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The House of Hohenzollern
The Hohenzollerns rose from Swabian counts to Kings of Prussia and, from 1871 to 1918, German Emperors. Another branch ruled Romania. Here is the house's story, based on the sources listed at the end.
1061: First Mention
The family is first mentioned in the world chronicle of the monk Berthold of Reichenau. Under the year 1061 he records that "Wezil et Burchardus de Zolorin" were killed in battle [2][3]. The name probably comes from the Latin mons solarius, "mountain of the sun", which became zolorin, zolre and finally Zollern. The counts added the prefix "Hohen-" from the 14th century [2]. Legends tracing the family back to the Roman Colonna family, or to a Carolingian count, have no historical basis [3].
Two Branches: Swabian and Franconian
In 1192 Count Frederick III of Zollern gained the Burgraviate of Nuremberg by marriage [2]. In 1214 his sons divided the inheritance, creating the two main lines that still exist today: the Swabian line and the Franconian line, which later became the Brandenburg-Prussian line [2].
Brandenburg, Prussia and the Empire
Members of the Franconian branch became Margraves of Brandenburg in 1415 and Dukes of Prussia in 1525 [1]. According to the castle's published history, Emperor Sigismund made Burgrave Frederick VI of Nuremberg Margrave of Brandenburg in 1415 for loyal service, and Elector two years later [2]. In 1618 Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg married Anna of Prussia, which brought Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia together. Prussia had until then been a Polish fief [2].
Frederick William (1620โ1688), known as the "Great Elector", loosened Polish overlordship enough for Prussia to become a sovereign state [2]. This allowed his son, Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg, to crown himself the first King in Prussia at Kรถnigsberg in 1701 [1][2]. His successor Frederick William I, the "Soldier King", built up a strong army. Under Frederick II, "Frederick the Great", Prussia reached its greatest extent and joined France, Austria, Great Britain and Russia as the fifth European great power [2].
With the founding of the German Empire in 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War, King William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor, and the Hohenzollerns became hereditary emperors as well as kings [1][2]. William I died in 1888, aged almost 91. His son Frederick III reigned for only 99 days before dying of illness the same year, and his grandson William II became the third emperor of 1888, the "Year of the Three Emperors" [2].
The Kings of Prussia and German Emperors
| Monarch | Lived | Title | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick I | 1657โ1713 | King in Prussia | [2] |
| Frederick William I | 1688โ1740 | King in Prussia | [2] |
| Frederick II | 1712โ1786 | King of Prussia | [2] |
| Frederick William II | 1744โ1797 | King of Prussia | [2] |
| Frederick William III | 1770โ1840 | King of Prussia | [2] |
| Frederick William IV | 1795โ1861 | King of Prussia | [2] |
| William I | 1797โ1888 | King of Prussia and German Emperor | [2] |
| Frederick III | 1831โ1888 | King of Prussia and German Emperor | [2] |
| William II | 1859โ1941 | King of Prussia and German Emperor | [2] |
The Swabian Line and Romania
After the 1214 division, Count Frederick IV took the Swabian lands and Zollern Castle [2]. In 1423 the Swabian imperial cities destroyed the first castle after a ten-month siege. Count Jost Niklas began a second castle on the hill from 1454 [2]. The family gained Haigerloch by exchange in 1497 and was enfeoffed with Sigmaringen and Veringen in 1535. From 1576 there were three Swabian lines: Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Haigerloch. The last died out in 1634 [2]. The two remaining houses were raised to princely rank in 1623 [2].
The castle's history credits Princess Amalie Zephyrine of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a confidante of Empress Josรฉphine, with helping the two principalities survive the Napoleonic era [2]. After the revolution of 1848โ49, both princes abdicated in favour of King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and Hohenzollern became Prussian [2]. Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1811โ1885) became Prussian Minister-President in 1858 [2].
His son Karl (1839โ1914) founded the Romanian royal house as Carol I. He was followed by his nephew Ferdinand, then Carol II and Michael (1921โ2017) [2]. The Swabian branch ruled Romania from 1866 to 1947 [1]. In 1944 the Nazi regime housed the French Vichy government at Sigmaringen Castle for 225 days [2]. When a popular consultation, dated 1950 in the castle's history, backed the creation of Baden-Wรผrttemberg, the name Hohenzollern disappeared as a territorial designation [2].
1918โ1919: The End of the Monarchy
After Germany's defeat in the First World War, the German Revolution of 1918โ19 overthrew the Hohenzollerns, and Wilhelm II abdicated [1]. The Weimar Constitution of 1919 abolished the legal privileges of the nobility. Titles became merely part of the surname [4].
William II went into exile in the Netherlands, near Utrecht. He bought the small manor of Huis Doorn, where he lived until his death in 1941 and where he is buried [2]. His son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, 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 castle's small cemetery [2].
Hohenzollern Castle
The family's ancestral seat is Hohenzollern Castle, near Hechingen. The present neo-Gothic castle, the third on the site, was built from 1850 for King Frederick William IV and inaugurated by William I on 3 October 1867 [5]. Since 1 January 2026, Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, has been its sole owner. His cousin Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern, head of the Swabian line, transferred his one-third share to him [2][5].
The House Today
Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, is head of the formerly royal Prussian line. Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern, heads the Swabian line [1][2].
In 1952 Louis Ferdinand and his wife, Princess Kira, founded the Kira Foundation, which offers free holidays at the castle to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is now led by Sophie, Princess of Prussia, wife of Georg Friedrich (born 1976). The couple and their four children live in Potsdam [2]. By tradition, the Prussian flag flies over the castle when the head of the house is present [2]. Karl Friedrich (born 1952) runs Sigmaringen Castle and the Fรผrst von Hohenzollern group of companies [2].
Licence: contains material adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). This article is released under the same licence. Primary and institutional sources are summarised or briefly quoted.