Württemberg-Baden was a state of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

. It was created in 1945 by the United States occupation forces, after the previous states of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

had been split up between the US and French occupation zones. Its capital was

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

. In 1952, Württemberg-Baden merged with Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

into the present state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

History

Württemberg-Baden consisted of the northern halves of the former states of Württemberg and Baden. The southern border of this part of the US-administered zone was set so that the

autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...

connecting

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

(today the A8) was completely contained within the American zone. The three major subdivisions of the American zone ( Greater Hesse,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

and Württemberg-Baden) were declared on 19 September 1945. On 24 November 1946, a new constitution was enacted and Württemberg-Baden's first

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

was elected. On 23 May 1949, the state became a founding member of the

. A straw poll was held on 24 September 1950 in Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

regarding a merger of the three states, followed by a public

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

on 16 December 1951. On both occasions, voters in Württemberg-Baden returned a clear majority in favour of a merger. All three states were merged and the modern German state of

was founded on 25 April 1952.

Politics

The only

minister-president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

of Württemberg-Baden was Reinhold Maier ( DVP, then FDP; 1946–1952). Maier went on to become the first minister-president of Baden-Württemberg upon its formation in 1952. Württemberg-Baden was subdivided into two administrative districts, known as ''Landesbezirke''. The boundaries for these two districts were taken from two former state sections that comprised Württemberg-Baden. These two districts remain largely unchanged today as the

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

e of

(Württemberg) and

(Baden) within Baden-Württemberg.

Flag and coat of arms

The flag of Württemberg-Baden, adopted in 1947, was the black-red-gold tricolour

flag of Germany The national flag of Germany is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold (german: Schwarz-Rot-Gold). The flag was first sighted in 1848 in the German Confeder ...

which was later also adopted again by the new German states founded in 1949, the

and the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

merges elements from the two predecessor states: the red stripe on a golden field of the

coat of arms of Baden The coat of arms of Baden comes from the personal arms of the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden, the traditional rulers of the region. Following the revolution and abolition of the Grand Duchy in 1918, the arms and griffin supporters were usur ...

and the three deer antlers of the

coat of arms of Württemberg The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Württemberg shows an impalement of the three black antlers that represent Württemberg on the dexter (viewer's left) side, and the three black lions passant of medieval Swabia on the sinister (viewer's right ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurttemberg-Baden Former states and territories of Baden-Württemberg 1945 establishments in Germany 1952 disestablishments in West Germany

History

Politics

Flag and coat of arms

See also

References