The Counts of Zollern built the first castle on Mount Hohenzollern around 1040. Swabian cities besieged and destroyed it in 1423. A second castle rose from 1454 to 1461, Württemberg troops captured it in 1634, and it fell into ruin after 1798.
Crown Prince Frederick William IV of Prussia commissioned the present castle. Friedrich August Stüler's design began in 1846, construction began in 1850, and the castle was completed on October 3, 1867, under King William I. Stüler used the Gothic Revival style, drawing on English Gothic Revival and Loire Valley châteaux. It stands 2,805 feet (855 m) above sea level, 771 feet (234 m) above Hechingen.
The Count's Hall has rib vaulting on eight red marble columns. A magnitude 5.7 earthquake on September 3, 1978, collapsed turrets, and repairs lasted until the mid-1990s. The castle shows the Crown of Wilhelm II and is privately owned by the Hohenzollerns. It draws 350,000 visitors a year.
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