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[6] 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.
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.[7]
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".[8] After the closure of Grafeneck in December 1940, a further deportation to the Hadamar Euthanasia Centre occurred on 14 March 1941.
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 his most notorious members was Joseph Darnand, hero of First World War and who, because of his deep admiration for Petain (for him, he was the "Victor of Verdun"), he followed to the bitter end, his execution by fire squad. 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.[citation needed]
Mauthner, Martin (2016). Otto Abetz and His Paris Acolytes: French Writers Who Flirted with Fascism, 1930–1945. Eastbourne, England: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN978-1-84519-784-1. OCLC987647015.
^Bericht in der Chronik des Kloster Petershausen: Von dort zog König Rudolf von Schwaben nach Burg Sigimaringin und belagerte sie. Als er aber erfuhr, dass König Heinrich IV. mit einem Heer über die Alpenpässe herannahte, um die Festung zu entsetzen, zog er ab und ging nach Sachsen.
^Ingrid Bauz, Sigrid Brueggemann, Roland Maier (eds.). The secret police in Württemberg and Hohenzollern. Stuttgart 2013, ISBN3-89657-138-9, p 90ff.
^Thomas Stöckle, Grafeneck 1940. The euthanasia crimes in East Germany. 2nd Edition. Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 2005, ISBN3-87407-507-9. Thomas Stöckle, head of Memorial in Grafeneck emphasizes that these are preliminary. Basis of the figures are statistical material from the Grafeneck process of 1949 and reports of the individual dispensing stations
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