Grand Duchy of Kraków

The Grand Duchy of Kraków[1][2] (German: Großherzogtum Krakau; Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Krakowskie) was created after the incorporation of the Free City of Cracow into Austria on 16 November 1846.

It was similar with the flag of the Grand Duchy, consisting of three horizontal stripes: yellow, blue and white.

As early as 9 August 1806 the Habsburgs adopted the title of "Grand Duke of Kraków" (Großherzog von Krakau) alongside "King of Galicia and Lodomeria".

In the case of Francis II, however, it was a purely fictitious title referring to something that did not yet exist during his reign and was probably intended to legitimize the seizure of Polish lands by Austria in the Third Partition, the more so that the ruler also adopted other "empty" titles, such as: "Duke of Sandomierz", "Lublin", "Masovia", covering the territories incorporated into Austria during the Third Partition of Poland.

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).

Market square in Chrzanów. A colored photograph from the period when the city belonged to the UK. Fr. Krakowski (ca. 1910)
Krakow market square in 1912 in one of the first color photographs in the history of Poland
Collegium Novum in Krakow built after the re-Polonization of the Jagiellonian University during the times of the Grand Duchy of Krakow
Seal of a notary from Chrzanów in W. Ks. Krakowskie
Plan of the Free City of Kraków, 1815–1846