Hohenzollern Germany

Kingdom of Prussia

Hohenzollern Germany first emerged in Swabia (in Baden-Württemburg) in the 11th century, achieving the status of “county” in 1111. Shortly thereafter, the lines divided between a Swabian branch, which remained in the core territory, and a Franconian branch, which gradually acquired territory throughout central Europe. Most significantly, the Franconian branch acquired the Burgraviate of Nuremburg in 1192 (partially surrendered in 1427), the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1415 and the Duchy of Prussia in 1525.

 

Brandenburg and Prussia were ruled in personal union beginning in 1618 and some historians treat that union as a single country. I do not follow that convention—I continue to treat them as separate countries, as I do the less-important members of the union, namely Cleves, Mark, and Ravensberg.  The Brandenburg-Prussia union received additional territory as a result of the peace of Westphalia in 1648, and became the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. (The King was technically known as the King in Prussia, not the King of Prussia because the Empire would recognize only one king within its borders—that of Bohemia. Prussia was outside of the Empire, so it could have a king, but much of its territory was within the Empire and the preposition “in” maintained the fiction that Prussian territory within the Empire was not ruled by a king.) By 1791, all territory of the Franconian branch had been incorporated into Prussia. After the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia acquired yet more territory. The Swabian branch, however, did not become part of Prussia until 1849.

 

Note that I treat the Kingdom of Prussia as a nation on the same level as Hohenzollern Germany, not a country (that is, the level of the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia). The rationale for that is two-fold:

 

1. My database recognizes a maximum of six levels of jurisdiction. If Hohenzollern Germany were to occupy one level, the Kingdom of Prussia a second level, and Brandenburg a third level, that would leave only three available levels of subdivisions under Brandenburg. But Brandenburg had five levels of subdivisions. I solved that by a) elevating the Kingdom of Prussia from the country level to the nation level (thus opening up an additional level for subdivisions), and b) flattening the top two levels of Brandenburg subdivisions (specifically, I ignore “Kurmark” as a level). I still use Hohenzollern Germany after 1701 as the nation name for Hohenzollern territory outside of the Kingdom.
2. The Kingdom, which included the nonimperial territory of the Duchy of Prussia from the beginning, eventually acquired a great deal of additional nonimperial territory—all of it at the expense of Poland. I do not plan to add those territories to the database, but the implication that they could properly be characterized as “Hohenzollern Germany” is one that I want to avoid. Placing them in the Kingdom of Prussia, on the other hand, is just reflecting historical reality—by the end of the partition process, Poland had altogether ceased to exist.

 

The following list covers territory classified as “Hohenzollern Germany”. Territory and dates outside the temporal scope of the database are shown in italics. Territory outside of the Holy Roman Empire is shown in gray. Territory within the Holy Roman Empire but outside of modern Germany (and thus excluded from the database) are shown in blue-gray. The same conventions apply to the Kingdom of Prussia list.

 

Hohenzollern Germany

 

Swabian branch

• County of Hohenzollern (1111-1576)
  • County/Principality of Hohenzollern-Heckingen (1576-1850)
  • County/Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1576-1849)
  • County of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch (1576-1767)

 

Franconian/non-Brandenburgian branch

• Burggraviate/Margraviate of Nuremburg (1191-1473)
  • Principality of Kulmbach/Bayreuth (1473-1791)
  • Principality of Ansbach (1473-1791)
• County of Sayn-Altenkirchen (in personal union with Ansbach) (1741-1791)

 

Franconian/Brandenburgian branch

• Margraviate/Electorate of Brandenburg (1415-1525-1701)
• Duchy of Prussia (1525-1701)
  • in personal union with Brandenburg (1618-1701)
• Duchy of Cleves (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1614-1701)
• County of Mark (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1614-1701)
• County of Ravensburg (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1614-1701)
• County of Hohenstein (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1648-1701)
  • adm. Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1648-1699)
• Principality of Halberstadt (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1648-1701)
• Principality of Minden (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1648-1701)
• Duchy of Farther Pomerania (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1648-1701)
• Principality of Cammin (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1648-1701)
• Duchy of Magdeburg (in personal union with Brandenburg) (1680-1701)

 

Kingdom of Prussia

 

All of the territories held by the Franconian branch became part of the Kingdom of Prussia as soon as they left Hohenzollern Germany (the Brandenburgian territories in 1701, the rest in 1791) and remained there until 1806, when Prussia was defeated by Napoleon. In addition to the Franconian territories, the following countries/regions were acquired by the Kingdom prior to that defeat.

 

• • County of Moers (1702-1806)
  • County of Lingen (1702-1806)
  • County of Tecklenburg (1707-1806)
  • parts of the Duchy of Guelders (Geldern) (1713-1806)
  • County of Wernigerode (1714-1806)
  • parts of the Duchy of Hither Pomerania (Stettin) (1720-1806)
  • parts of Bohemia (Silesia) (1742-1806)
  • Principality of East Frisia (1744-1806)
  • parts of Poland (Ermland and “West Prussia”) (1772-1806)
  • County of Mansfeld (1780-1806)
  • County of Sayn-Altenkirchen (1791-1803)
  • Principality of Kulmbach/Bayreuth (1791-1806)
  • Principality of Ansbach (1791-1806)
  • more of Poland (“South Prussia”) (1793-1806)
  • more of Poland (“New East Prussia” and “New Silesia”) (1795-1806)

 

In addition to the above, numerous ecclesiastical entities were secularized and awarded to Prussia between 1802 and 1803. Then, during the Napoleonic Wars, its territory was reduced to Brandenburg, Silesia, Pomerania, West Prussia, and East Prussia. Most of that territory (excepting “New East Prussia”, “New Silesia”, and the eastern half of “South Prussia”) was restored in 1815, and Prussia also added Schleswig, Holstein, Hannover, and Hesse-Nassau before the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Because those changes were so extensive and outside the scope of the database (which I end when Napoleonic interference affects country identities), I make no attempt to track them here.