The Province of Hohenzollern (German: Provinz Hohenzollern) or Hohenzollernsche Lande ("Hohenzollern lands") was a de facto province of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was created in 1850 by joining the principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen after both formerly independently ruling Catholic princely lines of the House of Hohenzollern had handed over their sovereignty to Prussia, ruled by the Protestant Hohenzollern branch. Both used the same dynastic coat of arms as the one used by the Prussian royal family.
Hohenzollern Hohenzollernsche Lande | |||||||||||
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Province of Prussia | |||||||||||
1850–1946 | |||||||||||
The Province of Hohenzollern (red), within the Kingdom of Prussia, within the German Empire | |||||||||||
Capital | Sigmaringen | ||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||
• 1939 | 1,142 km2 (441 sq mi) | ||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||
• 1939 | 73,844 | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1850 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1946 | ||||||||||
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Today part of | Baden-Württemberg |
Hohenzollern consisted of a single district, the Regierungsbezirk Sigmaringen; the capital was Sigmaringen. The last census recorded 74,151 inhabitants in 1939. While Hohenzollern enjoyed all the rights of a full-fledged province of Prussia, including representation in the Prussian parliament, its military matters were governed by the Rhine Province. The Regierungsbezirk Sigmaringen was further subdivided into seven Oberamtsbezirke, although only four of these remained by 1925, when they were merged and re-divided as two new Kreise.
In 1946, the French military administration made it a part of the state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. Hohenzollern has been part of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg since 1952.
After regional reforms in 1973 the Hohenzollern borders were finally eliminated, with the region now belonging to the districts of Sigmaringen and Zollernalbkreis, which also contain land that was not previously Hohenzollern territory.
Gallery
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Map of Hohenzollern in purple, c. 1930
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Hohenzollern emblem with the eagle of the Free State of Prussia