Zähringen definition of Zähringen in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Zähringen (tsĕr`ĭng-ən), noble German family. It took its name from a now ruined castle near Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden, and can be traced to the 10th cent. The family held extensive fiefs in Baden and W Switzerland, and Duke Berthold V, one of the most powerful nobles of his era, founded many towns, notably Bern Bern or Berne (1990 pop. 136,338), the capital, is also the capital of Switzerland. Situated within a loop of the Aare River, the city is a university, administrative, transportation, and industrial center.
..... Click the link for more information. . His death (1218) deprived the family of its Swiss holdings; his domains passed largely to the related Kyburg and Hapsburg Hapsburg-Lorraine. An enlightened despot, Joseph II instituted reforms that included abolition of serfdom, revision of the penal code, religious toleration, and reduction of the power of the church. Leadership in the Hapsburg empire was given to the Germans.
..... Click the link for more information. families. A younger branch continued in N Baden and split (16th cent.) into the branches of Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach, reunited in 1771. In 1806, Charles Frederick of Baden was raised to grand ducal rank. Grand Duke Frederick II abdicated in 1918.