Hohenzollern Castle, Hechingen, Germany

We headed to Hechingen, Germany yesterday, in search of Burg Hohenzollern. It was hard to miss!

 It is considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, which emerged in the Middle Ages and eventually became German Emperors. 2,800 ft elevation! Wait till you see the view from up there!

This was the third castle built on this site.
 The first castle was destroyed in 1423 after a 10 month siege by the imperial cities of Swabia!  

A second and more sturdy castle was built in 1454 - 1461 and served as a refuge for the Catholic Swabian Hohenzollerns during the Thirty Years war. Later, the castle was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Only the chapel remains of this medievel castle.



The third version of the castle, which stands today, was constructed for Frederick William IV of Prussia between 1846 and 1867. Apparently, this is an English Neo-Gothic style. He also based it on castles in Loire, France. Because the castle was built as a family memorial, no member of the Hohenzollern family took residence in this third castle until 1945, when it became home to the last Prussian Crown Prince. 



The Germans love their Hundes!



View of the valley below! Beautiful!




They only let us take pictures in one room, which was covered with the family tree. The top shield says "Lundburg" - I think that's close enough! We will be taking up residence after the trip - I always wanted to live in a castle



Well, we are leaving Germany tomorrow morning and heading to Milan, Italy via Switzerland. We are planning to meet an Italian homeschooling family there and will spend the night in a hotel. Saturday morning, we drive onto our first Italian rental, about an hour outside of Rome. I am not sure of internet access there, so this may be our last post for a while! Lord willing, we will be at the Vatican for Easter mass.

Keep praying for us! I hear Italian drivers are nuts!