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The German Nobility
by Gilbert von Studnitz
This article first appeared in "Der Blumenbaum", a
publication of the Sacramento German Genealogy Society, Vol. 9, number
4, April-June 1992. It also appears in the FAQ for the alt.talk.royalty
Newsgroup, and is reproduced here by generous permission of the
author.
Table of Contents
- The German Nobility in Law and Practice
- The Noble Designation
- Divisions of the German Nobility
- Ranks of the High Nobility
- Ranks of the Lower Nobility
- Affiliations of the German Nobility
- Bibliography
The German Nobility in Law and Practice
The German system of nobility, as indeed the European system in
general, is quite different from the English system with which most
Americans are familiar. The English have a peerage system and not an
extensive system of nobility, though their squires or landed gentry
would tend to be the closest thing. In England only the eldest son
usually inherits the title and the rest are considered commoners,
though they may bear "courtesy titles" if their father has
more than one, or may be called "Lord" or "Lady"
without actually being one.
The German nobility is divided into two major divisions, that of the
lower (niedriger Adel) and the high (hoher Adel). It is further divided
into the ancient nobility (Uradel) and the newer nobility (commonly
known as Briefadel, or literally nobility by letter-cachet, but also
including other groups). The Uradel may be of either the lower or high
nobility, but the Briefadel is always of the lower.
In Germany, all legitimate children of a nobleman become nobles
themselves, and most titles pass onto all the children with few
exceptions. All the children of sovereigns did not, of course, become
kings or electors, but did become princes or princesses. In the last
decades of the German Empire, in imitation of the English system, a few
families were ennobled with titles that passed on only to the eldest
son, the remainder retaining either their father's former title (which
he also still carried) or just untitled nobility.
The hereditary and legal privileges of the nobility as the first class
of the realm ended in August of 1919 when the Constitution of the
so-called Weimar Republic came into force. The laws that concerned the
nobility for some one thousand years before 1919 stated that hereditary
nobility could only be passed on through legitimate biological descent
from a noble father but not through adoption and especially not through
purchase. When non-nobles were adopted the family name could be carried
by the adoptee, but none of the noble designations of the family (such
as a title or the "von"). If such an adoptee wished to become
noble, he or she had to apply to their sovereign for such status in the
same manner as any other subject. An exemption to this was and is still
made by the "legitimatio per matrimonium subsequens", which
allowed the legitimation of children born out of wedlock after the
marriage of their noble parents. By this the children became full
hereditary nobles, though some social stigma still remained.
Since 1919, according to the German republican government, the nobility
no longer exists as a legal entity. Nevertheless, the titles and noble
designations of the nobility have not been abolished, as they have in
Austria, and may still be carried. Legally they are now merely parts of
the family name and in theory convey no status. Following this rule all
children of, for example, a Count von Beust, whether male or female,
would have the family name Count von Beust. Similarly your could find
ladies named Elisabeth Duke of Saxony or Luise Prince of Prussia. A
woman married to the Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden would, in law, also
be named Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden, as would all their children.
To avoid making all this seem too ridiculous the German government
ignores much of its own law and allows the wives and children of nobles
to take the gender-specific titles appropriate to their sex.
Another example of society ignoring the 1919 law and following
traditional practice is that in all German telephone books a person
named, for instance, Baron von Richthofen would be listed under
"R" for Richthofen rather than a "v" for
"von" or a "B" for "Baron". The U.S.
telephone books are (unwittingly) more compliant with current German
legal writ by listing all persons with a "von" under
"v".
The 1919 law also causes difficulties in the case of children
inheriting senior titles of their fathers. For example, in certain
families only the senior member is a count, and the rest are untitled
nobles. For a child to use the inherited title of "count"
upon his father's death would involve a court petition for a name
change, which is not always granted when the judge or magistrate has an
anti-noble bias.
Current law allows a person adopted by a noble to use the noble family
name, and since the title is considered part of the name, that is also
conveyed by adoption. It should be noted that the German nobility never
acknowledges such persons to be noble, no matter what they call
themselves.
Those persons who claim nobility through adoption or purchase, such as
the notorious Claus von Bülow, the Nazi foreign minister von
Ribbentrop, or Zsa-Zsa Gabor's husband who uses a Saxon princely title,
are not recognized as part of the historical nobility and are no more
members of that class than anyone else claiming a status to which they
are not entitled. Most such persons are essentially deluding themselves
while trying to fool others.
