Burg Hohenzollern, Germany

Burg Hohenzollern

October 21, 2007

This photograph was not taken by me. When we went there was a lot snow and fog.

Day Trip

This trip was a ESB function. They rented a small charter bus to drive us to the castle. We met the bus in front of our dorms on campus at 9:45am. This was slightly hard to do because most of us didn't go to bed until 5am. Not to mention that when we woke up that morning it was snowing. In the middle of October, that was the earliest I have ever seen snow! Anyway, about 17 of us made it to the bus, out of 24! The castle is located 50m outside Stuttgart, so the bus ride was only about 30-40 min, which wasn't long at all. When we arrived we were told that we could either walk up to it (20min) or take the shuttle, we decide to walk. I instantly regretted that! It wasn't bad, but it was cold and we were tired! Anyway we make it to the top, had time to kill before our tour began, so we got postcards, and drink coffee/hot chocolate.

We took the tour of inside the castle, which lasted about 40 min, then hungout for 20 mins; taking pictures, using the restroom and so forth. We had voted on where to eat and had unanimously decided on Burger King, because of their "Angry Whopper!" So we ate there, quickly, went back to the bus, and started our journey home. By the time we got home, which was around 2, everyone had been dying to get off the bus; I think it had something to do with the Angry Whopper, or hangovers, or perhaps a combo of the two! Anyway, even though I was extremely tired and it was snowing outside which ruined a lot of our view, I still had a really good time!

Burg Hohenzollern is a 3, it is biggest castle I have seen in Germany so far!


Brief History
Burg Hohenzollern is a castle, about 50 km south of Stuttgart, Germany, is considered home to the Hohenzollern family that came to power during the Middle Ages and ruled Prussia and Brandenburg until the end of World War I. The castle was originally constructed in the first part of the 11th century. It was completely destroyed after a 10-month siege in 1423. A second, larger and sturdier castle was constructed from 1454 to 1461 and served as a refuge for the Swabian Hohenzollern family during wartime, including during the Thirty Years' War.

Overtime the castle lost its strategic importance and fell into disrepair, which lead to the demolition of several dilapidated buildings. The third version of the castle, which stands today, was constructed by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV between 1846 and 1867, under the direction of Oberhofbaurat Stühler, who based his design on English Neo-Gothic style as well as the castles in Loire. No one lived in it until 1945, when Crown Prince Wilhelm took it as his home, the prince and his wife are buried there.