Sigmaringen Castle
Situated in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, this castle dominates the skyline of the town of Sigmaringen.
During the closing months of World War II, Schloss Sigmaringen was briefly the seat of the Vichy French Government after France was liberated by the Allies.
The castle rises above the Danube[1] on a towering chalk projection that is a spur of the white Jura Mountains formation.
The sheer cliffs and steep sides of the tower made it a natural site for a well-protected medieval castle.
The castle was first mentioned in 1077[2] following the unsuccessful siege of Burg Sigmaringen by Rudolf of Rheinfelden in his fight against the King of Germany, Henry IV.
[3] In 1083 a pair of brothers, Ludwig and Manegold von Sigmaringen, are listed as witnesses on a document for the Königseggwald abbey.
The three brothers, Ulrich, Ludwig and Mangold von Sigmaringen are named as the founders of the 11th-century St. George's Abbey in the Black Forest.
[5] Before 1325 Duke Luipold von Habsburg sold the castle and the county of Sigmaringen to the Count of Württemberg.
From 1460 until 1500 the Counts von Werdenberg renovated the Burg (a military fortress) into Schloss Sigmaringen (a fortified residence), and expanded it to the dimensions which remain today.
According to the Zimmern Chronicle[7] in 1530, as Count Felix I was in the bath house with Leonora Werdenberg (the illegitimate daughter of Hugo IX and the mistress of Felix and Christoph von Werdenberg[8]) the bath house fire was allowed to spread, leading to a fire that expanded throughout the outbuildings around the castle.
However, King Ferdinand I granted the fief of Sigmaringen and Veringen, in 1535, to Charles I of Hohenzollern (1516–1576), the son from Johanna von Bröseln's first marriage with Friedrich III.
During the attack by Imperial troops under General Horn, the eastern section of the castle was destroyed by fire.
He founded a hospital for his subjects, and had the Ständehaus built on the modern Leopoldsplatz in Sigmaringen (today owned by the Hohenzollerischen Landesbank).
Portions of the castle were rebuilt and decorated to make Schloss Sigmaringen into a destination of the rich and powerful.
He was supported by the Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, but opposed by the French emperor Napoleon III.
[2] Starting in 1895, the construction manager Johannes de Pay and the Munich architect Emanuel von Seidl rebuilt the destroyed section.
Pierre Laval, former Prime Minister of the Vichy Government, was there as well as Joseph Darnand, Head of the feared Milice.
The French authors Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Lucien Rebatet, who had written political and anti-semitic works, feared for their safety and fled to Sigmaringen with the Vichy government.
Céline's 1957 novel D'un château l'autre, (English: From one castle to another) describes the end of the war and the fall of Sigmaringen on 22 April 1945.
Shocked by the accusations of collaboration with the Nazis claimed by the French authorities and media, he voluntarily returned to France to face trial, was condemned to death, sentence which was commuted by de Gaulle into life imprisonment.
Since the death of his wife Margarita in 1996, Prince Frederick William lived on a country estate in Jagdschloss Josefslust between Krauchenwies and Sigmaringen.
Built on the eastern side of the rock hill, it was one of the best protected castles in Germany during the Middle Ages.
The walls are built in the buckel stone style out of a mixture of limestone and Nagelfluh, a conglomerate rock found in the area.
Currently, the castle gate is located at the upper end of the steeply inclined entry hall.
On the east side near the mill is a small 2 meters (6.6 ft) wide opening in the wall, which was most likely a lower castle gate.
Collections of pre- and ancient historical objects are on display as well as works from swabian artists, carvers and metalworkers.
Particularly noteworthy are such rare objects dating from the 15th century as a German multi-barrel gun, a body shield and a richly engraved helmet once belonging to a royal bodyguard from ca.1622.
In the Galeriebau (English: Gallery Building), built from 1862 to 1867 under Prince Karl Anton, west of the castle is a collection of medieval torture instruments.
In 1881 during construction of a canal in the Sigmaringen Market Square, Roman pottery shards and iron work were found.
This discovery excited Karl Anton, and he ordered a member of the court F. A. von Lehner to search for and archeologically explore the Villa Rustica in the area.
