Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

County (Principality) of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
State of the Holy Roman Empire,
State of the Confederation of the Rhine,
State of the German Confederation
← County of Zollern
 1576–1850 →

Flag
Motto
Latin: Nihil Sine Deo
(English: Nothing without God)
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1848
Capital Sigmaringen
Languages German
Religion Roman Catholic
Government Principality
Historical era Middle Ages
 -  Partition of County of
    Hohenzollern		 1576
 -  Raised to Principality 1623
 -  Incorporation into
    Kingdom of Prussia		 1850

The House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. The family is not as well known to history, as is the junior Franconian branch. (The Franconian branch became Burgraves of Nuremberg and later ruled Brandenburg-Prussia and the German Empire.) The senior branch ruled, and the dynasty took its name from, the Swabian County of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (German: Grafschaft Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen), which later became a principality (Fürstentum Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen).

History

The County of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was created in 1576, upon the partition of the County of Hohenzollern, a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. When the last count of Hohenzollern, Charles I (1512–1579) died, the territory was to be divided up between his three sons:

The Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ruled over a small principality in southwest Germany, with a seat at Sigmaringen Castle. Unlike the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg and Prussia, the Hohenzollern of Sigmaringen, and their cousins of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, the seniormost branch of the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, and Hohenzollern of Haigerloch, remained Roman Catholic.

The principality became an independent state in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. Its ruler was deposed in the revolutions of 1848. His son, Karl Anton, succeeded him, and turned to Prussia for aid. Prussian troops arrived in August 1849, and in a treaty signed in December Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was annexed by Prussia, effective in March 1850. The annexation of their state did not, however, mean the end of the importance of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Arms

The last prince, Karl Anton, served as Minister-President of Prussia from 1858-61. Karl Anton's second son, Karl Eitel Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became prince (1866–1881) and then king (1881–1914) of the Romanians, under the name Carol and the house remained on the throne until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947.

Because the Hohenzollern-Hechingen line died out in 1869 with the death of Constantine of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, the head of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, took the title of prince (Fürst) of Hohenzollern instead of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

French opposition to the candidacy of Carol's elder brother Prince Leopold for the throne of Spain triggered the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), which led to the founding of the German Empire in January 1871.

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Noble jurisdictions, titles and styles

Southern Germany

Hohenzollern region (Württemberg, Germany).
Prince Karl Friedrich, head of the Swabian branch of The House of Hohenzollern

Noble jurisdiction

The head of the Swabian branch, of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, ruled over the following noble jurisdictions held in a personal union:

From 1061 until 1806 the six fiefs were an imperial immediacy of the Holy Roman Empire and the count of Zollern, and his successors, was a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor.

From 1806 until 1813 the fiefs were a province of the Confederation of the Rhine, a short-lived state set up by Napoleon I Bonaparte. From 1815 until 1849 the principality was a sovereign country, who was a member of the German Confederation. In 1849 it lost its independence, and was incorporated into the kingdom of Prussia as the province of Hohenzollern.

The German Confederation was succeeded in 1866 by the North German Confederation, which itself was succeeded by the German Empire in 1871. In 1918, the kingdom of Prussia became the Free State of Prussia, and the German Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic. In 1933 the republic was replaced by the Third Reich. After the defeat of the national-socialists in 1945 the province of Hohenzollern was merged with other territories into the state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. This state was part of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany until 1952. In that year, the state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern was merged into Baden-Württemberg, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Noble titles

The head of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is a pretender to the titles of:

The first degree descendants of the head of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen born within holy matrimony and in good standing is a pretender to the titles of:

Styles

The German original is: Seine Durchlaucht (S.D.) [name] von Gottes Gnaden, Fürst von Hohenzollern, Burggraf von Nürnberg, Graf zu Sigmaringen, Veringen und Berg, Herr zu Haigerloch und Wehrstein

The English translation is: His Serene Highness (H.S.H.) [name] by the Grace of God, Prince of Hohenzollern, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Sigmaringen, Veringen and Berg, Lord of Haigerloch and Wehrstein.

Romania

House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Kingdom of Romania - Big CoA.svg
Country Romania
Ancestral house Hohenzollern
Titles Prince (Domnitor, or Principe) (1866 - 1881),
King (Rege) (1881 - 1914)
Founder Carol I
Final sovereign Michael I
Current head Michael I
Founding 10 May 1866
Deposition 30 December 1947 (the communist coup; the King was forced to abdicate)

Noble jurisdictions

Romanian region.

