Karl Friedrich (9 January 1724 – 20 December 1785) was a member of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

and Prince of

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 ...

, Lord of

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 ...

and Wehrstein from 1769 until his death. Born in Sigmaringen, he was the eldest son of Joseph Friedrich Ernst, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and his first wife, Maria Franziska Louise of Oettingen-Spielberg. From the nine children that his father produced in his first and second marriage, only Karl Friedrich and a young full-sister, Maria Johanna (who became a nun) survived to adulthood.

Life

Karl Friedrich was first educated in Sigmaringen and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Later, he went to the Universities of

Freiburg 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 ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

. He returned to Sigmaringen in 1746 and soon parted on the customary Grand Tour (a kind of educational trip) through

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. During his stay in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

visiting relatives, he met his future wife. On 2 March 1749 at the Kail Castle, Karl Friedrich married with his first-cousin Johanna Josephina Antonia (14 April 1727 – 22 February 1787), a daughter of Count Franz Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Berg. The wedding took place not only for political reasons, but Karl Friedrich had a deep affection for his bride. Johanna was the heiress of the rich Dutch County of Bergh-'s-Heerenberg, and for this they spent more time in their Dutch states than in the Principality of Sigmaringen. Karl Friedrich sided with Empress

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

against

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. Until 1763 he served in the cavalry regiment as part of the troops of the Swabian Empire Circle. During the conflict, he mostly fought against Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, leader of the Prussian cavalry. In the Principality of Sigmaringen the military conflict had virtually no repercussions, a fact which favored the development of the local economy. Karl Friedrich was ''Erbkämmerer'' of the Holy Roman Empire and Field Marshal Lieutenant (''Feldmarschall-Leutnant'') of the Swabian Empire Circle. Despite his military activities, he was very enthusiastic for hunting.

Issue

*Friedrich Joseph Fidelis Anton (29 May 1750 – 17 August 1750) *Johann Baptist Friedrich Fidelis (born and died 18 August 1751) *Anton Joachim Georg Franz (12 July 1752 – 1 November 1752) *Fidelis Joseph Anton Franz (11 July 1753 – 6 February 1754) *Marie Franziska Anna Antonia (8 August 1754 – 22 April 1755) *Joachim Adam (15 August 1755 – 22 March 1756) *Joseph Friedrich Fidelis (17 June 1758 – 12 September 1759) *Franz Konrad Maria Fidelis (12 July 1761 – 18 July 1762) * Anton Aloys Meinrad Franz (20 June 1762 – 17 October 1831), Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen *Fidelia Theresia Karoline Creszentia (27 October 1763 - 3 November 1763) * Johanna Franziska Antonia (3 May 1765 – 23 August 1790), married in 1781 to Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg *Maria Kreszentia (23 July 1766 – 5 May 1844), created Lady of Holzen on 12 June 1813; married in 1807 to Franz Xaver Fischler, Count of Treuberg

Ancestry

References

* Otto Hintze: ''Die Hohenzollern und ihr Werk 1415-1915''. Verlag A. Steiger, Solingen 1982. * E. G. Johler: ''Geschichte, Land- und Ortskunde der souverainen teutschen Fürstenthümer Hohenzollern Hechingen und Sigmaringen.'' Stettin'sche Buchhandlung. Ulm 1824
p. 68
etrieved 5 March 2015 * J. Reiner: ''Genealogie des Hochfürstlichen Hauses Hohenzollern: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte desselben'', Stuttgart 184
online
etrieved 5 March 2015 * 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.'' Fleischer, Leipzig 1843
S. 287ff.
* Günter Schmitt: ''Sigmaringen.'' In: Günter Schmitt: ''Burgenführer Schwäbische Alb.'' Band 3: ''Donautal. Wandern und entdecken zwischen Sigmaringen und Tuttlingen.'' Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach 1990, pp. 41–62. {{DEFAULTSORT:Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 1724 births 1785 deaths People from Sigmaringen