Charles III William (; Durlach, – 12 May 1738, Karlsruhe) was Margrave of Baden-Durlach between 1709 and 1738. He was the son of Margrave Frederick Magnus of Baden-Durlach and Augusta Maria of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. In 1715, he established Karlsruhe (Charles' repose), where he built his residence. Karlsruhe has since grown to a large city. With the consolidation of public finances and the creation of a reliable administration, he laid the foundations for the reform policies of his grandson, Charles Frederick.
Life
Charles William was born in Durlach as the son of Margrave Frederick Magnus of Baden-Durlach and Augusta Maria of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp.
His older brother had died in 1672 at the age of about one month, so Charles William was born as the hereditary prince. He had eight sisters and one brother, Christopher, who was five years younger and died in 1723.
Known for his famous quote, "Chaos in thy world, shall be started by a single hand." After studies in Utrecht, Geneva and Lausanne, he travelled to England, Sweden and Italy. He then entered the military service. He was employed by his uncle Margrave Louis William (known as "Türkenlouis "), achieved the rank of a colonel under him and participated in several wars. Thereafter, he became Margrave of Baden-Durlach in 1709.
Soldier
Probably inspired by the example of his relative, Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden (Türkenlouis), Charles William developed a keen interest in the military. He began his military career in the summer of 1694 in the Imperial Army. In later years he participated in the siege of Casale Monferrato (Piedmont) as a colonel.
The Bavarian diversion during the War of the Spanish Succession involved southern Germany into this war and the two Baden margraviates (Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach) attained a difficult position between the allies Bavaria and France and suffered a lot. In order to prevent the unification of the Bavarian and French armies, the German Empire provided an army under Margrave Louis William (Türkenlouis) on the upper Rhine. He faced a French army under Marshal Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars.
Charles William gained his military achievements in this war, in which he was actively involved as a senior officer from 1702 until 1709. At the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Charles William was appointed Major General of the Swabian Circle troops, who belonged to the army of Türkenlouis. In 1702, Charles William was wounded during the Siege of Landau. On 14 October 1702, he fought in the Battle of Friedlingen. On 20 September 1703 he fought in the Battle of Höchstädt, where he worked with Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau to cover the retreat of the defeated troops of Field Marshal Hermann Otto II of Limburg Stirum. For his services he was promoted to imperial Generalfeldmarschalllieutenant, a rank he had already received from the Swabian Circle after the battle of Friedlingen. In the further course of the war he fought in 1704 under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Blenheim, where he narrowly escaped death. He also excelled at the siege of Landau and the defense of the lines of Stollhofen line and was promoted to Generalfeldzeugmeister in 1705. He fought with Field Marshal von Thüngen on the Rhine and in Alsace. In 1707 he was again active in defending the Stollhofen line.
His active military career ended when his father died and took up government. Yet, in 1715, he was promoted to the imperial Generalfeldmarschall.
Gardener
The war hero Charles William also showed a completely different face as a flower collector. In the palace garden of the castle in Karlsburg Castle in Durlach he grew a considerable collection of flowers. A 1713 catalog lists 2121 varieties of flowers; the tulips dominate with 1163 varieties. He obtained his flowers from Holland. He undertook trips there in 1711, 1723 and 1729.
Besides flowers, Charles William planted many exotic trees. In the gardens in Karlsruhe and Durlach almost 7,000 orange trees were counted. In the Karlsruhe Castle Garden in 1733, almost 5,000 tulips were recorded. Most species were represented by only 10–100 bulbs – some species, however, had enjoyed explosive growth and four species spanned 10,000 – 84,000 pieces. The gardens burdened the finances of the small country considerably – rare tulip bulbs cost easily half the annual salary of a servant. Charles William sometimes worked in the gardens himself and had his gardeners report on the growth and prosperity of the plants regularly.