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. As monarch, the king of the Romanians was a sovereign and head of state.

The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 under the Moldavian domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza. He was replaced by Karl Eitel of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1866, who became known as Prince Carol I of Romania.

During the Russo-Turkish War, Romania fought on the Russian side. In the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Romania was subsequently recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers.

In return for reverting the three southern districts of Bessarabia that had been regained by Moldavia after the Crimean War in 1852 to he Russian Empire, Northern Dobruja was acquired.

In 1881, the principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol became King Carol I. He reigned until his death in 1914, and was succeeded by his nephew, Ferdinand. Shortly after taking the throne, Ferdinand, a Catholic, agreed to have his children reared in the Romanian Orthodox Church.

In 1918 Transylvania and Bessarabia were incorporated. In 1918-19, confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 and the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, most of the Banat became part of Romania. Also Bukovina was incorporated in 1918.

Ferdinand died in 1927. His son, Crown Prince Carol, having renounced his rights, his grandson Michael ascended the throne. In 1930, however, Carol reclaimed his rights and was crowned Carol II. Carol was forced to abdicate in 1940, and Michael regained the throne. His reign, and that of the dynasty, ended when he was forced to abdicate in favour of a Communist regime in 1947.

On 10 May 2011, on a background of lawsuits in Germany brought against his family by his German relatives regarding the former name Hohenzollern-Veringen of his son in law, Radu, Michael severed all of the dynastic and historical ties with the princely house of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, changed the name of his family to "of Romania", and gave up all princely titles conferred to him and to his family by the German Hohenzollerns.[1][2]

Noble titles

The head of the Romanian branch is a pretender to the title of:

The first degree descendants of the head of the Romanian branch born within holy matrimony and in good standing are pretenders to the title of:

  • Prince or Princess of Romania

During the reign of Carol II of Romania his son, Michael, was styled "Măria Sa (M.S.) Marele Voievod de Alba Iulia" or the English translation "His Grace (H.G.) The Grand Voievod Of Alba Iulia". This was done because being a former King, Michael could not be styled again Crown Prince, so his father solved the problem with this agreement.

Styles

The Romanian original is: Majestatea Sa (M.S.) N.N., Regele Românilor (or Maiestatea Sa (M.S.) N.N., Regele României; both forms are accepted by the Romanian Academy)

The English translation is: His Majesty (H.M.) N.N., King of the Romanians

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Coats of arms

Southern Germany

Major coat of arms (Gesamtwappen)

Combined coat of arms of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1849).

The combined coat of arms of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is:

Family coat of arms (Gesamt- mit Hauswappen)

The combined coat of arms with inclusion of the House coat of arms of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is:

  • Escutcheon: quartering of the shield, parted per pale, twice parted per fess, with an inescutcheon
  • helm: seven particular helmets, equivalent to the seven particular coat of arms (Hohenzollern, Nuremberg, Sigmaringen, Veringen, Berg, Haigerloch and Wehrstein)
  • crest: seven particular crests, equivalent to the seven particular coat of arms (Hohenzollern, Nuremberg, Sigmaringen, Veringen, Berg, Haigerloch and Wehrstein)
  • wreath: sable (black) and argent (white)
  • mantling: manteld sable (black), doubled argent (white)
  • supporter: two German hounds
  • compartment: grassy

Romania

Major Coat of arms of the kingdom of the Romanians (1922).

The major coat of arms of the kingdom of the Romanians consisted, from 1922 onwards, in its:

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Rulers

Members of the House of Hohezollern reigned as monarchs in Europe.

Southern Germany

Counts (Graf) of Hohenzollern (1576-1623)

Princes (Fürsten) of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1623-1849)

Pretenders (1849-present)

Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

Romania

Princes of Romania (1866-1881)

King of the Romanians (1881-1947)

Pretenders (1947-present)

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See also

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References

  1. ^ (Romanian) King Michael I announces the severance of all historical and dynastic ties to the House of Hohenzollern, Adevarul, May 11, 2011
  2. ^ (Romanian) The history of the conflicts between the Royal House of Romania and the Princely House of Hohenzollern, Adevarul, May 11, 2011
  3. ^ a b Eitel Frederick II, Count of Hohenzollern and Burgrave of Nuremberg became Hereditary Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire by appointment of Joachim I, elector and margrave of Brandenburg, Arch-Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Empire, and confirmed by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
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Last modified on 30 March 2013, at 16:57