Category: House of Hohenzollern

House of Hohenzollern

The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings, and emperors of Brandenburg, the Kingdom 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 Hohenzollern castle near Hechingen.

The oldest known mention of the Zollern was in 1061 by Berthold of Reichenau. It was a county, ruled by the counts of Zollern. The first well documented ancestor is Burkhard von Zollern (Burchardus de Zolorin).

Counts of Zollern:

• Burkhard von Zollern (? - ca. 1061)
  • Friedrich I. von Zollern ( ? - before 1125)
    • Friedrich II. von Zollern (before 1125 - after 1145)
      • Friedrich III. von Zollern (before 1139 - 1200)

Around 1185, Friedrich III. married Sophie von Raabs, whose father, Konrad II., Burgrave of Nürnberg, left no male heirs. After Konrad's death, Friedrich III. was granted the burgraviate of Nürnberg in 1191 as Burgrave Friedrich I. of Nürnberg-Zollern. Since then the family name has been Hohenzollern.

After Friedrich's death, his sons partitioned the family lands between themselves:

• The older brother, Konrad, received the burgraviate of Nürnberg, thereby founding the Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. The Franconian line later converted to Protestantism.
• The younger brother, Friedrich, received the county of Zollern, thereby founding the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollerns. The Swabian line remained Catholic.

See here for an overview of the patrilineal descendants of the House of Hohenzollern.