Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a landlocked state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of the country's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a total area of nearly , it is the third-largest German state by both area (behind Bavaria and Lower Saxony) and population (behind North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria). The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Konstanz, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Tübingen, and Ulm.
Modern Baden-Württemberg includes the historical territories of Baden, Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg became a state of West Germany in April 1952 through the merger of South Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. These states had been created by the Allies as they separated traditional states into occupation zones after World War II.
Baden-Württemberg is especially known for its strong economy with various industries like car manufacturing, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, the service sector, and more. Ranking third among the German states by gross regional product (GRP) and first by research and development spending, Baden-Württemberg is considered one of the most prosperous and innovative regions in Europe. Part of the Four Motors for Europe and located in the Blue Banana, some of the largest German companies are headquartered in Baden-Württemberg, including Mercedes-Benz Group, Schwarz Group, Porsche, Bosch and SAP.
The sobriquet , a diminutive of the word in the local Swabian, Alemannic and Franconian dialects, is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden-Württemberg.
History
Baden-Württemberg is formed from the historical territories of Württemberg, Baden and Prussian Hohenzollern. Baden spans along the flat right bank of the river Rhine from north-west to the south (Lake Constance) of the present state, whereas Württemberg and Hohenzollern lie more inland and hillier, including areas such as the Swabian Jura mountain range. The Black Forest formed part of the border between Baden and Württemberg.
In 100 AD, the Roman Empire invaded and occupied Württemberg, constructing a limes along its northern borders. Over the course of the third century AD, the Alemanni forced the Romans to retreat west beyond the Rhine and Danube rivers. In 496 AD the Alemanni were defeated by a Frankish invasion led by Clovis I.
The Holy Roman Empire was later established. The majority of people in this region continued to be Roman Catholics, even after the Protestant Reformation influenced populations in northern Germany.
In the late 18th and early 19th century, Künzelsau, the capital of the Hohenlohe district, became the centre of emigration to the UK of pork butchers and bacon factors. The pioneers noticed a niche for speciality pork products in the rapidly growing English cities, especially those in the industrial centre and North. Many married local women and sent word home that a good living could be made in England; others followed.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous people emigrated from this primarily rural area to the United States for economic reasons.
20th century to present At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of modern-day Baden-Württemberg consisted of the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Kingdom of Württemberg and the province of Hohenzollern of the Kingdom of Prussia. Since 1871, these had been part of the German Empire. In the aftermath of World War I and as part of the German revolution of 1918, the monarchs of Baden, Württemberg and Prussia were deposed, and these states became democratic republics: the Republic of Baden, the Free People's State of Württemberg and the Free State of Prussia.
Following Adolf Hitler becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933, the democratic institutions of Baden, Württemberg and Prussia were abolished as part of the Gleichschaltung.
After World War II, the Allies established three states in the territory of modern-day Baden-Württemberg: (South) Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were occupied by France, while Württemberg-Baden was occupied by the United States. The new artificial borders were a consequence of France requesting its own occupation zone in Germany after World War II, and the Americans' wish to keep the A8 motorway, which spans east-west across northern Baden and northern Württemberg, wholly within their occupation zone.
In 1949, each state became a founding member of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), with Article 118 of the German constitution providing an accession procedure. On 9 December 1951, a referendum was held in Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and (South) Baden over a possible merger, or the restoration of the former pre-war states. There was strong support for the merger in Württemberg and Hohenzollern, but opposition in Baden. While a majority in the historic area of Baden (52%) voted to restore the former pre-war states, the majority of voters overall (69%) voted in favor of a merger. Baden-Württemberg officially became a state on 25 April 1952.
There were still opponents to the merger of Baden and Württemberg, however. In 1956 the Federal Constitutional Court decided that the population of Baden should have their say in a separate referendum. The second referendum was delayed, however, and the Federal Constitutional Court decided in 1969 that another referendum should be held by 30 June 1970. The referendum in the historic area of Baden was finally held on 7 June 1970, with 81.9% of the voters voting in favour of the merger of Baden and Württemberg.
Geography Baden-Württemberg shares borders with the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and Bavaria, and also shares borders with France (Alsace, within the region of Grand Est), and Switzerland (cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Aargau, Zürich, Schaffhausen and Thurgau).
Most of the major cities of Baden-Württemberg straddle the banks of the Neckar River, which has its source in Villingen-Schwenningen and runs downstream (from southwest to the centre, then northwest) through the state past Tübingen, Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Heidelberg, and Mannheim.
