Baedeker was the son of a printer and bookseller. In 1827 he started a firm at Koblenz and two years later brought out a guidebook to the town. It was in the second edition of a guide to the Rhine from Mainz to Cologne (which had appeared in 1828) that Baedeker evolved the system on which he based his series. His aim was to give the traveller the practical information necessary to enable him to dispense with paid guides. He checked the reliability of his publications by making incognito journeys and by consulting the best sources and experts. A notable feature of Baedeker's guides was the use of “stars” to indicate objects and views of special interest, as well as to designate reliable hotels. By the time of his death much of Europe had been covered by his guidebooks.

Under the ownership of his sons, Ernst (1833–61), Karl (1837–1911), and, especially, Fritz (1844–1925), the firm expanded still more. The first French edition appeared in 1846, and the first English one followed in 1861. The house moved to Leipzig in 1872, to Hamburg in 1948, and to Freiburg im Breisgau in 1956.