Grand Duchy of Kraków

The Grand Duchy of Kraków[1][2] (German: Großherzogtum Krakau, Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Krakowskie) was created after the incorporation of the Free City of Cracow into Austria on November 16, 1846. From 1846 to 1918 the title, Grand Duke of Kraków, was part of the official titulary of the Emperor of Austria.

Grand Duchy of Kraków
Großherzogtum Krakau
Wielkie Księstwo Krakowskie
Grand Duchy of Austria (Austria-Hungary)
1846–1918
CapitalKraków (Krakau, Cracow)
Area
  Coordinates50°4′N 19°56′E
Government
Grand Duke of Kraków 
 1846–48
Ferdinand I
 1848–1916
Franz Joseph I
 1916–18
Karl I
Historical eraModern Age
 Free City
May 3, 1815
 Annexed
November 16, 1846
 Ausgleich
1867
October 31, 1918
September 10, 1919
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Free City of Kraków
Second Polish Republic
1 Also the Emperor of Austria.

History

Plan of the Free City of Kraków, 1815-1846

The Free City, a remnant of the Duchy of Warsaw, had been made a protectorate, however functionally independent, as a result of the Congress of Vienna (1815). It was under Prussian, Austrian, and Russian trilateral influence until, in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising, it was annexed by the Austrian Empire in 1846.[3]

At the same time the official name of the Austrian administrative entity containing approximately Galicia, and some Polish areas west of it, was changed to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the Grand Duchy of Kraków with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator.

These entities (Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Kraków, Duchy of Oświęcim, and Duchy of Zator) were formally separate; they were listed each in the Austrian emperor's titles, each had its distinct coat of arms and flag. For administrative purposes, however, they formed a single province.

The Duchy had its own local government, the Governorate Commission (Polish: Komisja Gubernialna).

Notes

  1. Frederic Austin Ogg: The Governments of Europe, Volume 2, 2009 p. 89
  2. Google Books search: "Grand Duchy of Cracow" used in many English language books.
  3. The Encyclopedia Americana 1972- Volume 16 - Page 537 By the provisions of the Congress of Vienna (1815) it became the Republic of Krakow, a protectorate of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, but in 1846 it reverted to Austria as the Grand Duchy of Krakow."

References

  • Alfred Regele: Die Einverleibung des Freistaates Krakau 1846. Ungedr. Diss., Wien 1951
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