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Hohenzollern
German dynasty

They ruled in Brandenburg-Prussia from 1415 to 1918. The name is derived from the ancestral 9th-century castle of Zollern in Swabia. In 1415 a member of the family was made Elector of Brandenburg by Emperor Sigismund, thus founding the Prussian dynasty. The last elector, Frederick III (1688-1713) became the first King of Prussia as Frederick I (1701). The kings of Prussia were German emperors from 1872 to 1918 (Wilhelm I, Frederick III and Wilhelm II). Another branch of the family were kings of Romania from 1881 to 1947 (Carol I, Ferdinand I and Carol II). World War I ruined Hohenzollern militarism, and forced the abdication of the last emperor, Wilhelm II (1918).