Hohenzollern Palace in Sigmaringen

Honestly, I don't remember when was the first and until Sunday the last time when we visited Sigmaringen. It must be about 10 years ago already. Time flies!

Some time ago, I came across an article about Sigmaringen and was amazed by its beauty. This is not how I remembered it! Well, we visited it in winter and there was a Christmas market going on, so the atmosphere was very different, but after seeing that article I decided that we must go and visit it again.

Sigmaringen is about one hour drive from our home. We were driving through many villages and enjoyed sightseeing of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The Hohenzollern Palace (also known as Sigmaringen castle) is open until 5:30 PM and we left at 2 PM, so we had more than enough time to explore it.

The parking garage is next to the castle and it's only a few meters walk to get right in front of it. The gardens are not accessible and there is a large grid gate, but I just put my arm through it to get the photo 🙂

We were welcomed by the Monument of Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern on the pedestal surrounded by plenty of roses. The scenery with the castle in the background was rather ideal.

He was the last reigning prince of Hohenzollern before it was taken over by Prussia. Even though Hohenzollern became part of Prussia he kept most of his powers and retained his title: Highness. Prince Karl Anton

Last time, we didn't know that we could walk around the castle, but this time we noticed a sign of the castle tour, so we followed it. And it was good that we did!

The first mention of the castle dates back to 1077, but at that time it was a much smaller fortress. There are still some remains of the original construction from the 12th century. The castle was heavily renovated and its parts were rebuilt between the 17th and the 19th century. All these alterations changed the fortress into this majestic palace that we can visit today. History

The palace is built on a cliff, and it's surrounded by the river Danube on one side, and by the old town of Sigmaringen on the other side. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants that you can choose from, and some of them even offer amazing views of the castle which add to an unforgettable dining experience.

There is a large green field between the river and the castle, and I was surprised to see that it was empty. If we would have taken some food with us, this would be the place where we would eat it. I can imagine having a picnic with such views!

I have seen many castles and palaces before, but I don't remember seeing one with so many various levels, towers, and arches. I couldn't wait to go inside!

The entrance is located on top of the hill, and it's a short but steep walk to get there. We came late, and this might be the reason why it was empty. I cannot imagine that it's like this around lunchtime. But there is nothing I can complain about as this is exactly how I like it.

The ticket office is located right behind the main gate. There are various tickets and I was glad to see that we could choose from a guided tour or an audio tour. We opted for the audio tour as we could explore the castle at our own pace. They are available in several languages and included in the ticket price of 14 EUR per person.

Let's go inside!

The entrance to the courtyard is directly through a small door in the ticket office. The courtyard is not that big, but you need to look up to see the beauty.

The palace was the main residence of the Hohenzollern family between the 16th and the 19th century. They are one of the most important families in Germany and ruled the country until the World War I. The family is currently led by Georg Friedrich Ferdinand and the palace is still in their possession.

We will continue our tour through the palace including the residential chambers, but first we will look around the courtyard...

Can you see the white sign in the middle of the photo? This is from where we came as the ticket office is right next to it.

I couldn't miss my chance to take a photo of pretty flowers 🙂

There is a bust of Carl I. who was the King of Romania, so we can see that the power of the Hohenzollern family and German empire extended far behind the German borders.

The palace tour doesn't only show us medieval furniture, paintings and other artifacts, but it also shows us the lives of its former inhabitants. It served as a residence of a royal family for centuries, and their presence is still palpable within those thick walls.

The first rooms have medieval appearance, but it will not take us long to get to the impressive chambers of former residents.

It is called The Cannon Hall and it was named after two field guns used by Emperor Napoleon III which he gave to the family of Hohenzollerns.

The first note that you get to hear through your audio guide is that you should only walk on the red carpet and take photos from there. I must admit that it was tempting to walk freely and admire the details, but we stuck to the request and stayed on the carpet.

I was in awe of the staircase. There were several paintings hanging on the walls, decorated high ceilings and even the handrail was impressive! I realized once again that I couldn't remember it from the last time at all 🙂

The upper floors are not open to public which initially disappointed me, but I realized later in the chambers that more than enough rooms are open to public.

