Hohenzollern Castle

scale: 1:250
length: 62 cm
width: 36 cm
height: 30 cm
degree of difficulty: 3 (difficult)
number of sheets: 9

Hohenzollern Castle was once the ancestral home of the Princes of Hohenzollern. It lies in the former principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen on the 855 m high Zollernberg, a steep montain peak in the Swabian Alb. The first mention of a castle on this site is to be found in historical documents dating from the end of the 9th century. The later fortifications built in the 11th century were captured and destroyed by the combined troops of the Countess Henriette of Württemberg and the Swabian Reich Cities on 15th May 1423. The castle was reconstructed with the assistance of the Margrave Albert Achilles of Brandenburg. Of the original buildings only the St. Michaelis Chapel remained. It still stands today. During the Thirty Year’s War Hohenzollern Castle was often the centre of ths fighting and its owners changed frequently. It was conquered by the Württemberg troops in 1634, occupied by the Bavarians in 1635, finally ravaged by the Swedes, and after 1650 occupied by the Kaiser’s troops. Up until 1798 Austria had the right to station troops there in return for an annual payment of 5000 gulden. In the meantime the buildings and fortifications were in a very bad state of repair. In 1850 influenced by the sense of history which characterised the 19th century, King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia began to rebuild the castle. His statue stands in the castle garden. Building was completed in 1867 and King Wilhelm I could accept the congratulatory speeches of the North German Reichstag in the newly constructed rooms.
Our model shows the castle in its present-day form, which it has kept since its reconstruction in the 19th century.