Karl Friedrich, Elector of Baden
| Charles Frederick | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Johann Ludwig Kisling, 1803
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| Grand Duke of Baden | |
| Reign | 25 July 1806 – 10 June 1811 |
| Successor | Charles |
| Elector of Baden | |
| Reign | 27 April 1803 – 25 July 1806 |
| Margrave of Baden (unified) | |
| Reign | 21 October 1771 – 27 April 1803 |
| Predecessor | Augustus George, Margrave of Baden-Baden |
| Margrave of Baden-Durlach | |
| Reign | 12 May 1738 – 21 October 1771 |
| Predecessor | Charles III William |
| Born | 22 November 1728 |
| Died | 10 June 1811 (aged 82) |
| Spouse |
Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt Louise Caroline, Baroness Geyer of Geyersberg |
| Issue |
Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden Prince Frederick Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden Princess Louise Auguste Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden Prince William Prince Frederick Alexander Princess Amalie Prince Maximilian |
| House | Zähringen |
| Father | Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Durlach |
| Mother | Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz |
Charles Frederick (22 November 1728 – 10 June 1811) was Margrave, Elector and later Grand Duke of Baden (initially only Margrave of Baden-Durlach) from 1738 until his death.
Born at Karlsruhe, he was the son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Baden-Durlach and Amalia of Nassau-Dietz (13 October 1710 – 17 September 1777), the daughter of Johan Willem Friso of Nassau-Dietz.
He succeeded his grandfather as Margrave of Baden-Durlach in 1738 and ruled personally from 1746 until 1771, when he inherited Baden-Baden from the Bernhard Line. Upon inheriting the latter margraviate, the original land of Baden was reunited. He was regarded as a good example of an enlightened despot, supporting schools, universities, jurisprudence, civil service, economy, culture, and urban development. He outlawed torture in 1767, and serfdom in 1783. He was elected a Royal Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747
In 1803, Charles Frederick became Elector of Baden, and in 1806 the first Grand Duke of Baden. Through the politics of minister Sigismund Freiherr von Reitzenstein, Baden acquired the Bishopric of Constance, and the territories of the Bishopric of Basel, the Bishopric of Strassburg, and the Bishopric of Speyer that lay on the right bank of the Rhine, in addition to Breisgau and Ortenau.
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