by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2017
Grand Duchy of Baden: In 1738, ten-year-old, Karl Friedrich succeeded as Margrave of Baden-Durlach upon his grandfather’s death. Baden-Durlach was one of the branches of the Margraviate of Baden, which had been divided several times over the previous 500 years. When August George, the last Margrave of Baden-Baden, died in 1771 without heirs, Karl Friedrich inherited the territory. This brought all of the Baden territories together once again, and Karl Friedrich became Margrave of Baden. Upon the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Karl Friedrich declared himself sovereign, as Grand Duke of the newly created Grand Duchy of Baden. Friedrich II, the last Grand Duke of Baden formally abdicated the throne of Baden on November 22, 1918. The land that encompassed the Grand Duchy of Baden is now located in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
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Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden – source: Wikipedia
Grand Duke Leopold was born on August 29, 1790, in Karlsruhe, Margraviate of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the eldest son of Karl Friedrich, Margrave (later Grand Duke) of Baden and his second wife, Luise Karoline, Baroness Geyer von Geyersberg. He had four siblings:
- Prince Wilhelm (1792-1859) – married Alexandrine of Württemberg, had issue
- Prince Friedrich Alexander (born and died 1793) – died in infancy
- Princess Amalie (1795-1869) – married Karl Egon II, Prince of Fürstenberg, had issue
- Prince Maximilian (1796-1882) – unmarried
He also had four half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Karoline Luise of Hesse-Darmstadt:
- Karl Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Baden (1755-1801) – married Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, had issue
- Prince Friedrich (1756-1817) – married Luise of Nassau-Usingen, no issue
- Ludwig, Grand Duke I of Baden (1763-1830) – unmarried
- Princess Louise Auguste (born and died 1767) – died in infancy
As his parents’ marriage was morganatic, Leopold and his siblings were not titled as Prince/Princess of Baden, nor were they initially in the line of succession. They were styled as Baron/Baroness of Hochberg, and later as Count/Countess of Hochberg. Leopold’s father had always intended that his younger children would be eligible for succession if there were no heirs left from his elder sons. But it wasn’t until 1817 that the Hochberg children were raised to Prince and Margrave of Baden and formally given succession rights by the government the following year.
Sofia of Sweden. source: Wikipedia
Leopold married Princess Sofia of Sweden, the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Friederike of Baden, and the granddaughter of his elder half-brother Karl Ludwig – on July 25, 1819. They had eight children:
- Alexandrine (1820-1904) – married Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, no issue
- Ludwig (born and died 1822) – died in infancy
- Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Baden (1824-1858) – unmarried
- Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden (1826-1907) – married Luise of Prussia, had issue
- Wilhelm (1829-1897) – married Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg, had issue
- Karl (1832-1906) – married Rosalie von Beust, had issue
- Marie (1834-1899) – married Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen, had issue
- Cecilie (1839-1891) – married Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich of Russia, had issue
He became Grand Duke of Baden on March 30, 1830, upon the death of his unmarried brother Ludwig I. Leopold became the first of the Hochberg line to rule in Baden, and held the throne for just over 22 years. Grand Duke Leopold died in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on April 24, 1852. He was buried in the Karlsruhe Stadtkirche, and after World War II, his remains were moved to the Grand Ducal Chapel in the Pheasant Garden in Karlsruhe.
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