About the Grand Duchy The Grand Duchy of Baden (Großherzogtum Baden) was one of the larger constituent states of the German Empire. Baden's capital was Karlsruhe, and other important cities included Baden-Baden, Rastatt, and Freiburg. Baden is located in southwestern Germany and its territory includes the storied Black Forest. Today it is part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg (Bundesland Baden-Württemberg). Baden's dynasty goes back to the Counts of Breisgau whose title traces to the 10th century. The Margraviate of Baden (Markgrafschaft Baden) was established on April 27, 1112. Over the centuries, more territories were added. On August 24, 1535, the margraviate was split into the Upper Margraviate of Baden, usually called Baden-Baden, and the Lower Margraviate of Baden, usually called Baden-Durlach. The Baden-Baden line became extinct on October 21, 1771, and Margrave Karl Friedrich of Baden-Durlach reunited the Baden possessions and took the title Margrave of Baden. On July 25, 1803, Karl Friedrich was made a prince-elector with the title Markgraf von Baden, Kurfürst des Heiligen Römischen Reiches, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, etc. On July 25, 1806, in the wake of Napoleon's victories, the Holy Roman Empire was abolished and Napoleon formed the Confederation of the Rhine. Baden was elevated to a Grand Duchy. Baden grew by 1810 to 15,000 square kilometers with a population of almost one million. By 1815, Baden had joined the allies and became a member of the German Confederation. Baden was especially hard hit by the liberal revolutions of 1848-49. The army mutinied in May 1849, and the Republic of Baden was declared on June 1. Prussian and other Confederation troops crushed the rebellion, forcing its leaders into exile and returning the Grand Duke to his throne. A number of the revolutionary leaders would flee to the United States, and several served in the U.S. Civil War. Baden was relatively quiet after these upheavals, and enjoyed a degree of stability under one of the longest serving monarches of the 19th century. Grand Duke Friedrich I had been regent from 1852 to 1856, and reigned as Grand Duke from 1856 until 1907. Baden had sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, but lost relatively little territory. In 1871, the Grand Duchy became part of the German Empire, which it remained part of until the abdication of the Kaiser and Grand Duke Friedrich II in November 1918 (it was Grand Duke Friedrich II's cousin and heir, Prince Max von Baden, who in one of his final acts of his brief tenure as chancellor announced the Kaiser's abdication on November 9, 1918). A republic was declared on November 22, 1918, the day the Grand Duke abdicated, and Baden went on to became a state of the Weimar Republic. After World War Two, Baden was occupied by French and U.S. troops. In 1952 it was merged with Württemberg to form Baden-Württemberg.

Baden's Army The "modern" military history of Baden begins in the Napoleonic Wars. Having been elevated to Grand Duke and his territory made a part of the Confederation of the Rhine, Karl Friedrich was obligated to provide a contingent of Badeners for Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Most of the 7,100 Badeners in the Grande Armee would die in Russia. By 1815, having joined the allies, Baden provided 8,000 line troops and 8,000 Landwehr, and formed a Landsturm. Distrustful of citizen soldiers, the Grand Duke abolished the Landwehr and Landsturm shortly after the end of the war in 1815. The army was part of the German Confederation's Bundesheer in the early to mid-19th century, and underwent a series of reforms. As noted above, the army mutinied in 1849, joining the liberal revolutionaries. Defeated by Prussian troops, the army was again reformed in the 1850s. During the political crisis after the German-Danish War of 1864, Baden had sided with Austria, and in 1866, the Baden Army, comprising the 2nd Division of the Bundesheer's VIII Corps, went to war against Prussia. Since the bulk of combat in the short war took place on the Bohemian front, the VIII Corps saw little fighting and the Badeners suffered only light casualties. After the war, the army was reformed along Prussian lines. In 1870, the Baden Field Division (13 infantry battalions, 12 cavalry squadrons, and 9 artillery batteries) began the Franco- Prussian War as part of the 3rd Army. In July 1870, it was combined with the Württemberg Division in Corps Werder and fought at Weissenburg, Wörth and Hagenau. Corps Werder was then dissolved, and the Badeners participated in the siege of Strasbourg from August to September. After the fall of Strasbourg, the Badeners were involved in the clearing of the Vosges Mountains region. They spent the winter in the sometimes heavy fighting in south-central France. After the armistice, the Badeners returned home to the Grand Duchy, now a member state of the German Empire. Baden's Army became a component of the German Army. The table below shows the composition of the Baden forces in 1914, on the eve of the war that would lead to the death of thousands of Badeners and the end of the dynasty. Baden Regiments of the Imperial German Army on the Eve of World War One Infantry Badisches Leib-Grenadier-Regiment Nr.109 2. Badisches Grenadier-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm I. Nr.110 Infanterie-Regiment Markgraf Ludwig Wilhelm (3. Badisches) Nr.111 4. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Wilhelm Nr.112 5. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.113 6. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Friedrich III Nr.114 7. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.142 8. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.169 9. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.170 Artillery Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Großherzog (1. Badisches) Nr.14 2. Badisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.30 3. Badisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.50 4. Badisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.66 5. Badisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.76 Badisches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr.14 Cavalry 1. Badisches Leib-Dragoner-Regiment Nr.20 2. Badisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr.21 3. Badisches Dragoner-Regiment Prinz Karl Nr.22 Other Badisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr.14 Badisches Train-Bataillon Nr.14

