Rastatt is a city in the District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Murg, 4 miles above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of 47,000 (2003).
History
Until the end of the 17th century Rastatt was unimportant, but after its destruction by the French in 1689 it was rebuilt on a larger scale by Louis William, margrave of Baden, the imperial general in the Austro-Ottoman War. It was then the residence of the margraves of Baden-Baden until 1771. The Baden revolution of 1849 began with a mutiny of soldiers at Rastatt in May 1849 under Ludwik Mieroslawski and Gustav Struve, and ended here a few weeks later with the capture of the town by the Prussians. (See The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states and History of Baden.) For some years Rastatt was one of the strongest fortresses of the German empire, but its fortifications were dismantled in 1890.
It was the location of the First and Second Congress of Rastatt.
Pop. (1905) 14,404.
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