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HOHENZOLLERN

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 577 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HOHENZOLLERN , the name of a See also:

castle which stood on the See also:hill of Zollern about 1; m. See also:south of Hechingen, and gave its name to the See also:family to which the See also:present See also:German See also:emperor belongs. A vague tradition connects the See also:house with the See also:Colonna family of See also:Rome, or the Colalto family of See also:Lombardy; but one more definite unites the Hohenzollerns with the Burkhardingers, who were See also:counts in See also:Raetia during the See also:early See also:part of the loth See also:century, and two of whom became See also:dukes of See also:Swabia. Tassilo, a member of this family, is said to have built a castle at Zollern early in the 9th century; but the first See also:historical mention of the name is in the Chronicon of a certain Berthold (d. Io88), who refers to Burkhard and Wezil, or See also:Werner, of Zollern, or Zolorin. These men appear to have been counts of Zollern, and to have met their See also:death in io61. The family of Wezil died out in 1194, and the existing branches of the Hohenzollerns are descended from Burkhard and his son See also:Frederick, whose eldest son, Frederick II., was in See also:great favour with the German See also:kings, See also:Lothair the Saxon and See also:Conrad III. Frederick II. died about 1145, and his son and successor, Frederick III., was a See also:constant supporter of the See also:Hohenstaufen. This See also:count married See also:Sophia, daughter and heiress of Conrad, See also:burgrave of See also:Nuremberg, and about 1192 he succeeded his See also:father-in-See also:law as burgrave, obtaining also some lands in See also:Austria and See also:Franconia. He died about 1200, and his sons, Conrad and Frederick, ruled their lands in See also:common until 1227, when an important See also:division took See also:place. Conrad became burgrave of Nuremberg, and, receiving the lands which had come into the family through his See also:mother, founded the Franconian See also:branch of the family, which became the more important of the two; while Frederick, receiving the See also:county of Zollern and the older possessions of the family, was the ancestor of the Swabian branch. Early in the 12th century Burkhard, a younger son of Frederick I., secured the county of Hohenberg, and this See also:district remained in the See also:possession of the Hohenzollerns until the death of Count See also:Sigismund in 1486. Its rulers, however, with the exception of Count See also:Albert II.

(d. 1298), played an unimportant part in German See also:

history. Albert, who was a Minnesinger, was loyal to the declining fortunes of the Hohenstaufen, and afterwards supported his See also:brother-in-law, See also:Rudolph of See also:Habsburg, in his efforts to obtain the German See also:throne. He shared in the See also:campaigns of Rudolph and See also:fell in See also:battle in 1298, during the struggle between Adolph of See also:Nassau and Albert of Habsburg (afterwards See also:King Albert I.). When this family became See also:extinct in 1486 Hohenberg passed to the Habsburgs. The Franconian branch of the Hohenzoilerns was represented in 1227 by Conrad, burgrave of Nuremberg, whom the emperor Frederick II. appointed See also:guardian of his son See also:Henry, and See also:administrator of Austria. After a See also:short See also:apostasy, during which he supported Henry See also:Raspe, See also:landgrave of Thuringia, Conrad returned to the See also:side of the Hohenstaufen and aided Conrad IV. He died in 1261, when his son and successor, the burgrave Frederick III., had already obtained See also:Bayreuth through his See also:marriage with See also:Elizabeth, daughter of See also:Otto of See also:Meran (d. 1234). Frederick took a leading part in German affairs, and it is interesting to See also:note that he had a considerable See also:share in securing the See also:election of his See also:uncle, Rudolph of Habsburg, as German king in 1273. He died in 1297 and was succeeded by his son, Frederick IV. This burgrave fought for King Albert I. in Thuringia, and supported Henry VII. in his efforts to secure Bohemia for his son See also:John ; but in 1314, forsaking his father's policy, he favoured See also:Louis, afterwards the emperor Louis IV., in his struggle with Frederick, See also:duke of Austria, and by his conduct at the battle of Muhldorf in 1322 and elsewhere earned the designation of " saviour of the See also:empire." Frederick, however, did not neglect his hereditary lands.

He did something for the See also:

maintenance of See also:peace and the See also:security of traders, gave corporate privileges to villages, and took the See also:Jews under his See also:protection. His services to Louis were rewarded in various ways, and, using part of his See also:wealth to increase the See also:area of his possessions, he bought the See also:town and district of See also:Ansbach in 1331. Dying in 1332, Frederick was succeeded by his son, John II., who, after one of his See also:brothers had died and two others had entered the See also:church, ruled his lands in common with his brother Albert. About 1338 John bought Culmbach and Plassenburg, and on the strength of a See also:privilege granted to him in 1347 he seized many robber-fortresses and held the surrounding lands as imperial fiefs. In See also:general he continued his father's policy, and when he died in 1357 was succeeded by his son, Frederick V., who, after the death of his uncle Albert in 1361, became See also:sole ruler of Nuremberg, Ansbach and Bayreuth. Frederick lived in See also:close friendship with the emperor See also:Charles IV., who formally invested him with Ansbach and Bayreuth and made him a See also:prince of the empire in 1363. In spite of the troubled times in which he lived, Frederick was a successful ruler, and introduced a See also:regular See also:system of public See also:finance into his lands. In 1397 he divided his territories between his sons John and Frederick, and died in the following See also:year. His See also:elder son, John III., who had married See also:Margaret, a daughter of the emperor Charles IV., was frequently in the See also:company of his brothers-in-law, the German kings See also:Wenceslaus and Sigismund. He died without sons in 1420. Since 1397 the See also:office of burgrave of Nuremberg had been held by John's brother, Frederick, who in 1415 received See also:Brandenburg from King Sigismund, and became See also:margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. (q.v.).

