African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 32 Hohenzollern Castle

   April 13, 1866.

  Today is the day when Hohenzollern Castle was completely completed. Prince Constantine specially invited some important figures of the family to come here to celebrate.

  Hohenzollern Castle is the birthplace of the Hohenzollern family and the spiritual symbol of the family.

  The castle was built in the 11th century. The ancestor Burchard I was named Earl of Sauron in about 1100 (the territory is between the present-day Upper Neckar River, Swabia Mountain and Upper Danube River), and began to build the castle. But the old castle was later destroyed.

The   family reinforced the castle and added fortifications, making it a retreat for the Hohenzollern family to escape the war. Due to the dangerous terrain, this place was once an important military base for the French and Austrians to fight for. There was a brutal battle in which the defenders in the castle starved to death after being besieged by the enemy for nine months. During the war, the castle was not completely completed according to the expected plan, and was finally abandoned after changing hands several times.

In 1844, William IV, who inherited the Prussian throne, mentioned in a letter that he had good memories in this castle when he was 19 years old, especially when he looked out at sunset, so rebuilding this castle became a A dream of his youth.

  The current Hohenzollern Castle was rebuilt in 1850 and was jointly funded by Prussia and Hechingen. It was historically completed in 1867.

  But after Ernst started the industry to make money, the royal family of Hexingen became richer, so Ernst decided to speed up the construction of the castle.

  After discussing with the Prussian royal family, Ernst accelerated the construction of the new Hohenzollern Castle. The workers worked overtime every day, making the castle a year earlier.

  At the same time, Ernst increased the property rights of the Hechingen royal family to Hohenzollern Castle to 50% by repurchasing the property rights of the Prussian royal family.

   After all, this is my home, which not only represents the glory of the Hohenzollern family, but also the face of the Heixingen lineage.

  King William I of Prussia, who was worried about war funds, happened to sell part of the property rights. Although the royal family funds were separated from the state finances, it was cheaper for the royal family to invest in the construction of the kingdom with money than for commercial banks to buy national debt. After all, second-hand dealers also charged a handling fee.

  …

  The people who attended the completion ceremony of the castle today are all well-known figures in the Hohenzollern family, and there are only Prince Constantine and Ernst in the Hechingen family.

  Because William I was preparing for war, the Prussian royal family sent Crown Prince Frederick (Frederick III, Emperor of the Hundred Days, William II ascended the throne after his death.) as a representative to attend the ceremony.

There are also many members of the Sigmaringen line, including Prince Karl Anton and his two sons, the eldest son Prince Leopold (whose eldest son Leopold became a candidate for the Spanish throne in 1870, and Leopold was a The question of the succession to the Spanish throne was one of the direct causes of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.)

  As for the youngest son of Prince Carl Anton, Karl (the future Romanian Emperor Carol I.), Ernst envied Ernst. Now he is in Romania, and he is about to ascend the Romanian throne, so he cannot attend.

  The members of the Hohenzollern family who are present today also have a "no bright future" for Ernst and Leopold. Leopold had a chance to become king of Spain but was stopped by the French. Not to mention Ernst, there is only one Prince of Hechingen who can inherit.

Ernst has an advantage over Leopold in the East African colonies, so Ernst can continue to dominate East Africa after the First World War. Poor Leopold's descendants can only eat their ancestors in the European continent .

   But from this aspect, his younger brother's descendants and the Prussian royal family are even more pitiful. One lost the Romanian throne and the other lost the German imperial throne. Maybe Leopold would feel better than this. (smirk)

Ernst vowed that if East Africa develops well in the future, he would give these relatives a hand. This is the truth. For example, the Prussian royal family gave Ernst a lot of support. Otherwise, Ernst wanted to get orders from the army. So easy, this is the benefit of a strong family.

As for Ernst's deceased mother, Eugenie de Beauharnay, she was the daughter of Eugene de Beauharney, Duke of Leuchtenberg. Eugene de Beauharnay had many descendants and is now the only one alive. Only former Swedish Queen Josephine remains.

   The above are almost Ernst's important relatives. At present, the Hohenzollern family is Ernst's real reliance.

  …

  “…The reconstruction of the Hohenzollern Castle is a sign that our Hohenzollern family has taken another step forward. I hope that he will always stand on the land of Germany along with the Hohenzollern family.”

   After Prince Hechingen finished his speech, the audience applauded, and then Crown Prince Frederick and Prince Karl Anton delivered speeches on behalf of the Prussian royal family and Sigmaringen respectively.

  Night, reception.

   "Hey, cousin Leopold, why are you drinking alone?" Ernst greeted.

   "The main concern is whether Karl is going well in Romania. After all, Romania is not a good place now. Although there is family support, the tragic experience of the previous Romanian Grand Duke shows that the situation in Romania is not stable."

   "Don't worry, Karl's other abilities aside, his experience in leading the army is very good. As long as Karl can get in touch with the Romanian military, those Romanian opponents will never dare to act rashly." Ernst said in relief. There is a basis for saying this. Karl has been in the army all year round and participated in the Second Schleswig War.

   "Oh, I hope so! I heard Ernst that you have been doing well recently. It seems that Uncle Constantine has not considered letting you develop in the army."

   Ernst heard the words and said with a self-mockery: "Cousin, I don't know anything about military affairs, and I still can't compare with your brothers, so I won't harm the kingdom's army."

   "I heard from my father that you have built a colony in East Africa. Is it going well?" Leopold changed the subject.

   "Haha, East Africa really can't be compared with Europe. Now I am doing some agricultural planting there. In the future, I will produce some raw materials for my own factory, which is just a small business." Ernst said with a smile.

   "What are you talking about?" Crown Prince Frederick came over.

  Crown Prince Frederick was the oldest of the three. Both he and Leopold were in the Prussian army and had only met Ernst a few times, so he knew very little about Ernst.

   "Your Highness, Ernst and I are chatting about some small things. I'm just curious because I heard that Ernst has developed a colony in East Africa." Leopold said.

"The colony is indeed a good place. The British rely on their huge colonies to maintain their maritime hegemony. Unfortunately, Germany has not been unified, and the opportunity for overseas expansion was wasted. Now those wealthy colonies have been divided by Britain and France. I'm afraid it's just leftovers." Crown Prince Frederick said with emotion.

   Ernst took advantage of the situation and said: "So our current energy should be focused on completing the unification of the German region. Only a strong Germany can compete with those powerful countries."

  Leopold and Frederick nodded in agreement.

    Frederick said: "This is the destiny of Prussia. To complete the unification of the German region, our Hohenzollern family is duty-bound."

  This sentence is full of murderous intent, obviously aimed at the Austrian Empire. It seems that the high-level Prussians have reached an agreement to deal with the Austrian Empire with all their strength.

  (end of this chapter)