There’s a little village in the fields of canton Aargau, not far from Zurich. On top of a small hill immediately to the west of the town is a small, partially-ruined castle which dates back to the early 11th century. But the quiet little village and the quiet little castle on the hill bely a pretty outstanding history.
From this little castle in the middle of the fields rose a mighty family. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs from 1440 until their extinction in the male line in 1740 and, after the death of Francis I, from 1765 until its dissolution in 1806. The house also produced kings of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Spain, Portugal and Galicia-Lodomeria, with their respective colonies; rulers of several principalities in the Low Countries and Italy; and in the 19th century, emperors of Austria and of Austria-Hungary as well as one emperor of Mexico. The family split several times into parallel branches, most consequentially in the mid-16th century between its Spanish and Austrian branches following the abdication of Charles V.
(Text partially sourced from Wikipedia. Read more here.)
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