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Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, just beneath a ''
Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles a ...
'' (hereditary
knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
), but above untitled nobles, who used only the
nobiliary particle A nobiliary particle is used in a surname or family name in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. In some languages, it is the same as a regular pr ...
''
von The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...
'' before their surname. It was mostly given to civil servants and military officers, as well as those upon whom the lower rank of an
Order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
had been conferred. The noun ''Edler'' comes from the adjective ''edel'' ("noble"), and translated literally means "noble erson. In accordance with the rules of German grammar, the word can also appear as ''Edle'', ''Edlem'', or ''Edlen'' depending on case, gender, and number. Originally, from the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, under the
feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...
(in Europe and elsewhere), the nobility were generally those who held a
fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
, often in the form of heritable land worked by
vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzera ...
. To preserve the feudal naming practice, even in cases where upper-ranking bureaucrats received patents of nobility for long service or merit, as in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries (see '' noblesse de robe''), the old practice of denoting a noble with a
territorial designation In the United Kingdom, a territorial designation follows modern Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies. Within Scotland, a territorial designatio ...
was continued out of a sense of tradition. Thus, landless nobles were created under the formula ''Edler von XYZ'': either the surname or a place-name followed the German preposition ''von'', which, in this context, was taken to denote nobility. The English translation of this is normally '' Noble of XYZ''. Frequently, the
nobiliary particle A nobiliary particle is used in a surname or family name in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. In some languages, it is the same as a regular pr ...
''von'' (English 'of', or, more commonly, the French ''particule de noblesse'' 'de', meaning the same thing), was represented simply by the abbreviation ''v.'' to specify that it was being used to denote a member of the nobility, and not simply as the ordinary German-language preposition ''von''. An example of such a person's name and title is ''Josef Draginda, Edler v. Draginda''. His wife would have been, for example, ''Johanna Draginda, Edle v. Draginda''. Another example is the Austro-Hungarian general
Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau (* 13 November 1861 in Neuhaus; † 6 May 1932 in Innsbruck), General in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I, military governor of Montenegro between 1916 and 1917 and head of the Austro-Hungarian armisti ...
, who signed the
Armistice of Villa Giusti The Armistice of Villa Giusti or Padua ended warfare between Italy and Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front during World War I. The armistice was signed on 3 November 1918 in the Villa Giusti, outside Padua in the Veneto, Northern Italy, a ...
between
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
and the Entente at the end of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The wife and the daughters of an Edler were titled ''Edle''. In Czech this title is translated and used as ''šlechtic z''.


Modern usage in German surnames and alphabetical sorting

The title ''Edler'' was banned in Austria with the abolition of Austrian nobility in 1919. In Germany, when the
German nobility The German nobility (german: deutscher Adel) and royalty were status groups of the medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the b ...
was stripped of its privileges under the Article 109 of
Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
in 1919, the title was transformed into a dependent part of the legal surname. Since that time, the terms ''Edle'', ''Edler von'' etc. are not to be translated, as they have lost their title status. These terms now appear following the given name, e.g. Wolfgang Gans Edler Herr zu Putlitz.(1899–1975, German diplomat, contributing via
Jona von Ustinov Jona Freiherr von Ustinov (russian: Иона Платонович Устинов, Iona Platonovich Ustinov; 2 December 18921 December 1962), often known as Klop Ustinov (), was a German journalist and diplomat who worked for MI5 during the ti ...
to the SIS, later East German author and political consultant)
As dependent parts of the surnames (''nichtselbständige Namensbestandteile''), the terms ''Edle'', ''Edler von'' etc. are ignored in alphabetical sorting of names, as is the eventual nobility particle, and might or might not be used by those bearing them. The unofficial titles do, however, retain prestige in some circles of society.{{Citation needed, date=August 2019


Notes


References

* ''Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon''; Bibliographisches Institut, Lexikonverlag, Mannheim/Wien/Zürich 1975, Band 7, S. 420. 1919 disestablishments in Austria 1919 disestablishments in Germany * * Austrian noble titles German noble titles Noblemen