![Rangkronen-Fig](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Rangkronen-Fig._18.svg)
(feminine: ) is a historical
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
of 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 ...
, usually translated as "
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
". Considered to be intermediate among
noble ranks
Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke ...
, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "
earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...
" (whose female version is "countess").
The German nobility was gradually divided into high and low nobility. The high nobility included those counts who ruled immediate imperial territories of "
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
ly size and importance" for which they had a seat and vote in the
Imperial Diet.
Etymology and origin
The word derives from gmh, grave, italics=yes, which is usually derived from la, graphio, italics=yes. is in turn thought to come from the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
title , which ultimately derives from the Greek verb () 'to write'. Other explanations have been put forward, however;
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
and
Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm.
Life and work
Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, ...
, while still noting the potential of a Greek derivation, suggested a connection to got, gagrêfts, italics=yes, meaning 'decision, decree'. However, the Grimms preferred a solution that allows a connection to ang, gerēfa '
reeve', in which the ''ge-'' is a prefix, and which the Grimms derive from
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
' 'number'.
History
The
comital
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
title of is common to various European territories where German was or is the official or vernacular tongue, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Alsace, the
Baltic states and other former
Habsburg crown lands. In Germany, all legal privileges of the nobility have been officially abolished since August 1919, and , like any other hereditary title, is treated as part of the legal surname. In Austria, its use is banned by law, as with all hereditary titles and
nobiliary particles. In
Switzerland, the title is not acknowledged in law. In the monarchies of Belgium, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, where German is one of the
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
s, the title continues to be recognised, used and, occasionally, granted by the national , the reigning monarch.
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 ...
, a usually ruled a territory known as a ('county'). In the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, many Imperial counts () retained near-sovereign authority in their lands until the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
subordinated them to larger, neighboring monarchs through the
German mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number ...
process of 1815, preserving their precedence, allocating familial representation in local legislatures, some jurisdictional immunities and the prestigious privilege of . In regions of Europe where nobles did not actually exercise over the populace, the long retained specific
feudal privileges over the land and in the villages in his county, such as rights to
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...
service, to periodic fees for use of common infrastructure such as timber, mills, wells and pastures.
These rights gradually eroded and were largely eliminated before or during the 19th century, leaving the with few legal privileges beyond land ownership, although comital estates in German-speaking lands were often substantial. Nonetheless, various rulers in German-speaking lands granted the hereditary title of to their subjects, particularly after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Although lacking the prestige and powers of the former Imperial counts, they remained legal members of the local nobility, entitled to whatever minor privileges were recognised at the ruler's court. The title, translated as "count", was generally accepted and used in other countries by custom.
Many
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
counts in Germany and Austria were titled without any additional qualification. Except in the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
from the 19th century, the title of was not restricted by
primogeniture: it was inherited by all legitimate descendants in the
male line
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...
of the original titleholder, the males also inheriting an approximately equal share of the family's wealth and estates. Usually a hyphenated suffix indicated which of the familial lands a particular line of counts held, e.g. .
In the medieval Holy Roman Empire, some counts took or were granted unique variations of the title, often relating to a specific domain or jurisdiction of responsibility, e.g. , , (
Count Palatine
A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...
), , , , , , etc. Although as a title ranked, officially, below those of (duke) and (prince), the
Holy Roman Emperor could and did recognise unique concessions of authority or rank to some of these nobles, raising them to the status of or "princely count". But a title with such a prefix did not always signify a higher than comital rank or membership in the . Only the more important of these titles, historically associated with degrees of sovereignty, remained in use by the 19th century, specifically and .
Nobiliary titles containing the term
Some are approximately of comital rank, some higher, some lower. The more important ones are treated in separate articles (follow the links); a few minor, rarer ones only in sections below.
A was a
nobleman
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 characteris ...
whose title of ''count'' was conferred or confirmed by the
Holy Roman Emperor, and meant "Imperial Count", i.e., a count of the Holy Roman Empire. Since the
feudal era, any count whose territory lay within the Empire and was under the
immediate jurisdiction of the Emperor with a shared vote in the came to be considered a member of the "upper nobility" () in Germany, along with princes (), dukes (),
elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
s, and the emperor himself.
