pointed neo-gothic tower made from tuff stone. Leopold's son Friedrich (1891–1965) was the prince of the house from 1927 until 1965. He opened the carriage house in the lower story of the museum as an early history museum. Seat of the Vichy Government Following the Allied invasion of France, the French Vichy Regime was moved from France into Schloss Sigmaringen. The princely family was forced by the Gestapo out of the castle and moved to Schloss Wilflingen. The French authors Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Lucien Rebatet, who had written political and anti-semitic works, feared for their safety and fled to Sigmaringen with the Vichy government. Céline's 1957 novel D'un château l'autre, (English: From one castle to another) describes the end of the war and the fall of Sigmaringen on 22 April 1945. The book was made into a German movie in 2006, through the German media companies ZDF and Arte, called Die Finsternis (English: The Darkness). Today During the 1970s, following a crisis in the steel industry, Frederick William had to sell some of the family property to support the Hüttenwerke Laucherthal (English: Laucherthal Steel Works). Since the death of his wife Margarita in 1996, Prince Frederick William lived on a country estate in Jagdschloss Josefslust between Krauchenwies and Sigmaringen. His son and heir, Karl Friedrich, lives in the Sommerschloss (Summer Palace) in Krauchenwies. The castle is occupied by the management for the business interests of the prince as well as the museum. Castle site The modern Schloss Sigmaringen owes its current size and appearance to three construction periods. The medieval castle from the 11th to 13th centuries, built under the Counts of Sigmaringen-Spitzenberg and Spitzenberg-Helfenstein. The renovations and expansion of the castle under Counts of Werdenberg. The renovations to make the castle into a princely residence for the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Fortress and protective walls The first castle at Sigmaringen dated from around 1200 and was built from Buckel Stones (squared off stones with a rounded outer surface). The original castle was fully absorbed into the later constructions. Built on the eastern side of the rock hill, it was one of the best protected castles in Germany during the Middle Ages. The original castle was with the central keep being in size. The flat and therefore threatened west side was protected by a moat and a high keep. The square western keep was in size. The foundations of the castle