Republic of Baden
Encyclopedia
The Republic of Baden was a state of Germany
during the time of the Weimar Republic
, formed after the abolition of the Grand Duchy of Baden
in 1918. It is now part of the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg
.
threatening the German Empire
in the dying days of World War I
, the state ministry of the Grand Duchy of Baden
passed an electoral reform on 2 November 1918 in a final attempt to preserve the monarchy there. On 8 November, workers' and soldiers' councils
were established in Lahr
and Offenburg
. On the following day, similar councils were established in Mannheim
and Karlsruhe
and the entire Badische state ministry stepped down.
On 10 November, a provisional government was formed in Karlsruhe and an assembly of the various revolutionary councils was held on the following day. On 13 November, Grand Duke Frederick II, relinquished all governing duties and eventually abdicated on 22 November, almost a week before the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II
.
The provisional government declared the establishment of the freie Volksrepublik Baden (Free Peoples' Republic of Baden) on 14 November 1918, and set 5 January 1919 as the date for new elections.
emerging as the strongest party ahead of the centre-left SPD
. Together, these two parties received 91.5% of all votes. On April 1, the Badische parliament (Landtag) formed a government from members of the Weimar Coalition
. Until 1933, Baden was mostly governed by the Centre Party.
On 21 March 1919, the Landtag unanimously passed a new constitution
. A popular vote approved of the constitution on 13 April. This popular vote was the first in German history and the Baden constitution was the only one passed by popular vote in Germany during the Weimar period.
in 1933, which effectively abolished all states - in practice, if not in law. The elected president of Baden was replaced with the Nazi-appointed Walter Köhler
, although administrative power in the region truly rested with Robert Heinrich Wagner
, the Gauleiter
of Baden and Reichsstatthalter
for Alsace-Lorraine
. In 1940-44 the Gau of Baden was extended westwards to include much of Alsace, and it was renamed "Baden-Elsass".
, Baden was divided between the American and French occupation zones. The division was made so that the Autobahn connecting Karlsruhe
and Munich
(today the A8
) was completely contained within the American zone. This northern American-administered area became part of Württemberg-Baden
on 19 September 1945 while the southern half (known as South Baden
, or simply Baden) was placed under French administration.
These two parts of Baden were reunited and merged with the former state of Württemberg on 23 April 1952 as the new German state of Baden-Württemberg
.
Baden was subdivided into four administrative districts (Landeskommissärbezirke, similar to the modern Regierungsbezirk
e): based in Karlsruhe
, Mannheim
, Freiburg
and Konstanz
. These districts were further divided into a total of 53 Amtsbezirke (in 1924, this number was reduced to 40). These were divided again into a total of 1,536 municipalities
.
, Baden was governed by appointed Nazi officials.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
during the time of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, formed after the abolition of the Grand Duchy 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:...
in 1918. It is now part of the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
.
The Revolution in Baden
With revolutionGerman Revolution
The German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany's imperial government with a republic...
threatening the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in the dying days of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the state ministry of the Grand Duchy 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:...
passed an electoral reform on 2 November 1918 in a final attempt to preserve the monarchy there. On 8 November, workers' and soldiers' councils
Workers' council
A workers' council, or revolutionary councils, is the phenomenon where a single place of work or enterprise, such as a factory, school, or farm, is controlled collectively by the workers of that workplace, through the core principle of temporary and instantly revocable delegates.In a system with...
were established in Lahr
Lahr
Lahr is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 38 km north of Freiburg in Breisgau and 100 km south of Karlsruhe...
and Offenburg
Offenburg
Offenburg is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With about 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city and the capital of the Ortenaukreis.Offenburg also houses University of Applied Sciences Offenburg...
. On the following day, similar councils were established in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
and 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...
and the entire Badische state ministry stepped down.
