Baden

BADEN, bɑ̄´den: A grand duchy in the south-western part of the German Empire, bounded on the north by Hesse and Bavaria, on the east by Württemberg and Hohenzollern, on the south and west by the Rhine, which separates it from Switzerland, Alsace, and the Rhine Palatinate (Rhenish Bavaria); area, 5,281 square miles; population (1900), 1,867,944, of whom 1,131,639 (60.6%) are Roman Catholics; 704,058 (37.7%), Evangelical Protestants, partly Lutherans, and including some of the Reformed communion, especially near the Swiss border, and several flourishing Methodist congregations, which have received help from America; 5,563, other Christians; 26,132 (1.4%), Jews; and 552, otherwise classified. In late years, owing to immigration and emigration, the number of Roman Catholics has decreased, while that of Protestants has increased.

In the eye of the law the Evangelical and Roman Catholic Churches are public corporations with the right of holding public divine services. Other bodies are restricted to privileges specially granted. Congregations manage their own affairs and the right of patronage is unknown. Ecclesiastical property is administered by Church and State jointly. No religious order can be introduced without consent of the government. Invested funds for the benefit of the sick and the poor, as well as for education, have generally been withdrawn from ecclesiastical boards.

The Evangelical Protestant Established Church is a union of diverse elements, consequent upon territorial changes, accomplished in 1821. As now constituted the grand duke is at the head. All permanent residents of a parish are regarded as members of the congregation, and the active members choose a representative committee, which has a voice in the selection of the pastor and important financial questions, and selects the Church Council. The latter with the pastor has the general charge of the congregation. Congregations are united into dioceses, and diocesan synods; consisting of all pastors and an equal number of elders meet yearly. Diocesan affairs are in the hands of a dean and a diocesan committee of two clerical and two lay members elected by the synod. A general synod meets every five years; it consists of the Prelate, seven members named by the grand duke, and one clerical and one lay delegate from each synod. It cooperates in ecclesiastical legislation, approves the church budget, has the right of complaint against the Upper Church Council, and chooses a synodal committee to work with the latter. The Upper Church Council is appointed by the grand duke. Church revenues are supplemented, when necessary, by taxation, equal sums being appropriated for the Evangelical and Roman Catholic Churches, although the latter has declined such aid under the condition imposed binding the bishop to accept all laws and ordinances of the State. Ministers receive salaries ranging from 1,600 to 4,000 marks, graded according to years of service. Religious instruction is obligatory in all schools and a (Protestant) theological faculty is maintained at Heidelberg.

The Roman Catholic Church of Baden belongs to the province of the Upper Rhine and forms the archbishopric of Freiburg. The relations between Church and State, particularly the questions of the position of the bishops, the appointment of priests, the maintenance of independent Roman Catholic schools, the right of establishing religious societies and institutions, and the management of church property, have been in almost continual dispute between the government and the curia, and protracted negotiations have not led to a permanent settlement.

Wilhelm Goetz.