Page "House of Hohenzollern" Paragraph 2

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.