The Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were ruled inpersonal union after 1618 and were called Brandenburg-Prussia. From there, theKingdom of Prussia was created in 1701, eventually leading to theunification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871, with the Hohenzollerns as hereditaryGerman Emperors and Kings of Prussia.
The Hohenzollerns named their estates afterHohenzollern Castle in theSwabian Alps. The Hohenzollern Castle lies on an 855 meters high mountain calledHohenzollern. It still belongs to the family today.
In 1218, the burgraviate passed to Frederick's elder sonConrad I, he thereby became the ancestor of theFranconian Hohenzollern branch, which acquired theElectorate of Brandenburg in 1415.[6]
After Frederick's death, his sons partitioned the family lands between themselves:
Conrad I received the county of Zollern and exchanged it for the Burgraviate of Nuremberg with his younger brother Frederick IV in 1218, thereby founding the Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. Members of the Franconian line eventually became theBrandenburg-Prussia branch and later converted toProtestantism.
Frederick IV received the burgraviate of Nuremberg in 1200 from his father and exchanged it for the county of Zollern in 1218 with his brother, thereby founding the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, which remainsCatholic.[6]
The senior Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern was founded by Conrad I, Burgrave of Nuremberg (1186–1261).
The family supported theHohenstaufen andHabsburg rulers of theHoly Roman Empire during the 12th to 15th centuries, being rewarded with several territorial grants. Beginning in the 16th century, this branch of the family became Protestant and decided on expansion through marriage and the purchase of surrounding lands.
In the first phase, the family gradually added to their lands, at first with many small acquisitions in the Franconian region ofGermany:
In the second phase, the family expanded their lands further with large acquisitions in the Brandenburg and Prussian regions of Germany and present-day Poland:
These acquisitions eventually transformed the Franconian Hohenzollerns from a minor German princely family into one of the most important dynasties in Europe.
From 8 January 1701 the title of Elector of Brandenburg was attached to the title ofKingin Prussia and, from 13 September 1772, to that of Kingof Prussia.
AfterJohn III/I's death on 11 June 1420, the margraviates of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach were briefly reunited underFrederick VI/I/I. He ruled the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach after 1398. From 1420, he became Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. From 1411 Frederick VI became governor of Brandenburg and later Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. Upon his death on 21 September 1440, his territories were divided among his sons:
In 1427 Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg soldNuremberg Castle and his rights as burgrave to theImperial City of Nuremberg. The territories of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach remained possessions of the family, once parts of the Burgraviate of Nuremberg.
Nuremberg Castle (the Emperor's castle, left, and the Burgrave's castle, right)
Cadolzburg Castle near Nuremberg (from 1260 seat of the Burgraves)
Heilsbronn Abbey, which the Hohenzollerns used as the family burial place
Burggraftschaft of Nüremburg with the independent Free Imperial City of Nüremburg in red
1757–1791:Christian II Frederick (1736–1806) (son of, also Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach)
On 2 December 1791, Christian II Frederick sold the sovereignty of his principalities to KingFrederick William II of Prussia.
The original Burggraftschaft of Nüremburg developed into the Burgraftschaft of Ansbach and the Burgraftschaft of Bayreuth with the independent Free Imperial City of Nüremburg in red.
Margraves of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1398–1604), later Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1604–1791)
Frederick VI became Margrave of Brandenburg in 1415.
In 1411,Frederick VI, Burgrave of the small but wealthy Nuremberg, was appointed governor of Brandenburg in order to restore order and stability. At theCouncil of Constance in 1415, KingSigismund elevated Frederick to the rank of Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. In 1417, Elector Frederick purchased Brandenburg from its then-sovereign, Emperor Sigismund, for 400,000 Hungarian guilders.
Although recognized as a branch of the dynasty since 1688, theMargraviate of Brandenburg-Schwedt remained subordinate to the electors, and was never an independent principality.
