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Hohenzollern Castle (German: ) is the ancestral seat of the imperial House of Hohenzollern. The third of three castles on the site, it is located atop Berg Hohenzollern, a bluff rising above the towns of Hechingen and Bisingen in the foothills of the Swabian Alps of central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A popular tourist destination, Hohenzollern castle has over 300,000 visitors per year, making it one of the most visited castles in Germany.〔''Des Prinzen neue Töne''. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten, 10. Mai 2003〕 The first fortress on the mountain was constructed in the early 11th century. Over the years the House of Hohenzollern split several times, but the castle remained in the Swabian branch, the dynastic seniors of the Franconian-Brandenburgian cadet branch that later acquired its own imperial throne. This castle was completely destroyed in 1423 after a ten-month siege by the free imperial cities of Swabia. A larger and sturdier structure was constructed from 1454 to 1461, which served as a refuge for the Catholic Swabian Hohenzollerns, including during the Thirty Years' War. By the end of the 18th century it was thought to have lost its strategic importance and gradually fell into disrepair, leading to the demolition of several dilapidated buildings. Today, only the medieval chapel remains. The final castle was built between 1846 and 1867 as a family memorial by Hohenzollern scion King Frederick William IV of Prussia. Architect Friedrich August Stüler based his design on English Gothic Revival architecture and the Châteaux of the Loire Valley.〔Herbert Gers. ''Hohenzollern Castle''. 5th ed. Hechingen: Administration of Hohenzollern Castle, 1984.〕 No member of the Hohenzollern family was in permanent or regular residence when it was completed, and none the three ''Deutsche Kaiser'' of the late 19th and early 20th century German Empire ever occupied the castle; in 1945 it briefly became the home of the former Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, son of the last Hohenzollern monarch, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Among the historical artifacts of Prussian history contained in the castle are the Crown of Wilhelm II, some of the personal effects of King Frederick the Great, and a letter from US President George Washington thanking Hohenzollern descendant Baron von Steuben for his service in the American Revolutionary War. ==History== The castle sits atop the Berg Hohenzollern, an isolated promontory on the western side of the Swabian Alps. Located between Hechingen and Bisingen approximately south of Stuttgart, the mountain lends its name to the local geographic region, ''der Zollernalbkreis'', and is known among locals as ''Zollerberg'' (Zoller Mountain) or simply ''Zoller''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hohenzollern Castle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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