Photo credit: Charles Caudle

Photo credit: Stogieman

A three-medal bar with the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, the Baden MKFVO Knight's Cross and the Baden Order of the Zähringen Lion, Knight 2nd Class with Swords

Order of Berthold the First Orden Berthold des Ersten This order was founded on April 29, 1877 as a higher grade of the Order of the Zähringen Lion, and was originally called the Order of Berthold I of Zähringen (Orden Berthold I. von Zähringen). On September 9, 1896, the order was revised and new statutes enacted. It became a separate order from the Order of the Zähringen Lion, ranking ahead of that order and below the House Order of Loyalty and the MKFVO. It came in four grades - Grand Cross, Commander's Cross 1st Class, Commander's Cross and Knight's Cross - and could be awarded with swords "for distinguished conduct in the face of the enemy" ("für ausgezeichnetes Verhalten vor dem Feinde"). Nevertheless, awards with and without swords were extremely rare. Although sources differ on the totals, it appears that approximately 700 awards were made in all grades, and approximately 60 of these were with swords. All but two of the swords awards, both Knight's Crosses, were in World War One.

Order of the Zähringen Lion Orden vom Zähringer Löwen The Order of the Zähringen Lion, considered by many to be one of the most attractive German orders, was Baden's main order. It was founded on December 26, 1812, and awards with swords were authorized in 1866. There were originally three classes - Grand Cross, Commander's Cross and Knight's Cross. In 1840, the Commander's Cross was divided into two classes, distinguished by the addition of a breast star for the Commander 1st Class. In addition, in 1840, a sprig of gilt oakleaves was authorized as a higher grade of various classes. In 1866, the Knight's Cross was divided into a Knight 1st Class and a Knight 2nd Class, with the Knight 2nd Class being silver instead of gold like the other classes (as with other German orders, gold switched to silver-gilt during World War One). As with other Baden orders, sources differ somewhat on the total numbers awarded. The following table shows numbers awarded with swords based on the research of Henning Volle and Erhard Roth. Grade 1866-1918 (Volle) 1914-18 (Volle) 1914-18 (Roth)   Grand Cross Großkreuz 65 41 43 Commander 1st Class Kommandeurkreuz 1. Klasse 82 53 55 Commander 2nd Class with Oakleaves Kommandeurkreuz 2. Klasse mit Eichenlaube 21 0 1 Commander 2nd Class Kommandeurkreuz 2. Klasse 174 107 105 Knight 1st Class with Oakleaves Ritterkreuz 1. Klasse mit Eichenlaube 244 138 139 Knight 1st Class Ritterkreuz 1. Klasse 718 525 514 Knight 2nd Class with Oakleaves Ritterkreuz 2. Klasse mit Eichenlaube 1,539 1,504 1,479 Knight 2nd Class Ritterkreuz 2. Klasse 6,754 6,367 6,317

Commander's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords Kommandeurkreuz mit Eichenlaube und Schwertern Photo credit: Hermann-Historica oHG, Munich/Germany

Breast Star of the Commander 1st Class with Swords Bruststern zum Kommandeur mit Schwertern Reverse of the star above Photo credit: UBS

