Frederick was born in
Karlsruhe,
Baden, on 9 September 1826. He was the third son of
Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden and
Princess Sophie of Sweden. He became the
heir presumptive to the grand duchy upon the death of his father in 1852 and the accession of his brother as
Grand Duke Louis II. Due to his brother's mental ill-health, he was
regent ad interim of Baden in 1852–1855, and took the title of grand duke in 1856. His brother, Louis II, died in 1858. He was considered a relatively liberal supporter of a
constitutional monarchy. During his reign the option of
civil marriages was introduced in Baden as well as direct elections to the Lower House of the Parliament of Baden in 1904. In 1856, Frederick married
Princess Louise, daughter of
Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Princess
Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The couple had three children. Frederick I had a pivotal role in the history of
Zionism. In 1896 he met
Theodor Herzl (the founder of
political Zionism) via their mutual acquaintance the reverend
William Hechler, and helped Herzl in obtaining an audience with his nephew
Wilhelm II, German Emperor. After some persuasion on the part of the grand duke, the emperor accepted the appeal for an audience. It took place in Palestine on 2 November 1898,
during the emperor's visit to inaugurate the
Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem. Frederick I was present at the
proclamation of the German Empire at
Versailles in 1871, as he was the only son-in-law of Prussian King
Wilhelm I and one of the reigning sovereigns of Germany. He loudly shouted, "His Majesty, Emperor Wilhelm!" He died at his summer residence at the island of
Mainau in southern Germany on 28 September 1907. Today, Mainau is owned by the Lennart Bernadotte Foundation, created by Frederick's great-grandson Count
Lennart Bernadotte, (1909–2004). == Issue ==