Baden

The margraves of Baden were the Swabian line of the House of Zähringen. The Zähringer Berthold's grandson Herman II built Hohenbaden castle above the thermal springs of Baden and took the title margrave of Baden in 1112. Loyal servants of the Hohenstaufen, the margraves spread their lands from the Breisgau across the Rhine into Alsace.

Repeated partitions created several lines until Bernard I reunited the inheritance in 1391 and the acquisition of Lahr and Mahlberg in 1442 linked its northern and southern halves. The Reformation split the house into Catholic Baden-Baden and Protestant Baden-Durlach, formally divided in 1535.

The Thirty Years' War and the wars of Louis XIV ravaged both; Louis William, the Turkish Louis, commanded imperial armies against the Ottomans and France. In 1771 Charles Frederick of Baden-Durlach inherited Baden-Baden and reunited the lands, becoming prince-elector in 1803 and grand duke in 1806.