Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden

Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden
Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden
Spouse(s)	Princess Louise of Prussia
Noble family	House of Zähringen
Father	Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
Mother	Sophie of Sweden
Born	9 September 1826(1826-09-09) Karlsruhe
Died	28 September 1907(1907-09-28) (aged 81) Mainau

Frederick I of Baden, by Rudolf Epp, 1857

Frederick I (Frederick Wilhelm Ludwig) (September 9, 1826 – September 28, 1907) was the sixth Grand Duke of Baden from 1856 to 1907.

Frederick was born in Karlsruhe, on September 9, 1826. He was the third son of Grand Duke Leopold (1790–1852) and of his wife, Grand Duchess Sophie (1801–1865), who was born Princess of Sweden, daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden.

He became the heir presumptive to the Grand Duchy upon the death of his father in 1852 and the accession of his brother as Grand Duke Louis II. Due to his brother's mental ill-health, he was Regent ad interim of Baden in 1852-1855, and took the title of Grand Duke in 1856. His brother, Louis II, died in 1858. He was considered a relatively liberal supporter of a constitutional monarchy. During his reign the option of civil marriages was introduced in Baden as well as direct elections to the Lower House of the Parliament of Baden in 1904.

In 1856, he married Princess Louise of Prussia, daughter of (then the crown prince) Wilhelm I and his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Weimar. The couple had three children:

The Grand Duke had a pivotal role in the history of the Zionist Movement. In 1896 the Grand Duke met Theodor Herzl (the founder of political Zionism) via the their mutual acquaintance the reverend William Hechler, and helped Herzl in obtaining an audience with his nephew, the German Emperor. After some persuasion on the part of the Grand Duke, the Emperor had finally accepted the appeal for an audience and it took place in Palestine in the October 28 1898, while the Kaiser was in his pilgrimage trip to Palestine.

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Grand Duke Frederick II of Baden	July 9, 1857	August 9, 1928	Married Princess Hilda of Luxembourg, no issue.
Queen Victoria of Sweden	August 7, 1862	April 4, 1930	Married King Gustav V of Sweden, had issue.
Prince Louis of Baden	June 12, 1865	February 23, 1888	Died unmarried, no issue.

Frederick I was present at the proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles in 1871, as he was the only son-in-law of the Emperor and one of the reigning sovereigns of Germany. He died at his summer residence at the island of Mainau in southern Germany on September 28, 1907. Today, Mainau is owned by the Lennart Bernadotte-Stiftung (the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation), created by Frederick's great-grandson Count Lennart Bernadotte, (1909–2004).

References

Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden House of Zähringen Born: September 9 1826 Died: September 28 1907
German royalty
Preceded by Louis II	Grand Duke of Baden 1856-1907	Succeeded by Frederick II