Family History

The first personal reference to the House of Hohenzollern dates back to the 11th century. Monk Berthold from Reichenau Abbey writes in his Chronicle Of The World in 1061 that "Wezil et Burchardus de Zolorin occiduntur" - that Wezil and Burchardus of Zollern fell in battle.

The name Zoller is probably derived from the Latin "mons solarius", meaning "mountain of the sun". It is possible that the Romans, who lived here until the 3rd century, used this mountain as a place of worship. The word "solarius" became "zolorin", then "zolre’" and finally "Zollern". From the 14th century onwards, the counts added the prefix "Hohen" (High) to their name to "Hohenzollern" in order to emphasise their geographically and socially elevated status.

However, as with many ruling dynasties, the exact origins and beginnings of the Zollern are shrouded in the darkness of history. In fact, they must have already been an important and wealthy noble family at the time, who could afford to build a hilltop castle in the 11th century.

In 1192, Count Friedrich III von Zollern also came into possession of the Burggraviate of Nuremberg through marriage. In 1214, his sons Friedrich IV and Konrad divided the inheritance, resulting in the two main Hohenzollern lines that still exist today: the Swabian and the Franconian, later Brandenburg-Prussian, branches of the house.

In 1415, the Nuremberg Burgrave Friedrich VI of Hohenzollern was appointed Margrave by Sigismund, King of the Holy Roman Empire, for his loyal service, and two years later was even appointed Elector of Brandenburg.

In 1618, Elector Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg married Anna of Prussia, uniting the two states of Brandenburg and East Prussia. Prussia had previously been a Polish duchy. Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1620-1688), known as the ‘Great Elector’, was able to shake off Polish feudal sovereignty over his lands to such an extent that Prussia became a sovereign state. This created the conditions for Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg to crown himself the first king of Prussia in Königsberg in 1701. The Franconian-Brandenburg line of the Hohenzollerns had thus become royal Prussian.

The second Prussian monarch, Friedrich Wilhelm I, known as the "Soldier King", was primarily concerned with equipping his kingdom with a strong army. Under these conditions, his son, King Friedrich II of Prussia, known as "Friedrich the Great", brought the Prussian kingdom to its greatest extent. Prussia became the fifth major European power alongside France, Austria, Great Britain and Russia.

Three generations later, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. The Hohenzollerns had thus reached the top of the career ladder. Wilhelm I died in 1888 at the advanced age of almost 91. His son, Emperor Friedrich III, was to go down in history as the 99-day emperor, as he died seriously ill in the same year. His son, Wilhelm II, thus became the third German emperor in 1888 - the so-called Three Emperors' Year.

With the end of the First World War, the monarchy in Germany was abolished in 1918. Kaiser Wilhelm II went into exile in Holland, near Utrecht, where the Dutch state gave him the small country palace Huis Doorn. He spent the rest of his life there until he died in 1941 and was buried there.

Crown Prince Wilhelm, the son of the last emperor, spent the years after the Second World War in Hechingen and partly at Hohenzollern Castle. After his death in 1951, his son, Louis Ferdinand Prince of Prussia, had him buried in the small castle cemetery. As the new landlord, Prince Louis Ferdinand realised his plan to develop Hohenzollern Castle into the Hohenzollern Museum. In 1952, together with his wife, Princess Kira of Prussia, he also founded the Kira Foundation, named after her, with the aim of giving children and young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds a carefree time in the form of free holidays at Hohenzollern Castle.

Today, the Kira Foundation is managed by Sophie Princess of Prussia, the wife of the current landlord Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia. One of his tasks is to look after and manage the material and immaterial heritage of her family dynasty. Even though the couple and their four children live in Potsdam, the family still spends a lot of time at Hohenzollern Castle. And the Prussian flag is still traditionally hoisted on the flag tower when the landlord is present.

