By wireless to the New York Times.
The former Grand Duke Friedrich II, the last ruler of Baden, died this morning at Badenweiler. He was 71 years old, and "almost blind."
Friederich probably was "the most liberal and popular ruler during the monarchic period of his day. At the time of his birth, his father, Grand Duke Friedrich I, "issued a general amnesty for political prisoners of the revolution of 1848."
The young Friedrich studied at Heidelberg and Freiburg, before entering military service. He rose to the rank of Commanding General of the Eighth Army Corps. He retired from active service in 1902.
He remained popular, even after abdicating in 1918. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Baden's republican government "sent an address of devotion to him."
Friedrich succeeded to the throne of Baden, "one of the most progressive states in Germany, on September 28, 1907. He succeeded his father, who was the first to assume the title Grand Duke, as "his predecessors had been called Electors."
Friedrich II was one of the first rulers "to submit to the popular demand" as a "wave of revolution" swept through Germany. The provisional government of Baden, which accepted Friedrich's abdication, "issued a proclamation in which homage was paid to the Duke's patriotism."
He was the subject of an assassination attempt in 1913. A man, "variously described as a maniac, anarchist and criminal," lunged at the Grand Duke with a dagger at a railroad station. Friedrich used the "hilt of his sword to ward off the blow." His assailant was arrested.
Friedrich, a grandson of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, was married to Princess Hilda of Nassau, a sister of the late Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg. Friedrich's sister is Queen Victoria of Sweden.
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