On 10 November, a provisional government was formed in Karlsruhe and an assembly of the various revolutionary councils was held on the following day. On 13 November, Grand Duke Frederick II, relinquished all governing duties and eventually abdicated on 22 November, almost a week before the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II
William II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
.
The provisional government declared the establishment of the freie Volksrepublik Baden (Free Peoples' Republic of Baden) on 14 November 1918, and set 5 January 1919 as the date for new elections.
The New Republic
A national assembly was created on January 12, 1919, with the Christian democratic Centre PartyCentre Party (Germany)
The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
emerging as the strongest party ahead of the centre-left SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
. Together, these two parties received 91.5% of all votes. On April 1, the Badische parliament (Landtag) formed a government from members of the Weimar Coalition
Weimar Coalition
The Weimar Coalition is the name given to the coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , the German Democratic Party , and the Catholic Centre Party, who together had a large majority of the delegates to the Constituent Assembly that met at Weimar in 1919, and were the principal groups...
. Until 1933, Baden was mostly governed by the Centre Party.
On 21 March 1919, the Landtag unanimously passed a new constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
. A popular vote approved of the constitution on 13 April. This popular vote was the first in German history and the Baden constitution was the only one passed by popular vote in Germany during the Weimar period.
Baden During Nazi Rule
Baden, like all other German states, was subject to the process of GleichschaltungGleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J...
in 1933, which effectively abolished all states - in practice, if not in law. The elected president of Baden was replaced with the Nazi-appointed Walter Köhler
Walter Köhler
Walter Friedrich Julius Köhler, was Minister President of Baden, Germany during the Nazi regime. Köhler was born in Weinheim, Baden. He was known as a talented speaker and strict anti-semite...
, although administrative power in the region truly rested with Robert Heinrich Wagner
Robert Heinrich Wagner
Robert Heinrich Wagner was Gauleiter of Baden and Head of the Civil Government of Alsace during the German occupation of France in World War II....
, the Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of Baden and Reichsstatthalter
Reichsstatthalter
The term Reichsstatthalter was used twice for different offices, in the imperial Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire and the single-party Nazi Third Reich.- "Statthalter des Reiches" 1879-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine :...
for Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
. In 1940-44 the Gau of Baden was extended westwards to include much of Alsace, and it was renamed "Baden-Elsass".
Post-War Baden
Through the Allied occupation of post-war GermanyAllied Occupation Zones in Germany
The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–49. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, US forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the...
, Baden was divided between the American and French occupation zones. The division was made so that the Autobahn connecting 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...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
(today the A8
Bundesautobahn 8
is an autobahn in southern Germany that runs 497 km from the Luxembourg A13 motorway at Schengen via Neunkirchen, Pirmasens, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich to the Austrian West Autobahn near Salzburg....
) was completely contained within the American zone. This northern American-administered area became part of Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Baden
Württemberg-Baden is a former state of Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the U.S. occupation forces, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. Its capital was Stuttgart...
on 19 September 1945 while the southern half (known as South Baden
South Baden
South Baden , formed in December 1945 from the southern half of the former Republic of Baden, was a subdivision of the French occupation zone of post-WWII Germany. The state was later renamed to Baden and became a founding state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949...
, or simply Baden) was placed under French administration.
These two parts of Baden were reunited and merged with the former state of Württemberg on 23 April 1952 as the new German state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
.
Administration
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
e): based in 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...
, Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
and Konstanz
Konstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
. These districts were further divided into a total of 53 Amtsbezirke (in 1924, this number was reduced to 40). These were divided again into a total of 1,536 municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
.
Leaders of the Republic of Baden
Following the constitution, passed in 1921, the President of Baden was an elected from the standing members of the Baden Landtag for a 1-year term. After GleichschaltungGleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J...
