German nobility

The German nobility (German: Adel) was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class in the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.

In Germany, all legitimate children of a nobleman became nobles themselves, and most titles were passed on to all the children, with only a few exceptions. All the children of sovereigns did not, of course, become kings or electors, but did become princes or princesses, dukes or duchesses, etc.

The German nobility as a legally defined class was abolished on August 11, 1919 with the Weimar Constitution, under which all Germans were made equal before the law, and the legal rights and privileges due to nobility ceased to exist.

The German nobility continues to play an important role in the various European nations that have not abolished the nobility. Most of the European royal families are descendants of the German nobility.

Most, but not all, surnames of the German nobility were preceded by or at least contained the preposition von, meaning of, and sometimes by zu, which is usually translated as of when used alone or as in, at, or to. The two were occasionally combined into von und zu, meaning of and at approximately. In general, the "von" form indicates the place the family originated, while the "zu" form indicates that they are currently in possession of a certain place, therefore ''von und zu" indicates a family still in possession of their original feudal holding or residence. Other forms also exist as combinations with the definitive article: e.g. "von der" or von dem → "vom" ("of the"), zu der → "zur" or zu dem → "zum" ("of the", "in the", "at the"). An example is Count Kasimir von der Recke.

Heraldic arms of the Holy Roman Empire, Siebmachers Wappenbuch

Like nobles elsewhere, German nobles were acutely aware of and proud of their superior social position, and often had disdain for commoners. As shown in Theodor Fontane's novel Effi Briest, they referred to one another as Geborene, or "those who have been born", while commoners were called Geworfene, corresponding roughly to "whelped", "calved", or "foaled" in English, and properly referring only to non-human birth.

German noble families were almost always armigerous, entitled to bear a coat of arms.

Divisions of nobility

• Uradel (ancient nobility): Nobility that dates back to at least the 1500s, and originates from leadership positions during the Migration Period. This contrasts with:

• Briefadel (patent nobility): Nobility by letters patent. The first known such document is from September 30, 1360 for Wyker Frosch in Mainz.

• Hochadel (high nobility): Nobility that was sovereign or had a high degree of sovereignty. This contrasts with:

• Niederer Adel (lower nobility): Nobility that had a lower degree of sovereignty.

Titles and ranks

Reigning titles

These titles were at one time used by various rulers. The titles Archduke, Duke, Prince, Margrave (and all other -graves), Count, Count Palatine and Lord were also used by non-sovereign members of some of these families or by noble non-reigning families.

• The prefix Reichs- indicates a title originating from the Holy Roman Empire.
• Freiin indicates an unmarried daughter.

Non-reigning titles

The heirs to some nobles or sovereigns had special titles of their own prefixed by Erb-, meaning Hereditary. For instance, the heir to a Grand Duke is titled Erbgroßherzog, meaning Hereditary Grand Duke. A sovereign duke's heir might be titled Erbherzog or Erbprinz (Hereditary Duke, Hereditary Prince) and a prince's heir might be titled Erbprinz or Erbgraf (Hereditary Prince, Hereditary Count), also Erbherr. The prefix distinguished the heir from similarly-titled junior siblings.

See also

• Holy Roman Empire
• German Mediatisation
• Feudalism
• Patricianship
• Ministerialis
• Imperial Knight

Bibliography

• Neues allgemeines deutsches Adels-Lexicon [1]
  Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: Vol. I - IX (1859 - 1870)
• Siebmachers Wappenbuch [2]
• Heinz Gollwitzer, Die Standesherren. Die politische und gesellschaftliche Stellung der Mediatisierten 1815-1918, Stuttgart 1957 (Göttingen ²1964). (deals with the social and political rank of the former sovereign nobles of the Holy Roman Empire who were mediatized from 1803 to 1815).

External links

• Archive for Feudalism in Saxony [3]
• Institute for German Aristocratic Research [4]
• Castles and Palaces of Germany