Baroque Hall: Family Tree @museum.de

The oldest identifiable ancestor of the House of Hohenlohe is Gundelo of Pfitzingen. In his day, it was still customary for knights to take the name of the castles where they lived. Accordingly, his grandson called himself Konrad of Weikersheim. And his son, another Konrad, made his first appearance in 1153 as Konrad of Hohenlohe.

Over the following centuries, the usual procedure was for all a family’s sons to be entitled to inherit, and for the land to be divided up among them when their father died. That gave rise to many small counties and later principalities. Over the course of their colourful history, the Lords of Hohenlohe rose to become Imperial Counts in 1450 and Imperial Princes in 1764.

Have you noticed the portrait opposite the door, above the small cabinet? That’s Prince Ludwig, the first Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

The right of the first-born son to inherit, known as primogeniture, wasn’t introduced in Langenburg until 1699. Six Hohenlohe principalities still exist today – as witness the many beautiful castles and palaces in our local region.

Take a look at the other panel that traces the history of the House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. It lists all the counts and princes since the county of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was established in 1610. Especially notable are Prince Ernst and Princess Feodora – who you’ll come across again today on several occasions. Princess Feodora was Queen Victoria’s half-sister.

Since 2004, Prince Philipp has been the lord of the castle. Together with his wife, Princess Saskia, he administers and manages the princely residence, which includes the castle museum, the car museum and the forestry operation. The couple have three children: Max-Leopold, Gustav and Marita.