In 1701, the title ofKing in Prussia was granted, without the Duchy of Prussia being elevated to a Kingdom within Poland but recognized as a kingdom by the Holy Roman Emperor, theoretically the highest sovereign in the West. From 1701 onwards the titles of Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title of King in Prussia. The Duke of Prussia adopted the title of king asFrederick I, establishing his status as a monarch whose royal territory lay outside the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, with the assent of EmperorLeopold I: Frederick could not be "King of Prussia" because part of Prussia's lands were under thesuzerainty of theCrown of the Kingdom of Poland. In Brandenburg and the other Hohenzollern domains within the borders of the empire, he was legally still an elector under the ultimate overlordship of the emperor. By this time, however, the emperor's authority had become purely nominal over the other German princes outside the immediate hereditary lands of the emperor. Brandenburg was still legally part of the empire and ruled in personal union with Prussia, though the two states came to be treated as onede facto. The king was officiallyMargrave of Brandenburg within the Empire until the Empire's dissolution in 1806. In the age ofabsolutism, most monarchs were obsessed with the desire to emulateLouis XIV of France with his luxuriouspalace at Versailles.
In 1772, the Duchy of Prussia was elevated to a kingdom.
In the 1772First Partition of Poland, the Prussian kingFrederick the Great annexed neighboringRoyal Prussia, i.e., the Polish voivodeships ofPomerania (Gdańsk Pomerania orPomerelia),Malbork,Chełmno and thePrince-Bishopric of Warmia, thereby connecting his Prussian andFarther Pomeranian lands and cutting the rest of Poland from theBaltic coast. The territory ofWarmia was incorporated into the lands of former Ducal Prussia, which, by administrative deed of 31 January 1772 were namedEast Prussia. The former Polish Pomerelian lands beyond theVistula River together with Malbork andChełmno Land formed the province ofWest Prussia with its capital atMarienwerder (Kwidzyn) in 1773. The PolishPartition Sejm ratified the cession on 30 September 1772, whereafter Frederick officially went on to call himselfKing "of" Prussia. From 1772 onwards the titles of Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title King of Prussia.
In 1871, the Kingdom of Prussia became a constituent member of theGerman Empire, and the King of Prussia gained the additional title ofGerman Emperor.
In 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed. With the accession ofWilliam I to the newly established imperial German throne, the titles of King of Prussia, Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title ofGerman Emperor.
William II intended to develop aGerman navy capable of challenging Britain'sRoyal Navy. The assassination ofArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 set off the chain of events that led toWorld War I. As a result of the war, the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist.
In 1918, the German empire was abolished and replaced by theWeimar Republic. After the outbreak of the German revolution in 1918, both Emperor William II and Crown PrinceWilliam signed the document of abdication.
The official religion of the state was "bi-confessional". John Sigismund's most significant action was his conversion fromLutheranism toCalvinism, after he had earlier equalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants in the Duchy of Prussia under pressure from the King of Poland. He was probably won over to Calvinism during a visit toHeidelberg in 1606, but it was not until 25 December 1613 that he publicly tookcommunion according to the Calvinist rite. The vast majority of his subjects in Brandenburg, including his wifeAnna of Prussia, remained deeply Lutheran, however. After the Elector and his Calvinist court officials drew up plans for mass conversion of the population to the new faith in February 1614, as provided for by the rule ofCuius regio, eius religio within theHoly Roman Empire, there were serious protests, with his wife backing the Lutherans. This was doubly important as Anna brought with her the duchy of Prussia into the Brandenburg line of the house and the nascent Brandenburg-Prussian state. Resistance was so strong that in 1615, John Sigismund backed down and relinquished all attempts at forcible conversion. Instead, he allowed his subjects to be either Lutheran or Calvinist according to the dictates of their own consciences. Henceforward, Brandenburg-Prussia would be a bi-confessional state, with the ruling Hohenzollern house stayingCalvinist.[9]
This situation persisted until Frederick William III of Prussia. Frederick William was determined to unify the Protestant churches to homogenize their liturgy, organization, and architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches in thePrussian Union of churches. The merging of the Lutheran and Calvinist (Reformed) confessions to form the United Church of Prussia was highly controversial. Angry responses included a large and well-organized opposition. The crown's aggressive efforts to restructure religion were unprecedented in Prussian history. In a series of proclamations over several years, theChurch of the Prussian Union was formed, bringing together the majority group of Lutherans and the minority group of Reformed Protestants. The main effect was that the government of Prussia had full control over church affairs, with the king himself recognized as the leading bishop.[10]
Since the abolition of the German monarchy, no Hohenzollern claims to imperial or royal prerogatives are recognized by Germany'sBasic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949, which guarantees a republic.
