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The siege of Hof was an event of the Second Margrave War. The city of Hof was successfully besieged in 1553 by the opponents of the Margrave Albert II Alcibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.
In the wake of the Second Margrave War and the Princes' uprising, Albert Alcibiades was feuding not only with his neighbors, including Würzburg, Bamberg, and Nuremberg, but also with distant prince-bishops and princes. After the questions of faith, which had played a crucial role in the Prince's rebellion, had been resolved in the negotiations which resulted in the Peace of Passau, Albert II Alcibiades continued his military operations unabated, thereby isolated himself from his former allies. He could not keep the advantages he had gained over his neighbors permanently. The war gradually moved into his own country, the margraviate of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (for example, the Siege of Kulmbach and the Plassenburg), and this eventually led to the Margrave's defeat. Despite losing the war, the House of Hohenzollern succeeded in keeping the war-torn Margraviate and Albert Alcibiades was succeeded as Margrave by his cousin George Frederick.
The siege of the city of Hof had been documented in extraordinary detail by the historian Jacob Schlemmer. The key events are summarized in a woodcut by the Nuremberg artist Hans Glaser. Among the leaders of the attackers were Henry IV of Plauen and Georg Wolf of Kotzau, who remained after the siege as the governor of Hof.
Hof Castle was part of the city's defensive system, along with the city wall.
The nuns of the Monastery Hof, led by Abbess Amalie of Hirschberg, had escaped to Cheb (German : Eger). The Church of St. Lorenz was looted and burned during the siege. The Watch Tower, although of little strategic importance, also burned out. The Hospital Church was used as a war camp by the attackers, and was therefore attacked and destroyed by the city's defenders.
In the Bavarian Vogtland Museum in Hof, a scale model of the city at the time of the siege, is on display. Prominent buildings, streets, the fortifications and the city limits at the time, are reproduced very accurately. In coöperation with the German Figurine Museum at the Plassenburg in Kulmbach, a Diorama of the assailants has been put on display, and also some equipment of the soldiers. Stone cannonballs are embedded into the walls of several buildings within the walled city, including the St. Michael's Church.
Albert II was the margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (Brandenburg-Bayreuth) from 1527 to 1553. He was a member of the Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. Because of his bellicose nature, Albert was given the cognomen Bellator during his lifetime. Posthumously, he became known as Alcibiades.
Frederick I of Ansbach and Bayreuth was born at Ansbach as the eldest son of Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg by his second wife Anna, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. His elder half-brother was the Elector John Cicero of Brandenburg. Friedrich succeeded his father as Margrave of Ansbach in 1486 and his younger brother Siegmund as Margrave of Bayreuth in 1495.
George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as Regent of Prussia. He was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and a member of the House of Hohenzollern. He married firstly, in 1559, Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin. He married secondly, in 1579, Sophie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, daughter of William of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Dorothea of Denmark.
The House of Hohenzollern is a formerly royal German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. The family came from the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the late 11th century and took their name from Hohenzollern Castle. The first ancestors of the Hohenzollerns were mentioned in 1061.
Albrecht III was Elector of Brandenburg from 1471 until his death, the third from the House of Hohenzollern. A member of the Order of the Swan, he received the cognomen Achilles because of his knightly qualities and virtues. He also ruled in the Franconian principalities of Ansbach from 1440 and Kulmbach from 1464.
Kulmbach is a Landkreis (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Kronach, Hof, Bayreuth and Lichtenfels.
Hof is a town on the banks of the Saale in the northeastern corner of the German state of Bavaria, in the Franconian region, at the Czech border and the forested Fichtel Mountains and Franconian Forest upland regions. The town has 47,296 inhabitants, the surrounding district an additional 95,000.
Kulmbach is the capital of the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany. The town, once a stronghold of the Principality of Bayreuth, is renowned for its massive Plassenburg Castle, which houses the largest tin soldier museum in the world, and for its sausages, or Bratwürste.
The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg) Ansbach was a free imperial principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margraves, as their ancestors were margraves.
The Principality of Bayreuth or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederick VI of Nuremberg was enfeoffed with the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1415/17, the Hohenzollern princes transferred the margravial title to their Franconian possessions, though the principality never had been a march. Until 1604 they used Plassenburg Castle in Kulmbach as their residence, hence their territory was officially called the Principality of Kulmbach or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Kulmbach until the Empire's dissolution in 1806.
Plassenburg is a castle in the city of Kulmbach in Bavaria. It is one of the most impressive castles in Germany and a symbol of the city. It was first mentioned in 1135. The Plassenberg family were ministerial of the counts of Andechs and used as their seat the Plassenburg. The House of Guttenberg, a prominent Franconian noble family, traces its origins back to 1149 with a Gundeloh v. Blassenberg (Plassenberg). The name Guttenberg is derived from Guttenberg and was adopted by a Heinrich von Blassenberg around 1310. From 1340, the Hohenzollerns governed from Plassenburg castle their territories in Franconia till 1604. The Plassenburg was fortress and residence for the Hohenzollerns.
Frederick V of Nuremberg was a Burgrave (Burggraf) of Nuremberg, of the House of Hohenzollern.
Casimirof Brandenburg-Bayreuth was Margrave of Bayreuth or Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach from 1515 to 1527.
Christian, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.
The Second Margrave War was a conflict in the Holy Roman Empire between 1552 and 1555. Instigated by Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who was attempting to form a Duchy of Franconia under his rule, the war resulted in widespread devastation in Franconia, while also affecting the Rhineland and Lower Saxony.
Elisabeth of Meissen, Burgravine of Nuremberg was the daughter of Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen and Mathilde of Bavaria and a member of the House of Wettin.
Henry V of Plauen was Burgrave of Meissen and Lord of Plauen and Voigtsberg.
Henry IV of Plauen, was High Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Burgrave of Meissen, Lord of Plauen, Gera, Greiz, Schleiz and Bad Lobenstein, Lord of Toužim, Hartenštejn Castle, Andělská Hora Castle and Žlutice. He also used the traditional title of Lord of Lázně Kynžvart and, apart from an intermezzo in 1547, he was Lord of Bečov nad Teplou as well.
The House of Kotzau was an old minor German noble family in Franconia, Germany.
Georg Wolf of Kotzau, nicknamed the rich was an Imperial Knight and Amtmann and Governor.