German nobles, especially the Uradel, have a particular class
consciousness and consider themselves interrelated and cousins even if
they don't know exactly how. Often in the case of the ancient families
this is correct due to centuries of intermarriage. All members of the
Uradel are considered by themselves to be of the same status, whether
they are untitled, barons, counts, or whatever else they may be. The
particular title of a person is far less important among the nobility
than the age and standing of the family. This is particularly true as a
number of old families have branches of various levels. For instance,
the Counts, Barons, and untitled von Bothmers are all part of the same
family. The Uradel also tend to look down on the Briefadel as parvenus,
even when the Briefadel may have been noble for centuries. I recall
visiting a cousin on the Lüneburger Heath in Lower Saxony who had
a brass plate on his front door stating "Lieferanten und Briefadel
zur Hintertür", meaning "Deliveries and Briefadel to the
rear entrance". Though meant as a joke, there was still a bit of
seriousness behind it.
 Table of Contents
The Noble Designation
The basic designation of the nobility is the predicate "von",
which the vast majority of German nobles carry. There are a small
number of noble houses, almost exclusively of the Uradel, which have
never used the "von" or any other noble predicate, but are
nevertheless of fully equal standing with those that do.
In northern and eastern Germany there are a substantial number of
families (such as the von Kranichfelds) that use the "von" as
designations of the towns where they come from (as is the case with
most older noble families) but have never been noble and make no
pretense to be so.
A few noble houses use "von und zu", meaning they are not
only from the place mentioned but still retain it. Another Uradel house
is named "aus dem Winckel" instead of "von dem
Winckel" but having the same meaning. Other noble predicates
sometimes seen are "von dem", "von der", or
"vom". "Van" is not used by German nobles but is
Dutch or Flemish and does not usually connote nobility in those
countries.
As a way of differentiating themselves from non-nobles, the aristocracy
of northern Germany in most cases uses the abbreviation "v.",
instead of writing out the "von", while still pronouncing the
whole word. The southern Germans most often write out the
"von". It is always spelled with a small "v" unless
it would be grammatically incorrect, such as in the beginning of a
sentence.
Table of Contents
Divisions of the German Nobility
- URADEL
This oldest level of the nobility is made up of those houses which
by no later than 1400 were members of the knightly class, or
patricians of a free Imperial city such as Frankfurt/Main. Most
often these houses are counted as noble since "time
immemorial" as at their first appearance in written records
they were already noble. The families that make up this segment of
the nobility usually descend from the knights or most important
warriors of a sovereign that were the basis of his fighting force,
or more rarely from a senior civil official of the time. The Uradel
often had legal privileges over the newer nobility certifying their
higher standing, such as in the Nobles Law of the Kingdom of Saxony
of 1902. There are far fewer Uradel families still in existence
than Briefadel due to the fact that families die out over the
centuries and no Uradel has been created in almost 600 years.
- BRIEFADEL
This level of the nobility is made up of those houses which were
ennobled since the beginning of the 15th Century through
the end of the German or Austrian Empires in 1918. There were
widely differing prerequisites for this level of the nobility,
though most often military or civil service to the sovereign were
the qualities most valued. The Briefadel includes houses ennobled
or recognized as noble by the Emperor or one of the sovereigns of
the high nobility. Also included are patricians of the free
Imperial cities and non-German noble houses that immigrated over
the centuries, such as the Counts von Polier from France or the
Herren von Zerboni di Sposetti from Italy.
- HIGH NOBILITY
The High Nobility is made up of those families that had
Reichsstandschaft, or had a seat in the Parliament of the Holy
Roman Empire. These seats were reserved for sovereign houses. These
families were also Reichsunmittelbar, or in a feudal sense holding
their lands directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, who for four
centuries, until the end of the empire in 1806, came from the house
of Habsburg. In essence, these families were rulers of their own
countries, often in times of a weak emperor paying only lip service
to their subservience to him. Their relationship to the emperor was
then much like that of today's Commonwealth rulers to the British
Queen. Even in times of a strong emperor he was to them more like a
chairman of the board rather than a ruler. Up to the early
19th Century, there were some baronial and untitled
families that held lands directly of the emperor, so essentially
being their own rulers, but had no seat in the Parliament, thus
being members of the lower nobility. Many families of the high
nobility have house laws applicable to their members. Often these
laws do not allow marriage outside their ranks, even to the lower
nobility which would be considered a morganatic alliance. Even
today, the children of a member of the high nobility who marries
morganatically become members of the lower nobility.
