absence through illness. In 1885 he was chosen to succeed Manteuffel as governor of Alsace-Lorraine. In this capacity he had to carry out the coercive measures introduced by the chancellor in 1887–1888, though he largely disapproved of them;[1] his conciliatory disposition, however, did much to reconcile the Alsace-Lorrainers to German rule. He remained at Strassburg till October 1894, when, at the urgent request of the emperor, he consented, in spite of his advanced years, to accept the chancellorship in succession to Caprivi. The events of his chancellorship belong to the general history of Germany (q.v.); as regards the inner history of this time the editor of his memoirs has very properly suppressed the greater part of the detailed comments which the prince left behind him. In general, during his term of office, the personality of the chancellor was less conspicuous in public affairs than in the case of either of his predecessors. His appearances in the Prussian and German parliaments were rare, and great independence was left to the secretaries of state. What influence the tact and experience of Hohenlohe exercised behind the scenes on the masterful will and impulsive character of the emperor cannot as yet be generally known.
Prince Hohenlohe resigned the chancellorship on the 17th of October 1900, and died at Ragaz on the 6th of July 1901. On the 16th of February 1897 he had celebrated his golden wedding; on the 21st of December of the same year the princess died. There were six children of the marriage: Elizabeth (b. 1847); Stephanie (b. 1851); Philipp Ernst, reigning prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (b. 1853), who married Princess Charielée Ypsilanti; Albert (1857–1866); Moritz and Alexander, twins (b. 1862).
All other authorities for the life of Prince Hohenlohe have been superseded by the Denkwürdigkeiten (2 vols., Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1906). With the exception noted above these are singularly full and outspoken, the latter quality causing no little scandal in Germany and bringing down on Prince Alexander, who was responsible for their publication, the disfavour of the emperor. They form not only the record of a singularly full and varied life, but are invaluable to the historian for the wealth of material they contain and for appreciations of men and events by an observer who had the best opportunities for forming a judgment. The prince himself they reveal not only as a capable man of affairs, though falling short of greatness, but as a personality of singular charm, tenacious of his principles, tolerant, broad-minded, and possessed of a large measure of the saving grace of humour.
See generally A. F. Fischer, Geschichte des Hauses Hohenlohe (1866–1871); K. Weller, Hohenlohisches Urkundenbuch, 1153–1350 (Stuttgart, 1899–1901), and Geschichte des Hauses Hohenlohe (Stuttgart, 1904). (W. A. P.; C. F. A.)
HOHENSTAUFEN, the name of a village and ruined castle near Lorsch in Swabia, now in the kingdom of Württemberg,
which gave its name to a celebrated Swabian family, members
of which were emperors or German kings from 1138 to 1208,
and again from 1214 to 1254. The earliest known ancestor
was Frederick, count of Büren (d. 1094), whose son Frederick
built a castle at Staufen, or Hohenstaufen, and called himself
by this name. He was a firm supporter of the emperor Henry
IV., who rewarded his fidelity by granting him the dukedom
of Swabia in 1079, and giving him his daughter Agnes in
marriage. In 1081 he remained in Germany as Henry’s representative,
but only secured possession of Swabia after a struggle
lasting twenty years. In 1105 Frederick was succeeded by his
son Frederick II., called the One-eyed, who, together with his
brother Conrad, afterwards the German king Conrad III.,
held south-west Germany for their uncle the emperor Henry V.
Frederick inherited the estates of Henry V. in 1125, but failed
to secure the throne, and took up an attitude of hostility towards
the new emperor, Lothair the Saxon, who claimed some of the
estates of the late emperor as crown property. A war broke
out and ended in the complete submission of Frederick at
Bamberg. He retained, however, his dukedom and estates.
In 1138 Conrad of Hohenstaufen was elected German king,
and was succeeded in 1152, not by his son but by his nephew
Frederick Barbarossa, son of his brother Frederick (d. 1147).
