Zollern
Encyclopedia
Zollern, from 1218 Hohenzollern, was a county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

 of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

. Its ruling dynasty was the House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...

, a Swabian
Duke of Swabia
The following is a list of Dukes of Swabia in southwest Germany.Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable family to hold Swabia were the Hohenstaufen, who held it, with a brief...

 noble family first mentioned in 1061. They named their estates after Hohenzollern Castle at the Swabian Alb
Swabian Alb
The Swabian Alps or Swabian Jura is a low mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending 220 km from southwest to northeast and 40 to 70 km in width. It is named after the region of Swabia....

; its capital was Hechingen
Hechingen
Hechingen is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border.- City districts :...

. Its coat of arms was that of the ruling house.
According to the mediæval chronicler Berthold of Reichenau
Berthold of Reichenau
Berthold of Reichenau was a Benedictine monk and chronicler of Reichenau Abbey.-Life:He was a disciple and friend of the Hermannus Contractus...

, the nobleman Burkhard I, Count of Zollern
Burkhard I, Count of Zollern
Burkhard I, Count of Zollern is considered the first well-documented member of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Because of his name, it is assumed that the Hohenzollern family may descend from the medieval Burchardings family. His father may have been Frederick, a count in the Sülchgau area...

 (de Zolorin) was born before 1025 and died in 1061. By his name, an affiliation with the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...

c dynasty of the Burchardings
Hunfridings
The Hunfridings or Burchardings were a family of probably Alemannic origin who rose to prominence in their homeland, eventually becoming the first ducal dynasty of Swabia. The first known member of the family was Hunfrid, Margrave of Istria and, according to some sources, last Duke of Friuli under...

 is possible, though not proven. The Zollerns received the comital
Graf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...

 title from Emperor Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...

 in 1111. As loyal liensmen of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty, they were able to significantly enlarge their territory. Count Frederick III
Frederick I, Burgrave of Nuremberg
Frederick I of Nuremberg , the first Burgrave of Nuremberg from the House of Hohenzollern. He was elder son of Count Frederick II of Zollern. He was also Count of Zollern as Frederick III.-Life:...

 (c. 1139 – c. 1200) accompanied Emperor Frederick I Barbrarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

 against Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....

 in 1180 and through his marriage achieved the enfeoffment with the Burgraviate
Burgrave
A burgrave is literally the count of a castle or fortified town. The English form is derived through the French from the German Burggraf and Dutch burg- or burch-graeve .* The title is originally equivalent to that of castellan or châtelain, meaning keeper of a castle and/or fortified town...

 of Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 by Emperor Henry VI of Hohenstaufen
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...

 in 1191. In 1218 the burgraviate passed to Frederick's younger son Conrad I
Conrad I, Burgrave of Nuremberg
Conrad I of Nuremberg was a Burgrave of Nuremberg of the House of Hohenzollern. He was the younger son of Frederick I of Nuremberg and Sofie of Raabs...

, he thereby became the ancestor of the Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

n Hohenzollern branch, which acquired the Electorate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....

 in 1415.

Affected by economic problems and internal feuds, the Hohenzollern counts from the 14th century onwards came under pressure by their mighty neighbours, the Counts of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

 and the cities of the Swabian League
Swabian League
The Swabian League was an association of Imperial States - cities, prelates, principalities and knights - principally in the territory of the Early medieval stem duchy of Swabia, established in 1488 at the behest of Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg and supported as well by Bertold von...

, whose troops besieged and finally destroyed Hohenzollern Castle in 1423. Nevertheless the Hohenzollerns retained their estates, backed by their Brandenburg cousins and the Imperial House of Habsburg. In 1534, Count Charles I of Hohenzollern (1512–1576) received the counties of Sigmaringen and Veringen as Imperial fiefs.

In 1576, upon the death of Charles I, the County of Hohenzollern was divided up between his three sons:
  • Eitel Frederick IV of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (1545–1605)
  • Charles II of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
    Charles II, Count of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
    Charles II, Count of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became Count of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1576 and remained so until his death....

     (1547–1606)
  • Christoph of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch (1552–1592)

In this way, the counties of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Hohenzollern-Hechingen was a county and principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to a branch of the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty.-History:...

, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
-Noble jurisdictions:Prince Karl Eitel of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and descendants of his nephew Ferdinand ruled over the Kingdom of Romania, as Karl Eitel did not have children...

, and Hohenzollern-Haigerloch were established. Haigerloch fell to Sigmaringen in 1767; Hechingen and Sigmaringen were reunited only when they were ceded to Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

 in 1849/1850, thereafter the Province of Hohenzollern
Province of Hohenzollern
Hohenzollern was a de facto province of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was created in 1850 by joining the principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen after both formerly independently ruling Catholic princely lines of the House of Hohenzollern had handed over their...

.

Zollern

  • Burkhard I
    Burkhard I, Count of Zollern
    Burkhard I, Count of Zollern is considered the first well-documented member of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Because of his name, it is assumed that the Hohenzollern family may descend from the medieval Burchardings family. His father may have been Frederick, a count in the Sülchgau area...

     (died 1061)
  • Frederick I
    Frederick I, Count of Zollern
    Frederick I, Count of Zollern . He was referred to as a powerful Swabian Count and supporter of the imperial party....

     (died before 1125)
  • Frederick II
    Frederick II of Zollern
    Frederick II, Count von Zollern was the son of Frederick I of Zollern.The death of Frederick II of Zollern was recorded in 1145.- Family and Children :Frederick had at least two sons:...

     (died about 1142)
  • Frederick III
    Frederick I, Burgrave of Nuremberg
    Frederick I of Nuremberg , the first Burgrave of Nuremberg from the House of Hohenzollern. He was elder son of Count Frederick II of Zollern. He was also Count of Zollern as Frederick III.-Life:...

     (c. 1171c. 1200), also Burgrave
    Burgrave
    A burgrave is literally the count of a castle or fortified town. The English form is derived through the French from the German Burggraf and Dutch burg- or burch-graeve .* The title is originally equivalent to that of castellan or châtelain, meaning keeper of a castle and/or fortified town...

     of Nuremberg
    Nuremberg
    Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

     (as Frederick I) from 1191

Hohenzollern

  • Frederick IV (1204–1251/1255), also Burgrave of Nuremberg (as Frederick II) until 1218
  • Frederick V (1251/1255–1289)
  • Frederick VI (1289–1298)
  • Frederick VII (1298–1309)
  • Frederick VIII (1309–1333)
  • Frederick IX (1333–1377)
  • Frederick XI (1377–1401)
  • Frederick XII (1401–1426)
  • Eitel Frederick I (1426–1439)
  • Jobst Nikolaus I (1439–1488)
  • Eitel Frederick II (1488–1512)
  • Eitel Frederick III (1512–1525)
  • Charles I (1525–1575)
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