The royal family enjoys porcelain, and there are many porcelain items, such as the blue pillar with two angels below. They also travelled a lot, and collected various objects from their trips.

Let's check out the chambers!

There was a sign in each chamber reminding visitors not to touch the exhibited items written both in English and German. There was a woman walking a few meters ahead of us who touched everything that was in her reach. First I thought to let it be, but then she annoyed me so much that I asked her if she speaks English or German. She said she spoke both, so I said: And you can read, right? She was confused, but nodded to confirm that she indeed could. Then I pointed to the sign and asked her why she was touching everything if she can understand what is written there. She got embarrassed, turned red and walked away quickly. It is impossible that she missed the signs as there were many of them in each chamber.

I understand when children touch things and it's up to parents to correct this behavior, but I can't imagine why an adult person would do that. It is so disrespectful.

Anyway, when I got it out of my mind I could continue the tour with no interruption 🙂

We continued in The Princess' Chambers. There were a few chambers, each of them served another purpose. We started in the relaxation chamber where they prepared themselves for bed.

Next chamber was used to dress up and prepare themselves for their official duties. It was imperative for them to wear pompous dresses and a perfect make up as this was what differentiated them from the plebs.

The chamber was decorated with huge glass chandelier.

From The Dressing Room we moved to The Bedroom. This is where the princess took rest.

On the left, we can see a hidden door. There are many of them in the castle and they were only used by the servants when they were needed by the royalty as they were not allowed to show their presence in the representative chambers.

There were big windows in each chamber letting a lot of light inside...

The doors between the chambers are decorated with various paintings.

There is a light sensor and the light only goes on when you enter the room, and goes off when you don't move for a few seconds.

Behind this door we will see The Corner Room which was used as the princess' lounge.

The main color in the chamber is gold to show the wealth and power of the family.

This chandelier is by far my favorite object in the castle. It portrays countless flowers with so much detail. You can't see it well on the photo, but it is huge. I haven't seen a thing like this before.

Let's move to The Blue Salon which was used for writing. Imagine that they had a room which was only used for writing...

This chamber is decorated with portraits of Joséphine Caroline, wife of Prince Karl Anton with their children.

The Blue Salon was used as the reception room from time to time as well.

The Green Salon looked more golden to me. I guess that the original color has faded a bit.

The Red Salon was used to meet before dinner. It is attached to the dining room, and it was designed for ladies to enjoy their companion before dining. The long sofas were designed to accommodate their big dresses.

The ceiling caught my attention as it was symmetric which was a pleasure for my eyes.

From The Red Salon we moved to The French Salon which used to be the royal dining room.

There was a large table that could accommodate up to 30 people.

Imagine you go down such stairs for supper 🙂 I was feeling royal and I wasn't even there for dinner!

The ceiling in The French Salon is decorated with paintings and wooden plates with various carvings.

On each side of the stairs is an impressive clock and a candleholder - all in gold of course.

The Ancestral Hall was built in the 18th century and it shows paintings of 26 counts and princess of Hohenzollern.

One of the last representative rooms that we visited was The Imperial Room. This was the most decorated room in the entire palace.

As the name says it was dedicated to the rulers. Dominant colors in this room where gold and red. It reminded me of overdecorated rococo style, and it was a bit too much for me.

The room is dominated by this delicate mirror. It was made in Italy and in order to delivery it safely to the palace it was submerged in melted butter. Once the butter hardened it was safe to transport the mirror to its location.

Look at this door!

The Portuguese Gallery is the last representative room in the palace. It was built during the renovation and its name comes from the tapestry hanging on the walls.

Let's look at some door decorations before we leave the palace...

Is this a mermaid warrior? Who knows...

It took us almost two hours to see all the rooms, but we took our time and walked slowly. You can easily make it in about one hour if you don't take a photo of every single small detail.

We got discount vouchers for an ice cream with our tickets, and we were more than happy to use them. I asked the waitress which flavors were vegan and chose chocolate and banana. She must have been mistaken as the ice cream made me sick for two days!

This photo was taken before I got sick 🙂

Luckily, we arrived home before I was sick, but I learned a lesson to only take sorbets even when they claim that the ice cream is vegan/dairy free.

I hope you have enjoyed our trip!

Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
Martina