Here’s the annotated version. No reason both of us should have to type a bunch of text from old, German maps into Google Translate.
I’ve had a few people working on academic papers message me about my historical maps and I want to make something clear for anyone who googled their way here: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT USE MY MAPS AS REFERENCE FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH. If you can’t find a complete, contemporary floor plan, I probably didn’t either. And– this is important– I’M ALLOWED TO FILL IN THE GAPS BY MAKING STUFF UP. The idea that I might inadvertently rewrite history by making D&D maps is slightly hilarious, but ultimately something to avoid.
*ahem*
With that out of the way, Hohenzollern Castle, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern Dynasty. The Hohzenzollerns were the rulers of Prussia and, later, Germany. They also produced some of the most potent mustaches in Central Europe. Without getting too far into it, let’s just say things went well for the Hohenzollerns right up until they didn’t.
This map turned out to be a ton of work, but I hope you like it. Next, I’ll be drawing the map chosen by the last Cartographic Congress: a small, fortified dwarven port town. Erik, who proposed the idea, plans to use it as a part of Brazenthrone, so I guess you could consider this an unofficial expansion of the dwarven city.
Okay, that’s it. I’d love to hear what you think of Hohenzollern Castle!
A fine addition to my collection
Thank you for the wonderful map. I’m a good enough historian to not confuse a D&D map with actual history, however much I’ve run an entire saga set around Pfalzgrafenstein.
No problem! I’m not worried about DMs being unaware of the inaccuracies in my maps, but I’m a little concerned about academics thinking they’re completely correct. I’ve gotten a few messages suggesting that people were using my maps as a reference for research, which is a little concerning to me.
Thank you for providing this maps! It was very helpful for me to get the gist of the building’s floor plan. I’m a beginner author and I use this castle as part of the setting of the fantasy novel I’m writing since its the closest for what my story resembled and described. I’m using it as a base/guide reference for it if you wont mind. I wouldn’t confuse this on how exactly the castle look inside, but this is useful to navigate around the place. I cant thank you enough!
No problem, you’re more than welcome to use it as a reference. The message was only aimed at academics. Those of us working in the realms of fantasy don’t have the same standards.
Oh man, this’ll be great for an Achtung Cthulhu adventure I’ve been cooking up!
I’m writing an alt-history steampunk novel that will include an airship assault on a bio-weapon lab hidden in Hohenzollern, the “castle in the clouds.” This is PERFECT form my needs. Thank you!
Btw, the entry road, inside the main wall is a two layered road, with the ‘bridge’ entering on the lower level, and the visible roadway inside is the ‘upper’ roadway, following a complete loop of the road.
So there are two separated loops outside the wall and two stacked loops inside the wall before you are at the main ‘floor’ level and able to move either to the left or right to travel to and through the gatehouse, or by turning left at the tip of the upper level of the inner loop to pass onto the bastioned wall ‘outside’ the building’s courtyard.
This is captured quite well (at roughly 1/300 or 6mm scale) in the Bluebrix set – within the limitations of lego-like building bricks.
I was so happy to come across this. My ancestor worked in the kitchen during Wilhelm the IV reign. I hope one day to get to Germany and see this castle myself. Thank you