A count who was not a was likely to possess only a
mesne Mesne (an Anglo-French legal form of the O. Fr. ''meien'', mod. ''moyen'', mean, Med. Lat. ''medianus'', in the middle, cf. English ''mean''), middle or intermediate, an adjective used in several legal phrases.
* A mesne lord is a landlord who has ...
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 ...
() — he was subject to an immediate prince of the empire, such as a duke or
prince elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...
.
However, the Holy Roman Emperors also occasionally granted the title of to subjects and foreigners who did not possess and were not granted immediate territories — or, sometimes, any territory at all.
Such titles were purely
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...
.
In English, is usually translated simply as ''count'' and is combined with a territorial suffix (e.g.,
Count of Holland,
Count Reuss) or a surname (
Count Fugger,
Count von Browne). Even after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the retained precedence above other counts in Germany. Those who had been
quasi-sovereign until
German mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number ...
retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigning
dynasties
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
.
Notable have included:
*
*
* , a title merged into the imperial dignity
*
* since 26 September 1366 (previously, simply )
*
*
*
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
as a dominion of the
Austrian crown
A complete list of with immediate territories as of 1792 can be found in the
List of Reichstag participants (1792)
The Holy Roman Empire was a highly decentralized state for most of its history, composed of hundreds of smaller states, most of which operated with some degree of independent sovereignty. Although in the earlier part of the Middle Ages, under the S ...
.
Margrave
A or ''
Margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...
'' was originally a military governor of a
Carolingian "mark" (
march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...
), a border province. In medieval times the borders of the Holy Roman Empire were especially vulnerable to foreign attack, so the hereditary count of these "marches" of the realm was sometimes granted greater authority than other
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 suzerain. ...
to ensure security. They bore the title "margrave" until the few who survived as sovereigns assumed higher titles when the Empire was abolished in 1806.
Examples:
Margrave of Baden
The Margraviate of Baden (german: Markgrafschaft Baden) was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the east side of the Upper Rhine River in southwestern Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, ...
,
Margrave of . Since the abolition of the German Empire at the end of World War I, the heirs of some of its former monarchies have resumed use of ''margrave'' as a
title of pretence, e.g.
, Margrave of and
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (Maximilian Andreas Friedrich Gustav Ernst August Bernhard; 3 July 1933 – 29 December 2022), also known as Max von Baden, was a German businessman and the head of House of Baden. Through his mother, Princess Theo ...
.
Landgrave
A or ''
Landgrave
Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' (" margrave"), ...
'' was a nobleman of comital rank in feudal Germany whose jurisdiction stretched over a territory larger than usually held by a count within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
. The status of a landgrave was elevated, usually being associated with
suzerains who were subject to the Holy Roman Emperor but exercised sovereign authority within their lands and independence greater than the prerogatives to which a simple was entitled, but the title itself implied no specific, legal privileges.
occasionally continued in use as the subsidiary title of such minor royalty as the
Elector of Hesse
This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...
or the Grand Duke of
Saxe-Weimar, who functioned as the ''Landgrave'' of
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
in the first decade of the 20th century. The jurisdiction of a landgrave was a or landgraviate, and the wife of a landgrave was a or landgravine.
Examples: Landgrave of
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
, Landgrave of
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
, Landgrave of , Landgrave of . The title is now borne by the hereditary heirs to the
deposed monarchs of Hesse (
Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse and Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld), who lost their throne in 1918.
A ( en, princely count) is a who was recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor as bearing the higher rank or exercising the more extensive authority of an
Imperial prince
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. '' Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor.
Definition
Originally, possessors ...
(). While nominally retaining only a comital title, he was accorded princely rank and, usually,
arms by the Emperor.
Burgrave / Viscount
A , or ''
Burgrave
Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from german: Burggraf, la, burgravius, burggravius, burcgravius, burgicomes, also praefectus), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especia ...
'', was a 12th- and 13th-century military and civil judicial
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of a castle (compare
castellan, ,
keeper) of the town it dominated and of its immediate surrounding countryside. His jurisdiction was a , burgraviate.
Over time the office and domain to which it was attached tended to become hereditary by Imperial grant or retention over generations by members of the same family.
Examples: Burgrave of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Burgrave of ()
Initially ''burgrave'' suggested a similar function and history as other titles rendered in German by , in Dutch as or in English as ''
Viscount
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...