On his brother's death in 1420 he reunited the lands of his branch of the family, but in 1427 he sold his rights as burgrave to the town of Nuremberg. The subsequent :iistory of this branch of the Hohenzollerns is identified with that of Brandenburg from 1415 to 1701, and with that of Prussiasince the latter date, as in this year the elector Frederick III. became king of See also:

Prussia. In 1871 See also:William, the seventh king, took the See also:title of German emperor. While the electorate of Brandenburg passed according to the See also:rule of See also:primogeniture, the Franconian possessions of the Hohenzollerns, Ansbach and Bayreuth, were given as appanages to younger sons, an arrangement which was confirmed by the dispositio Achillea of 1473. These principalities were ruled by the sons and descendants of the elector Albert See also:Achilles from 1486 to 1603; and, after reverting to the elector of Brandenburg, by the descendants of the elector John See also:George from 1603 to 1791. In 1791 Prince Charles See also:Alexander (d. 18o6), who had inherited both districts, sold his lands to Prussia. The See also:influence of the Swabian branch of the Hohenzollerns was weakened by several partitions of its lands; but early in the 16th century it See also:rose to some See also:eminence through Count Eitel Frederick II. (d. 1512), a friend and adviser of the emperor See also:Maximilian I. Eitel received from this emperor the district of Haigerloch, and in 1534 his See also:grandson Charles (d. 1576) was granted the counties of See also:Sigmaringen and Vohringen by the emperor Charles V.

In 1576 the sons of Charles divided their lands, and founded three branches of the family, one of which is still flourishing. Eitel Frederick IV. took Hohenzollern with the title of Hohenzollern-Hechingen; Charles II. Sigmaringen and Vohringen and the title of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; and See also:

Christopher took Haigerloch. Christopher's family died out in 1634, but the remaining lines are of some importance. Count John George of Hohenzollern-Hechingen was made a prince in 1623, and John of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen soon received the same See also:honour. In 1695 these two branches of the family entered conjointly into an agreement with Brandenburg, which provided that, in See also:case of the extinction of either of the Swabian branches, the remaining branch should inherit its lands; and if both branches became extinct the principalities should revert to Brandenburg. During the 17th and 18th centuries and during the See also:period of the See also:Napoleonic See also:wars the history of these lands was very similar to that of the other small estates of See also:Germany. In consequence of the See also:political troubles of 1848 Princes Frederick William of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Charles Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen resigned their principalities, and accordingly these fell to the king of Prussia, who took possession on the 12th of See also:March 185o. By a royal See also:decree of the loth of May following the title of " See also:highness," with the prerogatives of younger sons of the royal house, was conferred on the two princes. The proposal to raise Prince See also:Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1835—1905) to the See also:Spanish throne in 1870 was the immediate cause of the See also:war between See also:France and Germany. In 1908 the See also:head of this branch of the Hohenzollerns, the only one existing besides the imperial house, was Leopold's son William (b. 1864), who, owing to the extinction of the family of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in 1869, was called simply prince of Hohenzollern.

In 1866 Prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was chosen prince of See also:

Rumania, becoming king in 1881. The See also:modern Prussian See also:province of Hohenzollern is a See also:long, narrow See also:strip of territory bounded on the S.W. by See also:Baden and in other directions by See also:Wurttemberg. It was divided into two principalities, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen, until 185o, when these were See also:united. They now See also:form the See also:government of Sigmaringen (q.v.). The castle of Hohenzollern was destroyed in 1423, but it has been restored several times. Some remains of the old See also:building may still be seen adjoining the present castle, which was built by King Frederick William IV. See Monumenta Zollerana, edited by R. von Stillfried and T. Marker (See also:Berlin, 1852—189o); Quellen and Untersuchungen zur Geschichte See also:des Hauses Hohenzollern, edited by E. Berner (Berlin, 1901 fol.); R. von Stillfried, Alter1imer and Kunstdenkmale des erlauchten Hauses von Hohenzollern (Berlin, 1852–1867) and Stammtafeln des Gesamthauses Hohenzollern (Berlin, 1869) ; L. Schmid, See also:Die iilteste Geschichte des erlauchten Gesamthauses der koniglichen and furstlichen Hohenzollern (See also:Tubingen, 1884–1888) ; L. Schwartz, Slammtafel des preussischen Konigshauscs (See also:Breslau 1898) ; Hohenzollernsche Forschungen, Jahrbuch See also:fur die Geschichte der Hohenzollern, edited by C. See also:Meyer (Berlin, 1891–1902) ; Hohenzollern Jahrbuch, Forschungen and Abbildungen zur Geschichte der lichenzollern in Brandenburg-Preussen, edited by Seidel (See also:Leipzig, 1897–1903), and T.

See also:

Carlyle, History of Frederick the Great (See also:London, 1872–1873). (A. W.

End of Article: HOHENZOLLERN

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