Station: [20] The Princess’s Bedroom

You have now arrived in the rooms of the princely apartment. Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a cousin of Emperor Wilhelm I, had them furnished here at the family’s ancestral seat for himself and his wife, Josephine of Baden.

You are now in the Princess’s bedroom. You entered the room through a door concealed by wallpaper. The entrance to the small servants’ staircase was thus almost invisible here in the bedroom.

The door on the left leads to the so-called passage. This connecting room provided access to the chambermaid’s room. You have already seen a similar design in the royal apartments.

After the restoration, the room was adorned with modern wallpaper. It echoes the original color scheme: dark blue and gold. Unfortunately, only remnants of the original wallpaper have survived. However, stencils have been preserved in the archives. They depict the former pattern of golden flowers and leafy tendrils.

The two portraits in this room draw the eye to the princely couple. They depict Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Princess Josephine. They were painted by Heinrich von Angeli, a prominent society painter.

Karl Anton was born in 1811 at Krauchenwies Castle as the second child of the hereditary prince and princess, Karl and Antoinette von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

Politically, a decisive period began for him with the German Revolution of 1848. Starting in France, unrest also spread to the German Confederation. The population’s dissatisfaction with the prevailing order and political repression erupted in the March Revolution. The revolutionaries sought democratic reforms and the national unification of the principalities of the German Confederation.

Resistance also stirred in the small principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Karl Anton’s father, the ruling Prince Karl, was disappointed by the revolutionary stance of his subjects and abdicated in favor of his more liberal son. But the movement continued to radicalize. The new prince was even forced to leave his principality for a time.

Help arrived in the summer of 1849 from his Prussian relatives. Prussian troops occupied the Principality of Hohenzollern as part of the counterrevolution. On December 7, 1849, Karl Anton abdicated as prince. Under the rules of succession, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was incorporated into Prussia.

Karl Anton, however, remained titular prince of the Swabian part of the Hohenzollern domain. He initially entered Prussian military service and left the Hohenzollern lands with his family. Thanks to his friendly relations with Prince Wilhelm of Prussia—later Emperor Wilhelm I—he was appointed chairman of the Prussian State Ministry in 1858 and thus assumed the office of prime minister. Shortly thereafter, Otto von Bismarck took over the office.

Thus, this space combines courtly domestic culture with a life story that extends far beyond the private chambers into the grand politics of the 19th century.