Conrad’s son Frederick inherited the duchy of Franconia which
his father had received in 1115, and this was retained by the
Hohenstaufen until the death of Duke Conrad II. in 1196. In
1152 Frederick received the duchy of Swabia from his cousin
the German king Frederick I., and on his death in 1167 it passed
successively to Frederick’s three sons Frederick, Conrad and
Philip. The second Hohenstaufen emperor was Frederick
Barbarossa’s son, Henry VI., after whose death a struggle for
the throne took place between Henry’s brother Philip, duke
of Swabia, and Otto of Brunswick, afterwards the emperor Otto IV. Regained for the Hohenstaufen by Henry’s son,
Frederick II., in 1214, the German kingdom passed to his son,
Conrad IV., and when Conrad’s son Conradin was beheaded in
Italy in 1268, the male line of the Hohenstaufen became extinct.
Daughters of Philip of Swabia married Ferdinand III., king of
Castile and Leon, and Henry II., duke of Brabant, and a daughter
of Conrad, brother of the emperor Frederick I., married into the
family of Guelph. The castle of Hohenstaufen was destroyed in the 16th century during the Peasants’ War, and only a few
fragments now remain.
See F. von Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen und ihrer Zeit (Leipzig, 1878); B. F. W. Zimmermann, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen (Stuttgart, 1st ed., 1838; 2nd ed., 1865); F. W. Schirrmacher, Die letzten Hohenstaufen (Göttingen, 1871).
HOHENSTEIN (Hohenstein-Ernstthal), a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, on the slopes of the Erzgebirge, and on the railway Reichenbach-Chemnitz, 12 m. N.E. of Zwickau. Pop. (1905) 13,903. Hohenstein possesses two fine Evangelical churches, a town hall, restored in 1876, and several monuments to famous men. The principal industries are the spinning and weaving of cotton, the manufacture of machines,
stockings, gloves and woollen and silk fabrics, cotton
printing and dyeing. Many of the inhabitants are also
employed in the neighbouring copper and arsenic mines.
Not far from Hohenstein there is a mineral spring, connected with which there are various kinds of baths. Hohenstein is the birthplace of the physicist G. H. von Schubert and of C. G. Schröter (1699–1782), one of the inventors of the pianoforte. Hohenstein consists of two towns, Hohenstein and Ernstthal, which were united in 1898.
Another place of the same name is a town in East Prussia. Pop. (1900) 2467. This Hohenstein, which was founded by the Teutonic Order in 1359, has a Roman Catholic and an Evangelical church, a synagogue and several educational establishments.
HOHENZOLLERN, the name of a castle which stood on the hill of Zollern about 112 m. south of Hechingen, and gave its name to the family to which the present German emperor belongs. A vague tradition connects the house with the Colonna family of Rome, or the Colalto family of Lombardy; but one more definite unites the Hohenzollerns with the Burkhardingers, who were counts in Raetia during the early part of the 10th century, and two of whom became dukes of Swabia. Tassilo, a member of this family, is said to have built a castle at Zollern early in the 9th century; but the first historical mention of the name is in the Chronicon of a certain Berthold (d. 1088), who refers to Burkhard and Wezil, or Werner, of Zollern, or Zolorin. These men appear to have been counts of Zollern, and to have met their death in 1061. The family of Wezil died out in 1194, and the existing branches of the Hohenzollerns are descended from Burkhard and his son Frederick, whose eldest son, Frederick II., was in great favour with the German kings, Lothair the Saxon and Conrad III. Frederick II. died about 1145, and his son and successor, Frederick III., was a constant supporter of the Hohenstaufen. This count married Sophia, daughter and heiress of Conrad, burgrave of Nuremberg, and about 1192 he succeeded his father-in-law as burgrave, obtaining also some lands in Austria and Franconia. He died about 1200, and his sons, Conrad and Frederick, ruled their lands in common until 1227, when an important division took place. Conrad became burgrave of Nuremberg, and, receiving the lands which
- ↑ He protested against the passport system as likely to lead to a war with France, for which he preferred not to be responsible (Letter to Wilmowski, Denkw. ii. 433), but on the chancellor taking full responsibility consented to retain office.
