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BADEN
joined the Confederation of the Rhine, and received the title of Grand Duke, with 1950 square miles of additional territory. Shortly after this extension and consolidation had taken place, Bavaria laid claim to a portion of the duchy, but her demands were indignantly rejected, and in 1818 the grand duke bestowed on the country a political constitution, the fundamental principle of which was the territorial integrity of Baden. In the following year this integrity was guaranteed by the Frankfort Commission. The first session of the Baden parliament fell into disputes and had to be dissolved; but the second, in 1820, commenced the work of reform by the complete abolition of serfdom and the establishment of ministerial responsibility. In 1821 the union of the two Protestant churches in Baden was brought about. Other questions of importance, such as trial by jury, freedom of the press, abolition of tithes, and extension of education, became subjects of interest and debate; but, unfortunately, the influence of the French revolution of 1830 led the democratic party to excesses, which the Government met with acts of ill-advised repression. Matters were beginning to readjust themselves when the revolution of 1848 again aroused the opposing forces. In 1849 the duke was constrained to flee, and Brentano, the democratic leader, took possession of Carlsruhe in the name of the national committee. By the 25th of June, however, the Prussian forces, after several severe engagements with the revolutionists, effected the restoration of the duke, who returned to his capital on 18th August; and it was not long before the country began to recover from the effects of the outbreak. Not, indeed, that it became quiescent; for Baden has had its full share in the political and ecclesiastical disputes that have been so rife throughout Germany during recent years. The Roman Catholic clergy, with the bishop of Freiburg at their head, have maintained an obstinate struggle with the Liberal party, which is now predominant. The separation of church and state has been established; the Jews have been admitted to full civic rights; freedom of trade has been promulgated, and a number of minor reforms successfully carried through. In the German war of 1866 Baden sided against Prussia; but in 1870 it joined in the formation of the new German empire, and its troops are incorporated in the 14th corps of the imperial army.
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| Ground-Plan of Baden-Baden. | ||
BADEN (or Baden-Baden, to distinguish it from other places of the name), a town and celebrated watering-place of Germany, in the grand duchy of Baden. It stands on the side of a hill, near the Oos or Oel, in a beautiful valley of the Black Forest, 18 miles S.W. of Carlsruhe; and it is connected by a branch with the Manheim and Basel railway. The superiority of its situation, its extensive pleasure-grounds, gardens, and promenades, and the brilliancy of the life that is led during the season, have for a long series of years continued to attract crowds of visitors from all parts of the world. The resident population amounts to about 10,000, but that number is frequently augmented fourfold. The prevailing nationality is, or rather was, the French, but Americans, Russians, and English are all numerously represented. The hot springs, which were among the earliest attractions of the place, are twenty-nine in number, and vary in temperature from 37° to 54° R., i.e., from 115° to 153° Fahr. They flow from the castle rock at the rate of 90 gallons per minute, and the water is conveyed through the town in pipes to supply the different baths. The town proper is on the right bank of the Oos, but the principal resorts of the adventitious population are on the other side. A Conversationshaus and a Trinkhalle or pump-room (1842), a theatre (1861), and a picture-gallery, are among the chief fashionable buildings, to which may be added the library and reading-room. The gaming-tables, which for so many
