Count Christoph of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch (20 March 1552 in

Haigerloch Haigerloch () is a town in the north-western part of the Swabian Alb in Germany. Geography Geographical location Haigerloch lies at between 430 and 550 metres elevation in the valley of the Eyach (Neckar), Eyach river, which forms two loops in a ...

– 21 April 1592, Haigerloch) was the first Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch.

Life

Christoph was the third surviving son of Count Karl I of Hohenzollern (1516–1576) from his marriage to Anna (1512–1579), daughter of Ernst, Margrave of Baden-Durlach. Christoph studied law together with his brother Karl II (1547–1606) studied in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

. When Karl I died in 1576, the County of Hohenzollern was divided into

Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen () was a small principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the House of Hohenzollern#Swabian branch, Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern dynasty. History The County of Hohenzollern- ...

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen () was a principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the junior House of Hohenzollern#Swabian branch, Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. The Swabian Hohenzollerns were elevated to princes in 162 ...

and Hohenzollern-Haigerloch. Christoph, the youngest son, received the Lordship of Haigerloch, which had been acquired in 1497. It included Enisheim Castle and the towns of Imnau and Stetten. His eldest brother Eitel Friedrich IV received Hechingen, his other brother Karl II received Sigmaringen. Christoph's part had 10000 inhabitants at the time and was substantially smaller than the parts of his brothers. Christoph founded the elder Haigerloch line, which died out with his younger son. Christoph cared intensely about the administration of his country. He soon began an extensive reconstruction of his Haigerloch Castle; he felt that the medieval castle was not representative for a ruler of his era. However, he died before the work could be completed. Christoph and his wife together founded the Holy Trinity Church in Haigerloch. When Count Christoph Stanislaus of Nellenburg died in 1591, Christoph inherited the Lordship of Wehrstein with the castle of the same name and the village of Dettensee. Christoph inherited because Christoph Stanislaus's brother had been married to a Countess Helene Eleonore of Hohenzollern (d. 1565). The other claimant was Baroness Anna Maria of Wolfstein-Obersulzburg (b. 1546), the only daughter of Adam von Wolfstein,

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

zu Obersulzburg (d. 1547) by his second wife, Maria Salome von Tengen und Nellenburg, who had had a failed marriage with a citizen of

Bregenz Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...

named Paul Fetz. Christoph and his brothers discredited her by claiming she had been a prostitute.

Marriage and issue

In 1577, in Sigmaringen, Christoph married Baroness Catherine von Welsperg and Primör (died after 1608), a daughter of Baron Christoph of Welsperg und Primör (1528-1580) and his wife, Baroness Eva Dorothea Lucia von Firmian (1535-1584). Christoph and Catherine had the following children: * Johann Christoph (1586–1620), Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch : married in 1608 to Countess Marie Elisabeth of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1592-1659) *

Karl Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cac ...

(1588–1634), Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch : married in 1618 to Countess Rosamunde of Ortenburg (d. 1636) * Marie Salome Kunigunde (1578–1647), a nun in the Inzigkofen Abbey * Anna Dorothea († 1647), Prioress at Inzigkofen Abbey * Marie Sidonia, a nun at Söflingen Abbey * Jakobe (died after 1607)

References

* ''Württembergische Jahrbücher für vaterländische Geschichte, Geographie, Statistik und Topographie'', Aue, 1837, p. 115
Online
* Gustav Schilling: ''Geschichte des Hauses Hohenzollern, in genealogisch fortlaufenden Biographien aller seiner Regenten von den ältesten bis auf die neuesten Zeiten, nach Urkunden und andern authentischen Quellen'', F. Fleischer, 1843, p. 309 ff * Fidelis Baur: ''Geschichte der hohenzollernschen Staaten Hechingen und Sigmaringen'', Bucher und Liener, 1834, p. 7 ff

External links

*
Family tree
' at the site of the Group Prince of Hohenzollern {{DEFAULTSORT:Christoph, Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch Counts of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch 1552 births 1592 deaths 16th-century German nobility House of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch