Württemberg-Baden was a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was created in 1945 by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

occupation forces, after the previous states of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

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

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. 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 states of Germany, 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 i ...

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 , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

connecting

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(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, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

was elected. On 23 May 1949, the state became a founding member of the Federal Republic of Germany. A

straw poll A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial voting, vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order ...

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, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

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 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 ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

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 (flag), tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: Sable (heraldry), black, Gules, red, and Or (heraldry), gold (). The flag was first sight ...

which was later also adopted again by the new German states founded in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany and the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

merges elements from the two predecessor states: the red stripe on a golden field of the coat of arms of Baden and the three deer antlers of the coat of arms of Württemberg.

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