Knight 1st Class with Oakleaves and Swords Ritterkreuz 1. Klasse mit Eichenlaube und Schwertern Photo credit: Hermann-Historica oHG, Munich/Germany	Knight 1st Class with Swords Ritterkreuz 1. Klasse mit Schwertern Reverse of the cross above Photo credit: Uwe Bretzendorfer
Knight 2nd Class with Oakleaves and Swords Ritterkreuz 2. Klasse mit Eichenlaube und Schwertern Photo credit: Tom Y.	Knight 2nd Class with Swords Ritterkreuz 2. Klasse mit Schwertern Reverse of the cross above

A five-medal bar with the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, the Baden Order of the Zähringen Lion, Knight 2nd Class with Oakleaves and Swords, the Hamburg Hanseatic Cross, the World War One Honor Cross for Combatants, and the Landwehr 2nd Class Long Service Decoration, and a close-up of the Zähringen Lion

Photo credit: Tom Y.

Merit Cross of the Order of the Zähringen Lion Verdienstkreuz des Orden vom Zähringer Löwens

The Merit Cross of the Order of the Zähringen Lion was established on April 29, 1889 as a lower grade of the order below the Knight's Crosses. Military recipients were mainly senior non-commissioned officers, especially in various support roles. The statute ribbon, as shown below, was orange with green stripes, the reverse of the Order. On September 25, 1914, awards were authorized "for distinguished conduct in the face of the enemy" ("für ausgezeichnetes Verhalten vor dem Feinde"), in which case the Merit Cross was worn on the ribbon of the MKFVO (to avoid confusion, a gilt crowned "F" was authorized on November 13, 1917 as a ribbon device). Various sources differ on the numbers awarded, but just under 2,700 were apparently awarded on the statute ribbon and less than 600 on the ribbon of the MKFVO.

Merit Medals Verdienstmedaillen

The Merit Medals were the basic civil and military merit medals of Baden. Prior to 1866, they were referred to as the Civil Merit Medals, but with the version Grand Duke Friedrich I established on September 30, 1866 the word "Civil" was dropped and military personnel became eligible. During the reigns of Friedrich I and Friedrich II, there were basically three versions: small gold, large gold and silver. When awarded for merit in combat, the Merit Medal was authorized on the ribbon of the MKFVO. During World War One, the silver Merit Medal on the ribbon of the MKFVO was widely awarded, and for enlisted soldiers was basically Baden's equivalent of the Iron Cross 2nd Class. Numbers awarded were as follows:   Large Gold on the statute ribbon Large Gold on the ribbon of the MKFVO Small Gold on the statute ribbon Small Gold on the ribbon of the MKFVO Silver on the statute ribbon Silver on the ribbon of the MKFVO   1869-1881 54 - 403 6 872 733 1882-1907 199 - 2,400 4 5,738 172 1907-1918 61 - 1,418 395 3,053 >100,000

Small Golden Merit Medal Kleine goldene Verdienstmedaille Friedrich I Photo credit: Hermann-Historica oHG, Munich/Germany

Large Golden Merit Medal Große goldene Verdienstmedaille Friedrich II Reverse of the medal above

Silver Merit Medal Silberne Verdienstmedaille Friedrich I Reverse of the medal above

Silver Merit Medal Silberne Verdienstmedaille Friedrich II Reverse of the medal above

	War Merit Cross Kriegsverdienstkreuz   The War Merit Cross was issued primarily for activities on the homefront and is comparable to the Prussian Merit Cross for War Aid (Verdienstkreuz für Kriegshilfe)
	Field Service Decoration Felddienst-Auszeichnung   This was a general service or campaign medal, instituted in 1839 and awarded retroactively back to the Napoleonic Wars. Date bars could be worn on the ribbon to indicate campaign service. There were 18 bars: 1805 1806 1806-1807 1807 1808-1813 1809 1809-1810 1812 1813 1814 1814-1815 1815 1848 1849 1866 1870 1870-1871 1871
	Commemorative Medal for 1849 Gedächtnismedaille für 1849   This medal commemorated the crushing of the liberal revolution of 1849. Because much of the Baden Army had mutinied and fought on the rebel side, this medal has been called the Brudermordmedaille, somewhat antiseptically translated as "Fratricide Medal."
	Bronze Jubilee Medal, 1902 Bronze Regierungsjubiläumsmedaille, 1902   This medal was issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the rule of Grand Duke Friedrich I, who had been regent after 1852 and grand duke since 1856. Another, rarer, medal was also issued for the 50th anniversary of the grand duke's reign in 1906.