Caroline of Baden

She was the eldest child of Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden, and his wife Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was born on 13 July 1776 along with her twin sister, Katharina Amalie Christiane Luise, better known as Princess Amalie Christiane of Bavaria.

Caroline was considered as a bride for Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien, but the fear of attracting opposition from France made her family hesitate.

On 9 March 1797, in Karlsruhe, she became the second spouse of Maximilian, Duke of Palatine Zweibrücken, who two years later would inherit the Electorate of Bavaria. As a result of the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the rank of Elector became obsolete, and the ruler of Bavaria was promoted to the rank of King. As a result, Caroline became Queen of Bavaria. Caroline had seven children with her husband, including two pairs of twins, an interesting occurrence considering Caroline was also a twin herself.

She was allowed to keep her Protestant religion and had her own Protestant pastor, which was unique for a Bavarian queen. She was described as a very dignified consort and hostess of the Bavarian court and raised her daughters to have a strong sense of duty.

Caroline of Baden died 13 November 1841, outliving her husband by sixteen years and one month. Due to her Protestant religion, her funeral was conducted with so little royal dignity that there were public protests. By order of the Catholic archbishop of Munich, Lothar Anselm von Gebsattel, all participating Catholic clergy were dressed in ordinary clothes instead of church vestments. The Protestant clergy were halted at the church door and not allowed to proceed inside for the service, so Ludwig Friedrich Schmidt gave the funeral sermon there. Afterward, the funeral procession dissipated, and the coffin was placed in the burial crypt without ceremony. This treatment of his beloved stepmother permanently softened the attitude of Caroline's stepson Ludwig I of Bavaria, who up until that time had been a strong opponent of Protestantism despite his marriage to the Protestant princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

• {{Flag|Electorate of Bavaria}} / {{Flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}} : Sovereign of the Order of Saint Elizabeth (feminine order)
• {{Flag|Russian Empire}} : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine, 9 April 1801{{cite book|title=Almanach de la cour: pour l'année ... 1817|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZpKAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA69|year=1817|publisher=l'Académie Imp. des Sciences|page=69}}

{{ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center |ref={{cite book|title=Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans| trans-title=Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AINPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA38|year=1768|publisher=Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel|location=Bourdeaux|language=fr|pages=38 (father), 69 (mother)}}

|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;

|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;

|1= 1. Caroline of Baden

|2= 2. Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden

|3= 3. Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt

|4= 4. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden

|5= 5. Princess Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt

|6= 6. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

|7= 7. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken

|8= 8. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Baden-Durlach

|9= 9. Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz

|10= 10. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

|11= 11. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg

|12= 12. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (= 10)

|13= 13. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg (= 11)

|14= 14. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

|15= 15. Countess Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken

}}

{{commons}}

{{reflist}}

• Françoise de Bernardy : "Stéphanie de Beauharnais, fille adoptive de Napoléon et grande-duchesse de Bade " L.A.P. Pais, 1977.

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

| title = Duchess of Zweibrücken

| before = Augusta Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt

| after = Last of title

| years = 1797–1825}}

{{succession box

| title = Electress of Bavaria

| before = Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este

| after = Last of title

| years = 1799–1806}}

{{succession box

| title = Queen of Bavaria

| before = New title

| after = Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen

| years = 1806–1825}}

{{s-end}}

{{Princesses of Baden by birth}}

{{Electresses of Bavaria}}

{{Queens of Bavaria}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Princesses of Baden

Category:Queens consort of Bavaria

Category:House of Zähringen

Category:House of Wittelsbach

Category:German twins

Category:Electresses of Bavaria

Category:Duchesses of Berg

Category:Electoral Princesses of Bavaria

Category:1776 births

Category:1841 deaths

Category:Burials at the Theatine Church, Munich

Category:Electresses of the Palatinate

Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Catherine

Category:18th-century people from the Holy Roman Empire