Die Burg Hohenzollern is the ancestral seat of the imperial House of Hohenzollern. The third of 3 castles on the site, it is located atop a 234 m bluff rising above the towns of Hechingen & Bisingen in the foothills of the Swabian Alp in Baden-Württemberg, Southwestern Germany.
The House of Hohenzollern is a dynasty of former princes, electors, kings, and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. The family arose during the 11th century. Their first ancestor was mentioned in 1061. They derived from the Burchardinger dynasty. The family split into 2 branches, the Catholic Swabian branch and the Protestant Franconian branch, which later became the Brandenburg-Prussian branch. The Swabian branch ruled Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen until 1849, and also ruled Romania (1866-1947). Members of the Franconian branch became Margrave of Brandenburg in 1415 and Duke of Prussia in 1525. The Kingdom of Prussia was created in 1701, eventually leading to the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire (1871), with the Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors and Kings of Prussia. Germany’s defeat in WW1 (1918) led to the German Revolution. The Hohenzollerns were overthrown and the Weimar Republic was established, thus bringing an end to the German Monarchy. Read more.
Marie of Romania and her children (not including Princess Ileana or Prince Mircea), from left to right: Princess Maria (later Queen of Yugoslavia), Princess Elisabeth (later Queen of the Hellenes), Prince Nicolae and Prince Carol (later King Carol II of Romania).