Canton of Baden


The Canton of Baden was a canton of the Helvetic Republic. Its capital was the town of Baden.

Formation

The canton was created in 1798 from the merger of the County of Baden with the Freie Ämter and Kelleramt, all of which had until then been condominiums of the Old Swiss Confederation.
The canton was divided into five districts — Baden, Bremgarten, Muri, Sarmenstorf and Zurzach. The canton, like the others of the Helvetic Republic, was administered by a governor and an administrative chamber, a vice-governor in each district, as well as agents in the municipalities. In 1799, there were 45,982 residents, though the Jewish population was not counted in the census.

Dissolution

Since the majority of Roman Catholic, conservative population were indifferent to the new state, officials and politicians had to be imported from neighboring cantons. The canton was divided and some municipalities sought affiliations with other cantons: the Lutheran congregations in the Limmattal wanted to affiliate with Zürich, the Amt of Hitzkirch with Lucerne, and the upper Freiamt with Zug or Schwyz.
The canton was not politically viable, notably due to its lack of an economic base; in both 1801 and 1802, it was decided to merge the canton into Aargau, but the move was not completed. Napoleon Bonaparte signed the Act of Mediation on 19 February 1803 and, in the process, the canton of Baden was dissolved and united with the cantons of Aargau and Fricktal, forming the contemporary canton of Aargau.
Some parts of the canton of Baden at this point were transferred to other cantons: the Amt of Hitzkirch to Lucerne, whilst Hüttikon, Oetwil an der Limmat, Dietikon and Schlieren went to Zürich. In return, Lucerne's Amt of Merenschwand was transferred to Aargau.

Contemporary districts

The former canton can still be identified with the contemporary Aargau districts of Zurzach, Baden, Bremgarten and Muri.