The communist government of theSoviet occupation zone expropriated all landowners and industrialists; the House of Hohenzollern lost almost all of its fortune, retaining a few company shares andHohenzollern Castle inWest Germany. The Polish government appropriated theSilesian property and the Dutch government seizedHuis Doorn, the Emperor's seat in exile.
AfterGerman reunification, however, the family was legally able to reclaim their portable property, namely art collections and parts of the interior of their former palaces. Negotiations on the return of or compensation for these assets are not yet completed.
TheBerlin Palace, home of the German monarchs, was rebuilt in 2020. The Berlin Palace and theHumboldt Forum are located in the middle of Berlin.
The head of the house is the titular King of Prussia and German Emperor. He also bears a historical claim to the title ofPrince of Orange. Members of this line style themselves princes of Prussia.
Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, the current head of the royal Prussian House of Hohenzollern, was married toPrincess Sophie of Isenburg on 27 August 2011. On 20 January 2013, she gave birth to twin sons, Carl Friedrich Franz Alexander and Louis Ferdinand Christian Albrecht, inBremen. Carl Friedrich, the elder of the two, is the heir apparent.[11]
Affected by economic problems and internal feuds, the Hohenzollern counts from the 14th century onwards came under pressure by their neighbors, the Counts ofWürttemberg and the cities of theSwabian League, whose troops besieged and finally destroyed Hohenzollern Castle in 1423. Nevertheless, the Hohenzollerns retained their estates, backed by their Brandenburg cousins and the ImperialHouse of Habsburg. In 1535, CountCharles I of Hohenzollern (1512–1576) received the counties ofSigmaringen andVeringen as Imperial fiefs.[6]
In 1695, the remaining two Swabian branches entered into an agreement with the Margrave of Brandenburg, which provided that if both branches became extinct, the principalities should fall to Brandenburg. Because of theRevolutions of 1848,Constantine, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen andKarl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen abdicated their thrones in December 1849. The principalities were ruled by the Kings of Prussia from December 1849 onwards, with the Hechingen and Sigmaringen branches obtaining official treatment as cadets of the Prussian royal family.
Hohenzollern region, in present-dayBaden-Württemberg,Germany (red color) and their Prussian cousins' kingdom (light beige)
In 1204, the County of Hohenzollern was established out of the fusion of the County of Zollern and theBurgraviate of Nuremberg. The Swabian branch inherited the county of Zollern and, being descended from Frederick I of Nuremberg, were all named "Friedrich" down through the 11th generation.[13] Each one's numeral is counted from the first Friedrich to rule his branch'sappanage.[13]
The most senior of these in the 14th century, CountFrederick VIII (d. 1333), had two sons, the elder of whom becameFrederick IX (d. 1379), first Count of Hohenzollern, and fathered Friedrich X who left no sons when he died in 1412.[13]
But the younger son of Friedrich VIII, calledFriedrich of Strassburg, uniquely, took no numeral of his own, retaining the old title "Count of Zollern" and pre-deceased his brother in 1364/65.[13] Prince Wilhelm Karl zu Isenburg's 1957 genealogical series,Europäische Stammtafeln, says Friedrich of Strassburg shared, rather, in the rule of Zollern with his elder brother until his premature death.[13]
It appears, but is not stated, that Strassburg's son became the recognized co-ruler of his cousin Friedrich X (as compensation for having received no appanage and/or because of incapacity on the part of Friedrich X) and, as such, assumed (or is, historically, attributed) the designationFrederick XI although he actually pre-deceased Friedrich X, dying in 1401.
