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 | |||||||||
| Capital | Kraków (Krakau, Cracow) | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Coordinates | 50°4′N 19°56′E | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Grand Duke of Kraków | |||||||||
• 1846–48 | Ferdinand I | ||||||||
• 1848–1916 | Franz Joseph I | ||||||||
• 1916–18 | Karl I | ||||||||
| Historical era | Modern Age | ||||||||
| May 3, 1815 | |||||||||
• Annexed | November 16, 1846 | ||||||||
| 1867 | |||||||||
| October 31, 1918 | |||||||||
| September 10, 1919 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| 1 Also the Emperor of Austria. | |||||||||
History
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
- Frederic Austin Ogg: The Governments of Europe, Volume 2, 2009 p. 89
- Google Books search: "Grand Duchy of Cracow" used in many English language books.
- 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
