis II (1824–58), reigned as Grand Duke 1852-58, deemed mentally unfit to rule
- Frederick I (1826–1907), Grand Duke 1858-1907, Regent 1852-58
- WilhelmPrince Wilhelm of Baden (1829–1897)Prince Louis William Augustus of Baden was a Prussian general and politician. He was the father of Prince Maximilian of Baden, the last Minister President of the Kingdom of Prussia and last Chancellor of the German Empire...
(1829–97), Prince, Prussian General, ancestor of the younger line of princes of Baden and father of Prince Max of Baden, German Chancellor, and later the heir of Grand Duchy - Charles (1832–1906), married Rosalie of Beust (morganatic)
- Mary (1834–99), married Prince Ernest of LeiningenErnst Leopold, 4th Prince of LeiningenErnst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen was a German nobleman.-Biography:He was the elder son of Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen and Countess Maria Klebelsberg. His father was the maternal half-brother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Ernst Leopold joined the Royal Navy in 1849...
(1830–1904) - Cecilie (1839–91), known as Olga Fedorovna, married Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of RussiaGrand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of RussiaGrand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia was the fourth son and seventh child of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia...
(1832–1902), Governor General in Tbilisi
According to church records in Baden, Leopold also had two children with Sophia Vittali, the daughter of an Italian-born merchant named Pietro Vittali.