Friedrich XI, however, left two sons who jointly succeeded their cousin-once-removed, being CountFrederick XII (d. childless 1443) and Count Eitel Friedrich I (d. 1439), the latter becoming the ancestor of all subsequent branches of the Princes of Hohenzollern.[13]
1204–1251/1255:Frederick IV, also Burgrave of Nuremberg as Frederick II until 1218
In the 12th century, a son ofFrederick I secured the county ofHohenberg. The county remained in the possession of the family until 1486.
The influence of the Swabian line was weakened by several partitions of its lands. In the 16th century, the situation changed completely whenEitel Frederick II, a friend and adviser of the emperorMaximilian I, received the district ofHaigerloch. His grandsonCharles I was granted the counties of Sigmaringen and Vehringen byCharles V.
Counts, later Princes of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (1576–1849)
In December 1849, the ruling princes of both Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen abdicated their thrones, and their principalities were incorporated as the Prussianprovince of Hohenzollern.[6] The Hechingen branch became extinct in dynastic line with Konstantin's death in 1869.
In December 1849, sovereignty over the principality was yielded to the Franconian branch of the family and incorporated into theKingdom of Prussia, which accorded status as cadets of the Prussian Royal Family to the Swabian Hohenzollerns. The last ruling Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,Karl Anton, would later serve asMinister President of Prussia between 1858 and 1862.
The family continued to use the title of Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. After the Hechingen branch became extinct in 1869, the Sigmaringen branch adopted title ofPrince of Hohenzollern.
The head of the Sigmaringen branch (the only extant line of the Swabian branch of the dynasty) isKarl Friedrich, styledHis Highness The Prince of Hohenzollern. His official seat isSigmaringen Castle.[6]
In 1947, the King Michael I abdicated and the country was proclaimed aPeople's Republic. Michael did not press his claim to the defunct Romanian throne, but he was welcomed back to the country after half a century in exile as a private citizen, with substantial former royal properties being placed at his disposal. However, his dynastic claim was not recognized by post-Communist Romanians.
On 10 May 2011, King Michael I severed the dynastic ties between the Romanian Royal Family and the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.[14]After that the branch of the Hohenzollerns wasdynastically represented only by the last king Michael, and his daughters. Having no sons, he declared that his dynastic heir, instead of being a male member of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen princely family to which he formerly belongedpatrilineally and in accordance with the last Romanian monarchical constitution, should be his eldest daughterMargareta.[15]
The royal house remains popular in Romania[16] and in 2014 Prime MinisterVictor Ponta promised a referendum on whether or not to reinstate the monarchy if he were re-elected.
In mid-2019, it was revealed thatPrince Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, Head of the House of Hohenzollern had filed claims for permanent right of residency for his family inCecilienhof, or one of two other Hohenzollern palaces in Potsdam, as well as return of the family library, 266 paintings, an imperial crown and sceptre, and the letters ofEmpress Augusta Victoria.[17]
Central to the argument was thatMonbijou Palace, which had been permanently given to the family following the fall of the Kaiser, was demolished by the East German government in 1959. Lawyers for the German state argued that the involvement of members of the family in National Socialism had voided any such rights.[17]
In June 2019, a claim made by Prince Georg Friedrich thatRheinfels Castle be returned to the Hohenzollern family was dismissed by a court. In 1924, the ruined Castle had been given by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate to the town of St Goar, under the provision it was not sold. In 1998, the town leased the ruins to a nearby hotel. His case made the claim that this constituted a breach of the bequest.[18]
^Christopher ClarkThe Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947 (Penguin, 2007) pp. 115–121
^Christopher Clark (1996). "Confessional policy and the limits of state action: Frederick William III and the Prussian Church Union 1817–40".Historical Journal.39 (4):985–1004.doi:10.1017/S0018246X00024730.JSTOR2639865.S2CID159976974.
^Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, Jiří Louda & Michael Maclagan, 1981, pp. 178–179.
^abcdefHuberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F.; B. (1989).L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome V – Hohenzollern-Waldeck. France: Laballery. pp. 30, 33.ISBN2-901138-05-5.
.jpg)
_-_DE.svg)
.svg)
_-_Joachim_I_Nestor_-_Jagdschloss_Grunewald.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.svg)
.JPG)
.svg)
.JPG)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.svg)
.svg)
