William, Margrave of Baden-Baden

Who was William, Margrave of Baden-Baden?

Margrave William of Baden-Baden was regent of Baden-Baden between 1621 and 1677.

Born in Baden-Baden, he was the eldest son of Margrave Edward Fortunatus of Baden and Maria of Eicken. He was Geheimrat, Generalfeldmarschall and Imperial Kammerrichter of Speyer, which gave him his nickname: Wilhelm der Kammerrichter. Wilhelm was also a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece.

He raised his grandson and successor Ludwig Wilhelm.

Wilhelm only received the Regency of Baden after the victory of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly in the Battle of Wimpfen over Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, whose brother Ernst Friedrich had occupied Baden-Baden in 1594.

During the Regency of Wilhelm, Baden suffered from a terrible witch-hunt. Between 1626 and 1631, some 244 persons, mostly women, were charged and 231 were condemned and burned.

In 1631, Wilhelm lost Baden to the Swedish General Gustav Horn and regained control only after the Peace of Prague and the Peace of Westphalia on 24 October 1648. During this fighting, Wilhelm was taken prisoner, but not recognized and released as an ordinary soldier.

He died in Baden-Baden in 1677.