South Baden - Formation

Formation

At the Yalta Conference in 1945, France was allocated an occupation zone for the administration of post-war Germany. The south-west of Germany - previously consisting of Baden, Württemberg and the Prussian province of Hohenzollern - was divided between France in the south and the United States in the north. The border between the two zones was set so that the Autobahn connecting Karlsruhe and Munich (today the A8) was completely contained within the American zone; Bavaria was also placed under American administration. In the French zone, Hohenzollern and the southern half of Württemberg were merged to form Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The southern half of Baden was established as South Baden on 1 December 1945. Freiburg was designated as the capital of South Baden; the former capital of Baden (Karlsruhe) was in the American zone.

A constitution for Baden was enacted on 19 May 1947, whose preamble laid claim to this new state being the true successor of the old Baden: although most of its territory had only been part of Baden for the previous 150 years. To reinforce this claim, the constitution also adopted the pre-World War II Baden flag and coat of arms for the new state. The constitution also made it clear that the name of the state was "Baden" instead of "South Baden". In 1949, the Baden parliament voted in favour of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany and became a founding state of (West) Germany upon its formation on 23 May 1949.