1846–1918 → 1848–1916 Franz Joseph I Historical era Modern Age Founded 1846 | 1846–48 Ferdinand I 1916–18 Karl I Area 1,164 km² Date dissolved 1918 | |
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Capital Kraków (Krakau, Cracow) | ||
The Grand Duchy of Cracow (German: Großherzogtum Krakau, Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Krakowskie) was created after the incorporation of the Free City of Cracow into Austria on November 16, 1846. The title of Grand Duke of Cracow was just a part of the official titulary of the Emperor of Austria in 1846–1918.
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 Cracow Uprising, it was annexed by the Austrian Empire in 1846.
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 Cracow with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator.
These entities (Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Cracow, 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, Governorate Commission (Polish: Komisja Gubernialna).