Sigmaringen was first attested in a document from in 1077 and was part of the principality of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen from 1576 until 1850, after which it became the
Prussian
Province of Hohenzollern.
Middle Ages In the 11th century, in the end of the
Early Middle Ages, the first castle was built on the rock that protected the valley. The first written reference dates from 1077, when King
Rudolf of Rheinfelden tried in vain to conquer
Sigmaringen Castle. The city was officially founded in 1250. In 1325, it was sold to
Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg. In 1460 and 1500, the castle was rebuilt into a chateau. About the county of
Werdenberg Sigmaringen came in 1535 to be owned by the high noble family of the
Hohenzollern.
Modern times In 1632, the
Swedes occupied the castle during the
Thirty Years' War. From 1806 to 1849, Sigmaringen was the capital of the sovereign
Principality Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and
residence of the princes of Hohenzollern. As a result of the Sigmaringen Revolution of 1848, the Princes of Hechingen and Sigmaringen abdicated, whereby both principalities fell to
Prussia in 1850. From 1850 to 1945, Sigmaringen was the seat of the
Prussian Government for the
Province of Hohenzollern. Karl Anton von Hohenzollern was 1858-1862 Prime Minister of Prussia. From 1914 to 1918, around 150 men from the town died during
World War I. In the Nazi era, a
Gestapo office was located in Sigmaringen. From 1937, it belonged to
Stuttgart's Gestapo. Between 1934 and 1942, more than 100 men were sterilized because of "hereditary diseases". On 12 December 1940, during the Nazi medical experiments known as the "
T4", 71 mentally disabled and mentally ill patients became the victims of Nazi injustice. These men and women were deported to the
Grafeneck Euthanasia Centre, where they were killed as "unworthy of life". After the closure of Grafeneck in December 1940, a further deportation to the
Hadamar Euthanasia Centre occurred on 14 March 1941.
Vichy French enclave (1944–1945) On 7 September 1944, following the
Allied invasion of France,
Philippe Pétain and members of the
Vichy government cabinet were relocated to Germany, a move which Petain fiercely fought against. A
city-state ruled by the
government in exile headed by
Fernand de Brinon was established at Sigmaringen. One of its most notorious members was
Joseph Darnand, a hero of the
First World War. There were three embassies in the city-state, representing each of Vichy-France's allies: Germany,
Italy, and
Japan. French writers
Louis-Ferdinand Céline,
Lucien Rebatet and
Roland Gaucher, fearing for their lives because of their political and antisemitic writings, fled along with the Vichy government to Sigmaringen. Céline's novel ''D'un château l'autre
(English: Castle to Castle'') describes the fall of Sigmaringen. The city was taken by
Free French forces on 22 April 1945. Pétain returned to France, where he stood trial for treason and was condemned to death, though the sentence was commuted by
Charles de Gaulle. ==Transportation infrastructure==