Baden

Baden, city, Austria

Baden (bä`dən) or Baden-bei-Wien (–bī-vēn`), city (1991 pop. 23,176), Lower Austria province, E Austria, on the Schwechat River, near Vienna. The hot sulfur springs of this picturesque city have been frequented since Roman times. From 1945 to 1955, Baden served as the Soviet military headquarters for Austria.

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Baden, former state, Germany

Baden (bä`dən), former state, SW Germany. Karlsruhe was the capital. Stretching from the Main River in the northeast across the lower Neckar valley and along the right bank of the Rhine to Lake Constance (Bodensee), the former state of Baden bordered on France and the Rhenish Palatinate in the west, Switzerland in the south, Hesse in the north, and Bavaria and Württemberg in the east. It included the cities of Mannheim, Pforzheim, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Freiburg, and Rastatt and, in the south, most of the Black Forest. Until the French Revolution the area was a confusing jigsaw puzzle of petty margraviates and ecclesiastical states (the bishoprics of Mainz, Speyer, Strasbourg, and Konstanz). The Breisgau belonged to the Hapsburgs, the Mannheim-Heidelberg area to the Rhenish Palatinate. In 1771 the margraviates of Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach were united as Baden under the same branch of the house of Zähringen. Margrave Charles Frederick of Baden, raised to the rank of elector at the beginning of the 19th cent., joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 with the title of grand duke and by 1810 had acquired, with the aid of Napoleon I of France, the entire state of Baden. Despite the liberal constitution of 1818 the grand duchy was severely shaken by the Revolution of 1848, which was suppressed with the help of Prussian troops. Among the revolutionary leaders in Baden was Friedrich Hecker. Baden sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), but joined the German Empire in 1871. It became a republic in 1918 and joined the Weimar Republic. After World War II, Baden was divided into two parts—in the south, the state of Baden (3,842 sq mi/9,951 sq km), occupied by France, and in the north, the state of Württemberg-Baden (1,984 sq mi/5,139 sq km), including part of Württemberg, occupied by U.S. armed forces. In 1952 the two states were merged with Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form the new state of Baden-Württemberg.

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Baden, town, Switzerland

Baden, anc. Aquae Helveticae, town (1990 pop. 15,718), Aargau canton, N Switzerland, on the Limmat River. A noted spa since ancient times, the town has hot sulfur springs. It is also a manufacturing center known for electrical-engineering works and other factories. The Swiss diet met at Baden from c.1425 to 1712. The Treaty of Baden (1714) complemented the Peace of Utrecht (see Utrecht, Peace of). Baden was the capital (1798–1803) of Baden canton under the Helvetic Republic. The castle of Stein, now in ruins, was once a Hapsburg residence.

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Baden

Former German state, southern Germany. The name (meaning “baths”) refers to the warm mineral springs, particularly in the town of Baden-Baden, valued since Roman times. Baden first became a political unit in 1112. Split up many times, the territory was finally reunited under Charles Frederick in 1771. A centre of 19th-century liberalism, it was active in the revolutions of 1848–50. It joined the German Empire in 1871 and became part of the Weimar Republic in 1919. After World War II, Baden was incorporated into West Germany as part of Baden-Württemberg state.

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Baden

a former state of West Germany, now part of Baden-Württemberg