Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the most prosperous states of Germany, and it is highly industrialized. The state has few natural resources, therefore much is invested in research and development, information technology, communications, biotechnology, and environmental research. Manufactured goods include motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, clocks, optical equipment, leather goods, pottery, glass, furniture, and textiles. Industrial traditions date from the 19th century, when Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler independently founded the motor industry there. Baden-Württemberg is also renowned for its printing and publishing industries. Main industrial centres are Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Freiburg, Heilbronn, Esslingen, Sindelfingen, and Ulm. Tourism also contributes significantly to the state’s economy, with picturesque natural scenery, historic towns and castles, and spas and health resorts including Baden-Baden, Bad Mergentheim, Badenweiler, and Wildbad.

Crops—including wheat, barley, grapes, corn, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, and tobacco—are grown in the river valleys and foothills; the Rhine plains are particularly fertile. Dairy farming and forestry are carried on in the Black Forest and other highland regions. There are numerous hydroelectric power stations in the Black Forest mountains.

The earliest known inhabitants of Baden were the Alamanni, who fell under the dominion of the Frankish Empire in the 5th century. In the 11th century Berthold, a duke of the Austrian duchy of Carinthia, built the castle of Zähringen in Breisgau, in Baden; a descendant of his second son took the title of margrave of Baden and founded a dynasty that ruled the region for more than eight centuries. Division and conflict characterized the Duchy of Baden for the centuries of Zähringen rule.

During the Reformation in the 16th century, religious and family disharmony divided the northern and southern parts of the state into Protestant and Catholic strongholds respectively. Ensuing religious battles turned Baden into the scene of intensive fighting during the Thirty Years’ War, and the area had suffered major population loss by the middle of the 17th century. Strife continued until the end of the 18th century, when one line of the family died out, making reunification of the two regions possible.

One of the outstanding members of the ruling dynasty was Charles Frederick, who became margrave in 1746. By siding with Napoleon I and joining the Confederation of the Rhine, Charles Frederick quadrupled his possessions in area and population and acquired in 1803 the dignity of elector and in 1806 the title of grand duke. In 1811 he was succeeded by his grandson Charles, who, after the Battle of Leipzig, seceded from the Confederation of the Rhine and in 1815 joined the Germanic Confederation, a loose union of 39 sovereign states, including Prussia, under Austrian presidency.

During the German revolution of 1848, the reigning grand duke was deposed and then reinstated with the aid of Prussia. Along with other south German states, Baden-Württemberg aided Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War. The defeat of France facilitated the unification of the German states, including Baden-Württemberg, into a new German Empire in 1871. Under the empire, the grand dukes of Baden continued to reign with the help of an elected diet.

At the end of World War I the ruling dynasties of the German states were dethroned, and the grand duke Frederick II abdicated on November 22, 1918. On January 15, 1919, a popularly elected national assembly met to draw up a new constitution. This constitution, issued the following May, abolished all privileges based on rank and religion; bestowed full legal rights on women; recognized the right of workers, including civil servants, to organize trade unions; and granted the vote to all men and women over 20 years of age. It vested executive power in a Cabinet comprising the state president and his aides, all elected by the legislature. Legislative power was vested in a unicameral assembly. Baden became an administrative unit of the Third Reich in 1935. The area was invaded by the Allied forces in 1945, during the final stages of World War II.

Following the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich, about a third of the territory of Baden became part of the United States military occupation zone in Germany, the remainder forming part of the French zone. The American-occupied sections of Baden and Württemberg, having been merged for administrative purposes, were organized as the autonomous state of Württemberg-Baden in 1946. French-occupied Baden became an autonomous state in the next year. In 1949 both states became components of West Germany. In 1952 the states of Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were merged to form the new state of Baden-Württemberg. In 1990, West and East Germany united and became the Federal Republic of Germany. For the early history of the Württemberg region of the state, see Württemberg.