Great Fire (1689)
From Stadtwiki Baden-Baden
| Great Fire (1689) | |
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| Date | 24 August 1689
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During the Great Fire on 24 August 1689 Baden-Baden was almost completely destroyed. As a result Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm moved his residence to Rastatt, making Baden-Baden temporarily unimportant. The fire had great influence on today's cityscape as nearly no medieval buildings remained and therefore the 18th and 19th century buildings are dominating.
Background[edit]
Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm made his career at the court of the Habsburg Emperor and therefore mainly lived in Vienna. In 1689 he fought with his troops on the eastern front of the empire. It was the time of the Nine Years' War. French troops under Marshal Duras occupied the residence Baden-Baden and set it on fire on 24. August 1689. The inhabitants fled into the surrounding woods. In Baden-Baden and the hamlets Gunzenbach and Scheuern just 46 houses have been preserved in habitable condition. In March 1690 Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm urged the population to return to the ruined city, but at the same time he held off with the reconstruction of Baden-Baden. The reconstruction began after the end of the Nine Years' War in 1697. The Margrave moved the residence to Rastatt.
References[edit]
- Ulrich Coenen Von Aquae bis Baden-Baden Verlag Mainz 2008, ISBN 3-8107-0023-1, p. 154 et seq.