, Baden was governed by appointed Nazi officials.
| Name | Took Office | Left Office | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | ||||
| 1 | Anton Geiß | 10 November 1918 | 14 August 1920 | |
| 2 | Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk was a three-time President of Baden. He was a lawyer by occupation and was a member of the German Centre Party.... |
14 August 1920 | 23 November 1921 | |
| 3 | Hermann Hummel Hermann Hummel Hermann Hummel was a German chemist and politician in the Republic of Baden. He was a member of the DDP.- Early life and career :... |
23 November 1921 | 23 November 1922 | |
| 4 | Adam Remmele Adam Remmele Adam Remmele was a German social democratic politician in Baden. He also served in the Reichstag.- Pre-Republic Activities :... |
23 November 1922 | 23 November 1923 | |
| 5 | Heinrich Köhler Heinrich Köhler Franz Heinrich Köhler was a German politician who served as the fifth and eighth State President of Baden and the eleventh Minister of Finance in the Weimar Republic. He was a member of the Centre Party, and later the CDU... |
23 November 1923 | 23 November 1924 | |
| 6 | Willy Hellpach Willy Hellpach Willy Hellpach was the sixth State President of Baden. He was a member of the German Democratic Party . He was also a physician and psychologist.... |
23 November 1924 | 23 November 1925 | |
| - | Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk was a three-time President of Baden. He was a lawyer by occupation and was a member of the German Centre Party.... (2nd term) |
23 November 1925 | 23 November 1926 | |
| - | Heinrich Köhler Heinrich Köhler Franz Heinrich Köhler was a German politician who served as the fifth and eighth State President of Baden and the eleventh Minister of Finance in the Weimar Republic. He was a member of the Centre Party, and later the CDU... (2nd term) |
23 November 1926 | 3 February 1927 | |
| - | Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk Gustav Trunk was a three-time President of Baden. He was a lawyer by occupation and was a member of the German Centre Party.... (3rd term) |
3 February 1927 | 23 November 1928 | |
| - | Adam Remmele Adam Remmele Adam Remmele was a German social democratic politician in Baden. He also served in the Reichstag.- Pre-Republic Activities :... (2nd term) |
23 November 1927 | 23 November 1928 | |
| 7 | Josef Schmitt | 23 November 1928 | 20 November 1930 | |
| 8 | Franz Josef Wittemann | 20 November 1928 | 10 September 1931 | |
| - | Josef Schmitt (2nd term) | 10 September 1931 | 11 March 1933 | |
| Reichsstatthalter Reichsstatthalter The term Reichsstatthalter was used twice for different offices, in the imperial Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire and the single-party Nazi Third Reich.- "Statthalter des Reiches" 1879-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine :... and Gauleiter Gauleiter A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:... |
||||
| Robert Heinrich Wagner Robert Heinrich Wagner Robert Heinrich Wagner was Gauleiter of Baden and Head of the Civil Government of Alsace during the German occupation of France in World War II.... |
11 March 1933 | April 1945 | ||
| Appointed Minister-President Minister-President A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers... |
||||
| Walter Köhler Walter Köhler Walter Friedrich Julius Köhler, was Minister President of Baden, Germany during the Nazi regime. Köhler was born in Weinheim, Baden. He was known as a talented speaker and strict anti-semite... |
8 May 1933 | April 1945 | ||
See also
- BadenBadenBaden 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....
, for the pre-19th century state - Baden-WürttembergBaden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, for the modern German federal state - History of BadenHistory of BadenThe history of Baden as a state began in the 12th century, as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. A fairly inconsequential margraviate that was divided between various branches of its ruling family for much of its history, it gained both status and territory during the Napoleonic era, when it was...
- Coat of arms of BadenCoat of arms of BadenThe coat of arms of Baden comes from the personal arms of the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden, the traditional rulers of the region. Following the revolution and abolition of the Grand Duchy in 1918, the arms and griffin supporters were usurped from the Grand Dukes by the new republic to...
- Grand Duchy of BadenGrand Duchy of BadenThe 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:...
, for the state that existed from 1808–1918 - Rulers of Baden, for a list of sovereigns and presidents