Hohenzollern Castle

Only written records exist of the original Alemannic settlement located for its strategic importance by the tribal leaders. Again, only written records exist of the original castle built during the Middle Ages, in approximately 1040, by the Counts of Zollern. Although the House of Hohenzollern itself finds its first mention in 1061, 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." In 1423 the castle was totally destroyed after a year-long siege by the Swabian League of…

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.