John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg
John II was Elector of Brandenburg from 1486 until his death, the fourth of the House of Hohenzollern. After his death he received the cognomen Cicero, after the Roman orator of the same name, but the elector's eloquence and interest in the arts is debatable.
John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg
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.
Hohenzollern Castle, near Hechingen, was built in the mid-19th century by Frederick William IV of Prussia on the remains of the castle founded in the early 11th century.
Alpirsbach Abbey, founded by the Hohenzollerns in 1095
Nuremberg Castle (the Emperor's castle, left, and the Burgrave's castle, right)
Cadolzburg Castle near Nuremberg (from 1260 seat of the Burgraves)