Hohenzollern Castle

Only written records exist of the original castle built in the High Middle Ages, built by the Counts of Zollern. Although the House of Hohenzollern itself finds its first mention in 1061,[lower-alpha 2] the castle is first mentioned as "Castro Zolre" in 1267, without any mention of the castle beyond its name, though contemporary sources praised it as the "crown of all castles in Swabia."[6] In 1423 the castle was totally destroyed[7] after a year-long siege by the Swabian League of Cities.

Construction on a second, stronger castle began in 1454.[7] It was captured by Württemberger troops in 1634 midway in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), then fell under Habsburg control for about a century. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) it was occupied in the winter of 1744/45 by French soldiers. Returned to Habsburg control after the war, it was rarely occupied and began to fall to ruin after the last Austrian owner left the castle in 1798. By the beginning of the 19th century only the Chapel of St. Michael remained usable.

Gate tower

The current castle was built by Hohenzollern scion Crown Prince Frederick William IV of Prussia. Traveling through southern Germany en route to Italy in 1819, he wished to learn about his family's roots, so climbed to the top of Mount Hohenzollern. He would write in 1844 as King:[8]

The memory of the year [18]19, to me is exceedingly lovely, and like a beautiful dream, especially the sunset we saw from one of the castle bastions. [...] Now is a desire, a dream of [my] youth, to see Hohenzollern Castle again made habitable.

He engaged Friedrich August Stüler,[9] who had been appointed Architect of the King for the rebuilding of Stolzenfels Castle in 1842 while still a student and heir of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, to design a new castle. Stüler began work on an ornate design influenced by English Gothic Revival architecture and the Châteaux of the Loire Valley[2] in 1846. The impressive entryway is the work of the Engineer-Officer Moritz Karl Ernst von Prittwitz, considered the leading fortifications engineer in Prussia. The sculptures around and inside the castle are the work of Gustav Willgohs. Like Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Hohenzollern Castle is a monument to German Romanticism which incorporated an idealized vision of a medieval knight's castle. Lacking some of the fantastic elements and excesses of Neuschwanstein, the castle's construction served to enhance the reputation of the Prussian Royal Family.

Construction began in 1850,[10] and was funded entirely by the Brandenburg-Prussian and the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen lines of the Hohenzollern family. Construction was completed on 3 October 1867, under Frederick William IV's brother King William I.

After the castle was rebuilt, it was not regularly occupied, but rather used primarily as a showpiece. None of the Hohenzollern Kaisers of the German Empire lived there; only the last Prussian Crown Prince William stayed for several months following his flight from Potsdam ahead of Soviet army forces during the closing months of World War II. He and his wife Crown Princess Cecilie are buried there, as the family's estates in Brandenburg had been occupied by the Soviet Union at the time of their deaths.

Starting in 1952, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia began adding valuable artwork and Prussian memorabilia[6] from the collections of the Hohenzollern family and the former Hohenzollern Museum in Schloss Monbijou. Two of the major pieces are the Crown of Wilhelm II and a uniform that belonged to King Frederick the Great. From 1952 until 1991 the caskets of Frederick Wilhelm I and his son Frederick the Great were in the chapel, but were moved back to Potsdam following German reunification in 1991.

The castle was heavily damaged by a M_s 5.7 earthquake (de) on September 3, 1978, which caused some of its turrets to collapse, and was under repair until the mid-1990s.[11]

Central courtyard

Aerial view of the Castle (2017)

With over 350,000 visitors per year, Hohenzollern castle is one of the most visited castles in Germany.[12] The castle is privately owned by the House of Hohenzollern,[13] with two-thirds belonging to the Brandenburg-Prussian branch, and the balance to the Swabian branch.

Flag of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

Since 1952, the Princess Kira of Prussia Foundation has used the castle for an annual summer camp for children.[14] Whenever Prince George and his family are staying at the castle, the Prussian flag flies over the castle,[13] while the flag of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is used by the Swabians.

In 2015, parts of the 2016 thriller-horror film A Cure for Wellness were filmed at the castle,[15][16] closing it from 13 to 24 July 2015.[17] Hohenzollern Castle as well as Peckforton Castle in England were also used in the filming of the 2017 TV adaption of The Worst Witch.[18][19]

The Eagle Gate

The Eagle Gate (German: Adlertor) and its attached drawbridge form the entrance to the castle. The castle's winding zwinger turns four times and terminates in the bastions. From here, the palatial buildings can be accessed through the square upper gate and so are the rest of the bastions.

Palace, St Michael's chapel, and the courtyard

The palace itself, sitting upon the outline of the second castle, is an open-air museum arranged in a u-shape that ends with Protestant and Catholic chapels. Sitting on top of the old casemates are the three story Gothic Revival buildings of Friedrich August Stüler's design, decorated with towers and pinnacles. The four towers of the palace are aligned to the bastions, with the Emperor's Tower to the Fuchsloch bastion, Bishop's Tower to the Spitz bastion, Markgraf Tower to the Scharfeck bastion, and Michael's Tower to the garden bastion. Attached to the main residential building, the Count's Hall, is the final tower, the Watch Tower (German: Wartturm), which functions both as a staircase to the library and as the flag pole whenever the Hohenzollern family is residing in the castle.

George Friedrich photographed by Oliver Mark in Hohenzollern Castle, Bisingen 2018

A perron leads up to the ancestry hall, where one enters the Count's Hall (German: Grafensaal), which covers the entirety of the southern wing. The rib vaulting of the Count's Hall, adorned with grisailles by Stüler depicting the history of the House of Hohenzollern and pointed-arch windows, is supported by eight free standing red marble columns. Below the Count's Hall is the old castle kitchen, today a treasure chamber. Next to the Count's Hall is the Emperor's Tower and the Bishop's Niche, following the library decorated with murals of the Hohenzollern history by Wilhelm Peters. The Margrave's Tower contains the King's parlor, also referred to as the Margrave's room, contrary to Stüler's terminology.

• "Top 15 facts about The Worst Witch". The Media Centre. British Broadcasting Company. BBC. 11 December 2016.
• "Cast announced as production begins on CBBC's adaptation of The Worst Witch". The Media Centre. British Broadcasting Company. BBC. 16 May 2016.
• Minton, Melissa (14 February 2017). "How A Cure for Wellness Marries Horror and Beauty in Set Design". Architectural Digest.