Teck

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This article is about the ducal castle in Germany. For the Canadian mining company, see Teck Cominco.

Teck was a ducal castle in the kingdom of Württemberg, immediately to the north of the Swabian Jura and south of the town of Kirchheim unter Teck (now in the district of Esslingen), taking its name from the ridge, 2544 feet high, which it crowned. It was destroyed in the Peasants' War (1525). The castle was reconstructed during the 19th and 20th century.

The duchy of Teck was acquired early in the 11th century by Berthold, count of Zähringen, whose great-grandson Albert, or Adalbert, styled himself Duke of Teck. In 1381 it passed both by conquest and purchase to Württemberg. The title, which had lapsed with the extinction of the Zähringen line in 1439, was revived in 1495 by the German King Maximilian I, who bestowed it upon the dukes of Württemberg. The dignity was renounced by Duke Frederick William Charles upon his elevation to the rank of king in 1806.

In 1863 the title "Prince of Teck" was conferred by King William I of Württemberg upon the children of his cousin Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804-1885) by his morganatic marriage with Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde(1812-1841), ennobled as countess of Hohenstein. In 1871 Prince Francis , the eldest son of Duke Alexander, was created duke of Teck. His eldest son Adolphus (b. 1868) was in 1910 the holder of the title.

The most famous member of the Teck family is considered to be Mary of Teck, who married George V of the United Kingdom.