Hapsburg

Hapsburg, or Habsburg, the imperial house of, toolc its name from Habsburg (Hawk's Castle) in the south of Swabia. Habsburg is now a small town on the Aar, in the Swiss canton of Aargau, four miles S.W. of Brugg. The castle, the keep of which remains, was built by Werner, Bishop of Strasburg, early in the 11th century. Count Albert III. was made Landgrave of Upper Alsace by the Emperor Frederick I., and the numerous fiefs held by him and his son included the bishoprics of Strasburg, Basel, Constance, and Lausanne. Rudolf II., great-grandson of Albert III., was chosen emperor in 1273, and, after subduing Ottocar II. of Bohemia, became ruler over Austria and Styria. Subsequently the imperial crown became almost a family possession of the Hapsburg line. The house is now represented through the female line by the Emperor of Austria (q.v.).