Ludwig I succeeded as Grand Duke of Baden on 8 December 1818. He was the uncle of his predecessor Karl Ludwig Friedrich, and his death marked the end of the Zähringen line of the House of Baden. He was succeeded by his half brother, Leopold.

The Grand Duchy of Baden, also known as the Baden Palatinate, was a state in south-west Germany on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed as a sovereign state between 1806 and 1871 and as part of the German Empire from 1871 until 1918.