Table of Contents
Ranks of the High Nobility
Within this division of the nobility the highest title is Emperor, or
Kaiser, deriving from Caesar in Latin. Through most of German
history, there was only one of these, the Holy Roman Emperor of the
German Nation, lasting from the crowning of Charlemagne in the year 800
through the renunciation of the last emperor, Franz II, in 1806 under
the influence of Napoleon, who by then had proclaimed himself Emperor
of the French. Kaiser Franz had already declared himself Emperor of
Austria, as Franz I, in 1804. In essence, the emperor just changed his
title so as to more accurately reflect the political realities of the
time.
A second German empire was established in 1871 after the victory of the
German states over Napoleon III, when King Wilhelm I of Prussia was
proclaimed German Emperor. He was never titled Emperor of Germany, as
this nation was not a unitary state but a federation of monarchies and
free city-states with quasi-republican governments. The title of German
Emperor was always carried in conjunction with that of King of Prussia,
and he was addressed as Kaiserliche und Königliche
Majestät (Imperial and Royal Majesty). The Austrian Emperor,
based to a large degree upon his position as King of Hungary, was
addressed as Apostolic Majesty.
Both German and Austrian empires ceased to exist after World War I, and
the imperial titles have not been carried since the last emperors died
(Wilhelm II of Germany in 1941, Karl of Austria in 1922). The last
empress, Zita of Austria, died in 1989.
The children of the German emperor were Prinzen von
Preußen (Princes of Prussia, not Germany) and royal
highnesses, except the eldest, who was German Kronprinz
(Crown Prince) and addressed as Imperial and Royal Highness. The
current heir to the throne is titled the, (rather than a) Prince of
Prussia, and is the only one in Germany still addressed as Imperial and
Royal Highness. The children of the Austrian emperor were titled
Archdukes or Archduchesses of Austria rather than
princes, and called Imperial and Royal Highnesses.
Next we come to König and Königin, or King and
Queen, which was carried by the rulers of the larger German states
(Bavaria, Hanover, Prussia, Saxony, Württemberg, ). They were
addressed as Majesty, and their children, princes or princesses, as
Royal Highnesses.
After these came the Großherzog, or Grand Duke, who were
styled royal highness, and were rulers of somewhat smaller states, such
as the two Mecklenburgs or Luxemburg (which until 1918 was considered a
German state). The heir to these thrones was known as an
Erbgroßherzog, or hereditary Grand Duke, and the other
children were princes or princesses. Additionally in the Saxon kingdom,
grand duchy, and duchies, all the children of the ruler were also
styled Dukes or Duchesses.
The next level is that of Herzog, or Duke, who was normally
styled Highness.
Kurfürst, or Elector in English, ranked with a Duke. The
electors were originally the greatest lords of the Holy Roman Empire,
both temporal and spiritual, who elected the Emperor before the throne
became hereditary. They later became sovereigns no different from the
rest. The last ruling Elector, Hesse-Cassel, lost his
throne to Prussia in 1866.
Landgraf (Landgrave), Markgraf (Margrave), and
Pfalzgraf (Palsgrave or Count Palatine) ranked somewhat with a
Duke and are usually considered higher than a Fürst. All
sovereigns of this rank were eventually "promoted" to higher
titles, but the titles were sometimes used instead of crown prince for
their states, and are currently used for the Heads of the Houses of
Baden, Hesse and Saxony. Depending on circumstances, they could be
styled Royal Highness or simply Highness. In the Middle Ages, some
sovereigns were Burggrafs, or Burgraves, but all these took higher
titles early on and Burggraf became a title and sometimes function,
like Wildgraf, of the lower nobility.
Next follows Fürst (for which there is no good translation
in English, but which is confusingly called Prince). These are styled
Durchlaucht, translated as Serene Highness. Children of Dukes,
Kurfürsts, and Fürsts were all princes or
princesses. In the third generation their descendants sometimes become
counts, except for the ruling line, which retains the princely
title.
The last category of the high nobility still in existence is that of
Graf, or Count. The last sovereigns of this rank ceased ruling
after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. They are styled Erlaucht, or
Illustrious Highness. Their children are all counts or countesses. A
former somewhat higher rank of Gefürsteter Graf, or
princely count, no longer exists.
Among all the higher nobility the idea of Ebenbürtigkeit exists,
meaning all of them, no matter what the title, are considered of equal
birth and standing.
Table of Contents
Ranks of the Lower Nobility
Very often a certain level of income, wealth, or social standing was
necessary for appointment to these ranks, so as to demonstrate the
ability of the person ennobled to maintain himself at a proper
level.
