Born into an environment of relative wealth – his father, Franz Joseph Baader, became Duke Clement of Bavaria's personal physician in 1768[1] – he originally also pursued a career in medicine.

[4] His theory of suction published in 1797 attracted the attention of the Elector Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, who in 1802 commissioned Baader with the creation of new fountains for the Nymphenburg Palace Park.

[5][6][7] In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte called him to Paris, where he submitted plans for the development of a new engine for the Machine de Marly,[8] though these were never realized.

[4] Starting in 1807, he began advocating for the construction of railway lines, his involvement in this cause going as far as to present a working model of a railcar in 1818, which he developed into a fully-sized machine in the following years.

In 1832, in order to develop the country to build a railway from Rosenheim via Miesbach, Tölz, Iffeldorf to Lechbruck and a canal from Iffeldorf to Lake Starnberg and on to Munich, Baader made a plea for a railway connection from Munich to Starnberg.