'' ( la, Vicecomes); the deputy of a count charged with exercising the count's prerogatives in overseeing one or more of the count's strongholds or fiefs, as the burgrave dwelt usually in a castle or fortified town. Some became hereditary and by the modern era obtained rank just below a count, though above a ' (baron) who might hold a fief as vassal of the original count.
Rhinegrave, Wildgrave, Raugrave, Altgrave
Unlike the other comital titles, Rhinegrave, Wildgrave (
Waldgrave
The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves (Latin: ''comites silvestres'') descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113.
When the (a countship named after the river Nahe) split into two parts in 1113 ...
),
Raugrave, and Altgrave are not generic titles. Rather, each is linked to a specific countship, whose unique title emerged during the course of its history. These unusually named countships were equivalent in rank to other Counts of the Empire who were of status, being entitled to a shared seat and vote in the
Imperial Diet and possessing
Imperial immediacy
Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...
, most of which would be
mediatised upon dissolution of the Empire in 1806.
Almanach de Gotha
The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First publish ...
, ''Salm''. Justus Perthes
Johann Georg Justus Perthes (11 September 1749, Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – 2 May 1816, Gotha, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg) was a German publisher and founder of the publishing house that bears his name. Life
He was born in the Thuringian t ...
, 1944, pp. 169, 276, 280. French.
* Rhinegrave (german: Rheingraf) was the title of the count of the , a county located between and on the right bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. Their castle was known as the
Castle. After the Rhinegraves inherited the Wildgraviate (see below) and parts of the Countship of
Salm
Salm may refer to
People
* Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck
* Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan
* House of Salm, a European ...
, they called themselves ''Wild-and-Rhinegraves of Salm''.
* When the (a countship named after the river
Nahe) split into two parts in 1113, the counts of the two parts, belonging to the
House of Salm
The House of Salm was an ancient Lotharingian noble family originating from Salmchâteau in the Ardennes (present-day Belgium) and ruling Salm. The dynasty is above all known for the experiences of the Upper Salm branch which came to be located ...
, called themselves
Wildgraves and
Raugraves, respectively. They were named after the geographic properties of their territories: Wildgrave (german: Wildgraf; la, comes sylvanus) after ("forest"), and Raugrave (german: Raugraf; la, comes hirsutus) after the rough (i.e. mountainous) terrain.
** The first Raugrave was Count I (died 1172). The dynasty died out in the 18th century.
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine purchased the estates, and after 1667 accorded the wife and children of his arguably bigamous (
morganatic
Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...
) second marriage to Baroness , the title of "Raugravine/Raugrave".
* Altgrave (german: Altgraf, "old count") was a title used by the counts of
Lower Salm to distinguish themselves from the Wild- and Rhinegraves of Upper Salm, since Lower Salm was the senior branch of the family.
In Scandinavia
The corresponding titles in Scandinavia are (m.) and (f.) and would commonly be used in the third-person in direct address as a mark of courtesy, as in .
Modern usage in German surnames
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 ...
, although not abolished (unlike the
Austrian nobility by the new
First Austrian Republic in 1919), lost recognition as a legal class in Germany under the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
in 1919 under the
Weimar Constitution, article 109. Former hereditary noble titles legally simply transformed into dependent parts of the
legal surname (with the former title thus now following the given name, e.g. ).
[Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution constitutes: ("Noble names are only recognised as part of the surname and may no longer be granted").] As dependent parts of the surnames (), they are ignored in alphabetical sorting of names, as is any
nobiliary particle, such as or ,
[Compare DIN standard # 5007, part 2.] and might or might not be used by those bearing them. The distinguishing main surname is the name following the , or , and the nobiliary particle if any. Today, having lost their legal status, these terms are often not translated, unlike before 1919. The titles do, however, retain prestige in some circles of society.
Other uses
The suffix occurs in various office titles which did not attain nobiliary status but were either held as a
sinecure by nobleman or courtiers, or functional officials such as the (in a polder management organization).
See also
*
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 ...
*
History of Germany
*
Holy Roman Emperor
*
List of German monarchs
This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Empi ...
*
(Holy Roman Empire)
*
Sources and references
(incomplete)
WorldStatesmen: see every modern state; here Germany/Holy Roman Empire
External links
{{Authority control
Austrian noble titles
German feudalism
German words and phrases
German noble titles