Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg (state) of Germany.
It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subsequently split into different lines, which were unified in 1771. It became the much-enlarged Grand Duchy of Baden through the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1803–06 and remained a sovereign country until it joined the German Empire in 1871, remaining a Grand Duchy until 1918 when it became part of the Weimar Republic as the Republic of Baden. Baden was bounded to the north by the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt; to the west and practically throughout its whole length by the River Rhine, which separated it from the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate and Alsace in modern France ; to the south by Switzerland, and to the east by the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and partly by Bavaria.
The anthem of Baden is called "Badnerlied" (English: Song of the people of Baden) and consists of usually four or five traditional verses. However, over the years, many more verses have been added - there are collections with up to 591 verses of the anthem.