Almanach de Saxe Gotha - The Royal House of Romania - Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Dynasty

 

The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania (1866, 1923, 1938). Thus, the Kingdom of Romania began with the reign of King Carol I of Romania who gained Romanian's independence in the Romanian War of Independence, and ended with the abdication of King Michael I of Romania in 30 December 1947, imposed by the Soviet Union with the tacit and secret, implicit consent of its allies (as a result of the Yalta Conference and secret agreements). As such, it is quite distinct from the Romanian Old Kingdom, which refers strictly to the reign of King Carol I of Romania, between 13 March 1881 and 10 October 1914.

From 1859 to 1877, Romania evolved from a personal union of two vassal principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia) under a single prince to a full-fledged independent kingdom with a Hohenzollern monarchy. In 1918, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Eastern Moldavia (Bessarabia), and Bukovina united with the Kingdom of Romania, resulting in a "Greater Romania". In 1940, Bessarabia, Northern Bukowina, Northern Transylvania and Southern Dobruja were ceded to the Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria respectively, only Northern Transylvania being recovered after World War II ended. In 1947 the last king was compelled to abdicate and a republic ruled by the Romanian Communist Party replaced the monarchy.

The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near Hechingen. The family uses the motto Nihil Sine Deo (English: Nothing Without God). The family coat of arms, first adopted in 1192, began as a simple shield quarterly sable and argent. A century later, in 1317, Frederick IV, Burgrave of Nuremberg, added the head and shoulders of a hound as a crest. Later quartering reflected heiresses' marriages into the family.

The family split into two branches, the Catholic Swabian branch and the Protestant Franconian branch, known also as the Kirschner line. The Swabian branch ruled the area of Hechingen until their eventual extinction in 1869. The Franconian-Kirschner branch was more successful: members of the Franconian branch became Margrave of Brandenburg in 1415 and Duke of Prussia in 1525. Following the union of these two Franconian lines in 1618, the Kingdom of Prussia was created in 1701, eventually leading to the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871.

The House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. The family is not as well known to history, as is the junior Franconian branch. (The Franconian branch became Burgraves of Nuremberg and later ruled Brandenburg-Prussia and the German Empire.) The senior branch ruled, and the dynasty took its name from, the Swabian County of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (German: Grafschaft Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen), which later became a principality (Fürstentum Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen).

The Royal Family Titles and Styles - The members of this family bear the title Prince or Princess of Romania together with the formal appellation of His or Her Royal Highness. They are entitled to titles as members of the House of Hohenzollern, though King Michael has recently announced that he and his family have relinquished these German titles and names.

The Royal Family of Romania website:
http://www.familiaregala.ro/

Almanach de Saxe Gotha Page:
http://www.almanachdegotha.org/id32.html