The highest rank of the non-sovereign nobility is Herzog or
Duke, a title almost never given them and then only
"ad personam", or much like an English life peer. An example
is Otto von Bismarck as Duke of Lauenburg. He was styled Serene
Highness.
The highest rank that normally was part of the lower nobility is
Fürst. This title, like Duke, was given to them only in the
last centuries of the monarchy. Their children were rarely princes, but
more usually counts or barons, depending on what was the original title
of the Fürst.
Next in rank is Graf or Count, which in modern times could be
given primogeniture (inherited only by the eldest son), but was usually
given to all the children of the new count. A very few houses also
carry the title Burggraf which is approximately equivalent to
Count.
Baron follows, which is almost always called Freiherr in
Germany, but given as Baron to the Germans of the Baltic regions.For
many years it was in dispute whether Baron was equivalent to Freiherr
(which was deemed "better"), but this was settled in the last
century in an affirmative manner. The wife of a Freiherr is a Freifrau,
the daughter a Freiherrin. This last title is sometimes abbreviated
Freiin. The wife of a Baron is a Baronin, the daughter a Baronesse.
Another variant of this rank is called Edler Herr, or Edle
Herrin for females, which is borne by only a few very old families
(such as the Gans zu Putlitz).
The last level is that of the untitled nobility, which nevertheless
includes some titled families. Normally an untitled noble is addressed
as Herr, in this context meaning Lord.
In former times untitled nobles, especially those from the eastern
regions, were addressed as Junker, a title still in usage in the
Netherlands as Jonkheer. It is no longer normally used in Germany. In
Bavaria and especially Austria, the hereditary title of Ritter
(Knight) was given to families, but they were still considered part of
the untitled nobility. Much the same applies to the title of
Edler, which is mainly northern and central German. While the
wife and daughters of an Edler were titled Edle, the wife of a Ritter
was called a Frau (in this sense Lady) and not Ritterin.
Table of Contents
Affiliations of the German Nobility
Though the formal power of the German nobility is gone, it still
remains a considerable social force. After the debacle of World War II,
the aristocracy gradually reformed in groups based on religious
affiliation or province of origin. For well over 30 years, these groups
have been affiliated as the "Vereinigung der Deutschen
Adelsverbände" and published the monthly "Deutsches
Adelsblatt" in the small town of Westerbrak (now part of
Kirchbrak). The legalistic "Deutsches
Adelsrechtsausschuß" was set up, composed of members from
various noble and chivalric organizations, to determine in questionable
cases who belongs to the nobility or if a person has a right to a noble
title he claims. Only if there is a positive judgment by this
organization can someone join one of the nobles' associations or have
their family listed in the Gotha.
It has been estimated that there are some 40,000 nobles of all ranks in
Germany today.
Table of Contents
Bibliography
Notwithstanding regional preferences, the "Bible" of the
nobility, the "Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels"
(Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility), published by C. A. Starke in
Limburg/Lahn, uses the "v." to designate nobles and spells
out the "von" for non-noble families or individual non-nobles
within aristocratic families. This handbook, colloquially known as the
"Gotha" for its predecessor the "Almanach de
Gotha" (in German, Gothaisches Hofkalendar) attempts a
comprehensive listing of all German noble houses currently or recently
in existence and comes out in several volumes on a yearly basis,
listing all living members of a family and all those deceased since the
last edition. The handbook is divided into several series with the
binding in different colors: Royal and Princely houses, Counts, Barons,
Untitled nobles, and Family histories. Within these series the families
are, except since recently the Counts and Barons, divided into Uradel
or Briefadel.
The advantage of having these books is obvious: there is a wealth of
genealogical information, and as it lists addresses, many potential
contacts can be found. It is also a way of being able to investigate
people's claims to noble status, though this kind of checking is not
considered "gentlemanly". The listing are thorough and are
checked for accuracy, though they depend to a large degree on the
individual's honesty in telling the truth about themselves.
Not every German noble family is included, as most often the family
concerned must contribute financially to its inclusion, or the family
may be too small, poor, or unwilling to warrant repeated updating. For
instance, my own family, with some 70 members, appeared lastly in 1985
and will do so again in 1999, but that of my grandmother, von
Bulmerincq, has not appeared since 1936. The current series of books
has been published since 1951, and is available at a number of larger
libraries.
Table of Contents
Copyright, © 1992 by Gilbert von Studnitz. All Rights Reserved.
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