The Archaeological Collection of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen – Digitizing and Disclosing, Investigating Context and History

• Applicant: Dr. Klaus Georg Kokkotidis
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 561991698

Since the end of 2020, the archaeological collection of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen has belonged to the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and is held by he Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart. It is comprised of around 8,350 objects dating from the Mesolithic to the Early Middle Ages and was previously part of the Art and Antiquities Collections of the Princes of Hohenzollern at Sigmaringen. The origins of the collection go back to the first half of the 19th century, when Prince Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen from the Swabian, Catholic line of the House of Hohenzollern began to build up a collection of archaeological antiquities, primarily those found in his territories. The collection continued to be expanded until the 1910s, when the focus of the collecting activities of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen shifted to other areas after the death of Prince Leopold in 1905. The aim of the application is to record the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen archaeological collection in its entirety, to make it accessible to researchers, and, in doing so, to make it known to the specialist scientific public. The digitally accessible collection holdings and archival records will enable a more in-depth or specifically targeted use of the collection for prehistoric and early historical research. The various publication forms of the collection will be unified and brought together. The origins of the collection and the role of significant actors in its formation will also be investigated. This will make it possible to highlight the way in which the development of the then still young subject of “prehistory and early history” is reflected in the collection, as well as the role and significance of the collection in archaeological research. The digital bringing together of object data and archival records will not only enable investigation from a variety of perspectives in the field of archaeological research, but will also make this possible in neighboring disciplines, such as regional history.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Participating Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg ; Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften ; Abteilung für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters; Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz; Hohenzollernschloss Sigmaringen; Bibliothek und Archiv des Hauses Hohenzollern; Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg; Staatsarchiv Sigmaringen