The Province of Hohenzollern (, 'Hohenzollern Lands') was a district of Prussia from 1850 to 1946. It was located in Swabia, the region of southern Germany that was the ancestral home of the House of Hohenzollern, to which the kings of Prussia belonged.

The Hohenzollern Lands were formed in 1850 from two principalities that had belonged to members of the Catholic branch of the Hohenzollern family. They were united to create a unique type of administrative district () that was not a true province – a was normally a part of a province – but that had almost all the rights of a Prussian province. The Hohenzollern Lands lost their separate identity in 1946 when they were made part of the state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern following World War II.

History

The Catholic ruling houses of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had hereditary treaties with Prussia that went back to 1695 and 1707 respectively. During the German Revolutions of 1848–1849, when the principalities' future came into question, King Frederick William IV of Prussia was initially reluctant to take them over. His historian and advisor Rudolf von Stillfried-Rattonitz told him that if he did not, the two Swabian princes "would inevitably have to throw themselves into the arms of the 400-year-old House of Württemberg, … [Prussia's] hereditary enemy", a disgrace that the king could not bear. In May 1849 he approved a treaty of annexation that was signed on 7 December 1849; the two princes abdicated the same day. The Prussian state took possession of Sigmaringen on 6 April 1850 and of Hechingen on 8 April. The two former principalities were then merged into one governmental district with administrative headquarters in the town of Sigmaringen.

The Hohenzollern Lands, with a total population of only about 65,500 in 1850, were smaller in size and less populous than any of the full Prussian provinces. The district was subordinate overall to ministries in Berlin,

In 1875 Prussia established provincial associations (), bodies of local self-government that were above the municipalities and the rural and urban districts, and that replaced the older, lower-level administrative districts. With their formation, the Hohenzollern Lands gained self-government through a , a corporate body under public law for the self-administration of the district and for which a district parliament () was elected. Both remained in existence until 1973. The Hohenzollern Lands' court of appeal until 1879 was in Arnsberg, about 450 km to the north. After that the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main was responsible. Its military, higher education system and medical system were under the jurisdiction of the Rhine Province.

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| 1852 || 65,634

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| 1880 || 67,624

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| 1890 || 66,085

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| 1900 || 66,780

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| 1905 || 68,282

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| 1910 || 71,011

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| 1925 || 71,840

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| 1933 || 72,991

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| 1939 || 73,706

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See also

  • :Category:People from the Province of Hohenzollern
  • Rhine Province

References

  • Commons: Hohenzollernsche Lande – A collection of pictures
  • Hohenzollern Lands Oberämter 1910 (in German)
  • Regierungsbezirk Hohenzollern Lands timeline (in German)
  • Hohenzollern Lands Overview (in German)