Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden

Friedrich I of Baden, by Rudolf Epp, 1857

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

Friedrich I 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 to the Grand Duchy upon the death of his father in 1852 and the accession of his brother as Grand Duke Ludwig 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, Ludwig II, died in 1858. He was considered a relatively liberal supporter of a constitutional monarchy. During his reign the option of civil marriages were introduced in Baden as well as direct elections to the Lower House of the Parliament of Baden in 1904.

Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, by Hans Thoma

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

• Grand Duke Frederick II (1857-1928), who was the last Grand Duke after the fall of the German monarchies in 1918, married Princess Hilda of Nassau (later princess of Luxembourg).
• Victoria (1862-1930), married King Gustav V of Sweden.
• Ludwig (1865-1888).

Friedrich 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 descendants of his great-grandson Count Lennart Bernadotte, (1909-2005).

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