HOHENZOLLERN CASTLE
Black Forest Mountaintop Palace in the Clouds
It is often called the “castle in the clouds” for its mountain top spot surrounded by the mountain mists of the Black Forest. The ancestral castle of the Hohenzollern, gets its name from its perch “high on the Zoller hill” overlooking the Danube Valley at the eastern edge of the Black Forest, sometimes shrouded in clouds like a legendary mythical fairytale castle. Swabia is the region in southwest Germany along the Upper Danube River (Donau) flowing eastward through Bavaria toward Hungary. The Hohenzollern family is one of the grand dynasties of Europe, once ruling over portions of Swabia, Bavaria, Franconia and Prussia in Germany and connected by marriages and complicated lineages to both the British and Russian Royal families.
The dynasty’s fortunes began with Count Frederick III von Zollen who in 1188 married the daughter of the Burgrave of Nuremburg, combining titles and possessions. Successive generations divided between Swabian and Franconian branches. In 1701, Frederick III crowned himself as King of Prussia and after winning the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, King Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor. The family’s rule culminated with Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany’s last emperor before World War I tended to level monarchies into an anachronism of history (see Berliner
Dom Hohenzollern
Crypt ).
The original Hohenzollern fortress from the 11th Century was destroyed in the 15th Century. It was rebuilt and expanded in the 1600’s into somewhat of its current footprint, but fell to disuse when the family moved to the more easily reached castle palace in nearby Sigmaringen (see Schloss
Sigmaringen Castle). In the early 1800s the hereditary castle became a reconstruction project for a family history enthusiast, Crown Prince Frederick, rebuilt in neo-gothic style designed by Frederick August Stüler, with construction begun in 1850 and completed in 1867. The family never actually lived in the castle after the reconstruction, but used it as a show place for grand parties in its magnificent rooms and halls.
Aside from a majestic castle outline on its mountaintop, often appearing like an island in the sky above the clouds, one of the curious and unique features of this grand landmark is the complex royal family genealogy which the Kaiser Wilhelm II wallpapered onto the grand entry way, the “Ancestral Hall”. The branches of the family tree cloak the entire room. Also rare among castles is the circular driveway to the Eagle Gate built for carriages in the 19th Century almost rather like a modern parking structure to overcome the steep mountain approach to the castle. Grand rooms and parlors fitting a royal palace, lined with family heirlooms and images of various kings and Kaisers, and a secret medieval underground passageway only discovered in 2001.
Hohenzollern Treasury
The Royal Treasury of the Hohenzollerns displays a rich collection of family china and gold dishware, along with two coffins which once held the remains of Frederick the Great and his son. The treasure was divided in a property dispute in the 1920’s, but the magnificent Royal Prussian Crown (a replacement for an earlier original sold off piecemeal) can be seen in a safe in the former castle kitchens turned into the treasury room. And for more morbid curiosity, resting on a hallway table are two death mask molds of a couple of the family. The Hohenzollern castle also holds the Royal Treasury of the Hohenzollerns. There is an armor collection, but no comparison to that in the other Hohenzollern family castle at Sigmaringen. With a car, the Bavarian Neuschwanstein castle of Mad Ludwig is about an hour away (see Neuschwanstein - King's Fantasy Castle).
Visiting Hohenzollern Castle
The Hohenzollern Castle at Hechingen in Baden-Wurttemburg is about an hour south of Stuttgart and one and a half hours from Munich. Opening times are daily 10 am to 5:30 pm Mid-March through October and 10 am to 4:30 pm November to March. To see the interior rooms is by guided tour, except for a few special days per year. Admission including the tour is €10 adults, €8 seniors and students, €5 children 6-17. Visiting the castle grounds without the tour is €5 adults, €4 children 6-17. Various events are held at the castle through the year. If you park in the lower parking lot take the shuttle bus for €2.60 round trip. The hiking path up the hill is quite steep and long. There is a restaurant below the castle, the “Burgschenke”. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Compare best hotel deals in the Black Forest on TripAdvisor
Web Info
Hohenzollern Castle
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
See Also:
FRIEDRICHSBAD - NUDE BATH SPA BADEN-BADEN
BLACK FOREST FOOLS MUSEUM - GENGENBACH
