Fürst

Fürst (German pronunciation:, female form Fürstin, plural Fürsten; from Old High Germanfuristo, "the first", a translation of the Latinprinceps) is a German word for a ruler as well as a princely title. Fürsten were, starting in the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of the Holy Roman Empire and later its former territories, below the ruling Kaiser (emperor) or König (king).