With the division of the inheritance in 1214, Count Frederick IV of Zollern took over the Swabian family estate and thus also the Zoller Castle. His successors were also called Frederick and were given appropriate epithets to distinguish them, such as Frederick “the Illustrious”, Frederick “the Knight” or Frederick “the Black Count”. Frederick XII (before 1401 – 1443), known as “the Öttinger”, marked the beginning of a dark chapter in the Swabian family line. His “unruly” behavior incurred the wrath of the Württemberg imperial cities, who destroyed the castle in 1423 after a ten-month siege and imprisoned “the Öttinger” – at least temporarily. Count Jost Niklas (1433 – 1488), a nephew of Öttinger, had the second castle built on the Zoller mountain from 1454. In 1497, the Hohenzollerns came into possession of the nearby lordship of Haigerloch through an exchange of land. They were also enfeoffed with the counties of Sigmaringen and Veringen in 1535. From 1576 there were thus the Swabian lines of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Haigerloch. However, the latter became extinct again in 1634 and its possessions fell to Sigmaringen. Elevated to the status of imperial princes in 1623, the two princely houses resided at Sigmaringen Castle and the town palace in Hechingen.

In the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars (1792 – 1815), Swabia suddenly became a theater of war and the very existence of the two principalities was at stake. By joining the Confederation of the Rhine, they escaped the threat of mediatization, which caused many small and medium-sized countships and principalities in southern Germany to disappear. However, in order to avoid being incorporated by Württemberg or Baden, Hohenzollern switched to Napoleon's (1769 – 1821) side.

As is so often the case, a personal connection was also decisive for survival: Princess Amalie-Zephyrine von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1760 – 1841) was a close confidante of Napoleon's first wife Josephine de Beauharnais (1763 – 1814). Through her intercession with the French Emperor, she saved both principalities from ruin. However, this also meant that the Swabian Hohenzollerns suddenly found themselves on campaign against Prussia, which was also Hohenzollern, which naturally aroused the resentment of the Prussian King Frederick William III (1770 – 1840).

Shortly before the Napoleonic star finally sank, the Swabian and Prussian Hohenzollerns turned to each other again. The two principalities were accepted into the German Confederation and Prussia acted as a protective power. In 1833, Prince Karl ordered the ceremonial opening of a state parliament in Sigmaringen. In Hechingen, the last prince of this line, Friedrich Wilhelm Konstantin (1801 – 1869), ruled his politically insignificant country mainly as a music enthusiast and patron of the arts. However, his marriage to Eugénie de Beauharnais (1808 – 1847), a step-granddaughter of Napoleon, gave Hechingen a mother who is still highly revered today for her social welfare.

The revolution of 1848/49 heralded the end of Hohenzollern's independence as a state. The two princes abdicated in favor of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1795 – 1861). Hohenzollern became Prussian and in 1871, as the administrative unit “Hohenzollerische Lande”, became its own administrative district.

As early as 1858, Prince Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1811 – 1885) was appointed Prussian Prime Minister and received the title “Royal Highness”. His son Karl (1839 – 1914) became the founder of the Romanian royal family as Carol I. He was succeeded on the Romanian throne by his nephew Ferdinand (1865 – 1927) and later by his son Carol II (1893 – 1953) and his son Michael (1921 – 2017). The Swabian line of the House of Hohenzollern was at the center of German history for the last time when the French “Vichy government” had to be accommodated in Sigmaringen Palace for 225 days in 1944 on the orders of the National Socialists. When a referendum in 1950 voted with over 90 % in favor of the foundation of the southwestern state of “Baden-Württemberg”, the name Hohenzollern finally disappeared as a territorial designation.

Today, Karl Friedrich Prince of Hohenzollern (born 1952) manages the fortunes of his family and Sigmaringen Palace and, together with Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia (born 1976), is responsible for the preservation of Hohenzollern Castle. He is the owner of the Prince of Hohenzollern Group of Companies, which is primarily active in the forestry, metal and electrical engineering sectors. In his spare time, Prince Karl Friedrich performs as a saxophonist and singer with the band Royal Groovin'.