The Rhine () forms the western border as well as large portions of the southern border. The Black Forest (Schwarzwald), the central mountain range of the state, rises east of the Upper Rhine valley. The high plateau of the Swabian Alb, between the Neckar, the Black Forest, and the Danube, is an essential European watershed. Baden-Württemberg shares Lake Constance (Bodensee, also known regionally as the Swabian Sea) with Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria, the international borders within its waters not being clearly defined. It shares the foothills of the Alps (known as the Allgäu) with Bavaria and the Austrian Vorarlberg, but Baden-Württemberg itself has no mainland border with Austria.
The Danube is conventionally taken to be formed by the confluence of the two streams Brigach and Breg just east of Donaueschingen. The source of the Donaubach, which flows into the Danube, in Donaueschingen is often referred to as the "source of the Danube" (Donauquelle). Hydrologically, the source of the Danube is the source of the Breg as the larger of the two formative streams, which rises near Furtwangen.
The forests in this region are home to common pests such as Melolontha Hippocastrani, that cause damage to the foliage and soil.
Mountains
Hills Lemberg (Affalterbach)
Climate
Baden-Württemberg is–along with Bavaria–the southernmost part of Germany.
The climate across the states varies. This is mostly due to a high amount of mountains and highlands inside of the state. Most parts in the western parts (Baden) lower than enjoy an almost year round mild oceanic climate (cfb in Köppen classification). The climate in the eastern parts of the state is more continental.Image vu-wien.ac.at For instance, winters in the city of Ulm are colder than in Berlin. While winters in the warmest areas often lack snow, the Black Forest, Swabian Alb and the Alps tend to get snow frequently, especially in areas of high elevation. Summers here have more rain than in the valleys, but winters tend to have more sun.
Due to the differences of the landscapes, average annual temperatures reach from only in the microclimates of Black Forest and Allgäu up to in the Upper Rhine Valley.
Government Administration
Baden-Württemberg is divided into thirty-five districts (Landkreise) and nine independent cities (Stadtkreise), both grouped into the four Administrative Districts () of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Tübingen.
The 35 districts:
Alb-Donau-Kreis Biberach Bodenseekreis Böblingen Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Calw Konstanz (Constance) Emmendingen Enzkreis Esslingen Freudenstadt Göppingen Heidenheim Heilbronn Hohenlohe Karlsruhe Lörrach Ludwigsburg Main-Tauber Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis Ortenaukreis Ostalbkreis Rastatt Ravensburg Rems-Murr-Kreis <li> Reutlingen Rhein-Neckar-Kreis Rottweil Schwäbisch Hall Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis Sigmaringen Tübingen <li> Tuttlingen Waldshut Zollernalbkreis
Baden-Württemberg contains nine additional independent cities not belonging to any district:
Code City (Stadtkreise) Area(km2) PopulationRegion (Regierungs-bezirk) 1997 2007 2017 A Baden-Baden 140.1852,67254,85354,718 Karlsruhe B Freiburg im Breisgau 153.06200,519219,430229,636 Freiburg C Heidelberg 108.83139,941145,311160,601 Karlsruhe D Heilbronn 99.88120,987121,627125,113 Stuttgart E Karlsruhe 173.46276,571288,917311,919 Karlsruhe F Mannheim 144.96310,475309,795307,997 Karlsruhe G Pforzheim 98.02118,079119,423124,289 Karlsruhe H Stuttgart 207.35585,274597,176632,743 Stuttgart I Ulm 118.69115,628121,434125,596 Tübingen
Other state institutions The Baden-Württemberg General Auditing Office acts as an independent body to monitor public offices' correct use of public funds.
Politics
The state parliament of Baden-Württemberg is the Landtag, located in Stuttgart. The state government is currently formed by a Greens-CDU coalition as the cabinet of Minister-President Cem Özdemir (Greens).
The politics of Baden-Württemberg have traditionally been dominated by the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), which had led all but one government since 1952 until 2011. In the Landtag elections held on 27 March 2011, voters replaced the Christian Democrats and centre-right Free Democrats (FDP) coalition with an alliance of the Greens and Social Democrats (SPD), which secured a four-seat majority in the state parliament. The alliance elected the Greens-led first Kretschmann cabinet under Winfried Kretschmann because the Greens had surprisingly won 36 seats, one more than the Social Democrats' 35 seats. In the 2016 election, the popular Kretschmann and his Greens were reelected and, with their nationwide best result, turned out first place for the first time in any election in German history. However, because of the Social Democrats' heavy losses, the Greens formed a coalition government with the Christian Democrats, the second Kretschmann cabinet. After the elections in 2021 and 2026, the Greens-CDU coalition was upheld.
Most recent election results
Economy