Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [1] Other explanations have been put forward, however; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, while still noting the potential of a Greek derivation, suggested a connection to Gothic: gagrfts, meaning 'decision, decree'. From the Middle Ages, a Graf usually ruled a territory known as a Grafschaft ('county'). get in touch using the enquiry form in the sidebar, contact our Geneva office directly between 10.00-19.00, Monday to Friday on, I consent to my data being stored in line with your, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F026160-0002A / Grfingholt, Detlef / CC-BY-SA 3.0. Last Names It contains information about name variants, ancestry, extent and well-known personalities of the line. Today, Austrian nobility is no longer conferred by the Republic of Austria (1945present), and the public or official use of noble titles as title or part of the surname, is a minor offence under Austrian law for Austrian citizens. However, the pre-1919 style sometimes continues in colloquial usage. Over the years we would have gathered many more, as well as spelling variations to these. His jurisdiction was a Burggrafschaft, burgraviate. Violating these laws could result in temporary or permanent Adelsverlust ("loss of the status of nobility"). These are listed in the Place Search of the catalog under: Sources with information about noble ancestors may also be listed under: Such families are often subjects of published genealogical books or articles. Following are some of the noble families in Germany: Palatinate-Zweibrcken (Pfalz-Zweibrcken) (Herzogtum), GERMANY, [STATE] - NOBILITYGERMANY, [STATE], [TOWN] - NOBILITY. Many younger sons were positioned in the rapidly growing national and regional bureaucracies, as well as in the military. 6. Gauthier. 14. The suffix -graf 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 Deichgraf (in a polder management organization). Erich von Dniken); Added to the surname upon ennoblement (meaning "of the house of"). WebGeiselhart German (Silesian, Rare), Lombardic (Rare), Old High German (Rare) Possibly after the Geisel, a river in Saxony-Anhalt, which likely received its name from either the German Family Names The Muhlenberg family created a United States political, religious, and military dynasty based in the state of Pennsylvania. The German American family descends from Heinrich Melchior Mhlenberg / Henry Muhlenberg (17111787), a German immigrant, noted Lutheran minister, and founder of the Lutheran Church in America. Traditionally these names mean son of or little In Polish, these last names are often denoted by -czak, -czyk, -iak, -ik, -ak, -ek, or -yk. Subject class number 943 D65da. Brown (English origin) means "brown The titles do, however, retain prestige in some circles of society. FS Library Collection. Mitzis real name and full title is Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber. A gefrsteter Graf (English: princely count) is a Reichsgraf who was recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor as bearing the higher rank or exercising the more extensive authority of an Imperial prince (Reichsfrst). The comital title of Graf 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. 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 Graf was entitled, but the title itself implied no specific, legal privileges. Higher-ranking noble families of the Niederer Adel bore such hereditary titles as Ritter (knight), Freiherr (or baron) and Graf. As you might expect from the Von in his surname, Wernher von Braun has aristocratic roots a fact that is compounded by the term Freiherr in his full name, (Freiherr is the German word for Baron, or literally Free Lord). A periodical regarding German Nobility which is available at the FamilySearch Library is Deutsches Adelsblatt. Landgraf, Markgraf, Pfalzgraf (Count Palatine), Burggraf, Wildgraf, Waldgraf, Altgraf, Raugraf, etc. So, in terms of German surnames, the appearance of Von in a name can often indicate that the bearer is of noble origin. After the abolishment of the nobility in 1919 - either becoming part of the surname proper (Germany) or being dropped (Austria). $0.00+ Sweet and tart, with pineapple, mango, In addition, the ruling families of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen were accorded the dynastic rights of a cadet branch of the Royal House of Prussia after yielding sovereignty to their royal kinsmen. An informative article about the differing ranks and titles of the German nobility can be found here. Those who had been quasi-sovereign until German mediatisation retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigning dynasties. Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen and Maximilian, Margrave of Baden. They bore the title "margrave" until the few who survived as sovereigns assumed higher titles when the Empire was abolished in 1806. While many of the official privileges that German nobles had enjoyed for centuries were revoked, the right to include the Von or Zu prefix in the surname was one way that noble families could retain an air of their previous aristocratic rank, as well as bequeathing a noble name and lineage to future generations. Some are approximately of comital rank, some higher, some lower. When the family moved frequently, compiled sources become especially helpful. While the von Braun name and noble connection was inherited from his fathers side of the family, Wernher von Brauns mother had an equally impressive lineage, reportedly dating back to medieval European royalty, including kings of France, Denmark, Scotland and England. A Reichsgraf was a nobleman 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. "The creation of nobles in Prussia, 1871-1918. This excluded marriages with women of the lower social classes, but did not mean a woman had to come from nobility herself. 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. If youre looking for inspiration, studies have revealed that people with German surnames that suggest royal or noble rank, such as Kaiser (emperor), Frst (prince) or Knig (king) are more likely to work in more esteemed professions than surnames that alluded to more common jobs. See the Genealogy section. However, with few exceptions, this did not apply to higher nobility, who largely continued to marry among themselves. , and suggests a noble family being resident at a particular place, usually a country estate, family seat or inherited region. Many alternative spellings include Marian, Moratin, Moratn, Moreno was a significant surname in medieval Christian kingdoms of Spain. Bell (French origin) means "beautiful or fair". [9] The two were occasionally combined into von und zu (meaning "of and at"). Geneva, 1204 Unlike the other comital titles, Rhinegrave, Wildgrave (Waldgrave), Raugrave, and Altgrave are not generic titles. Arthur. 2. Wikipedia Initially burgrave suggested a similar function and history as other titles rendered in German by Vizegraf, in Dutch as Burggraaf or in English as Viscount[citation needed] (Latin: 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. Rather, each is linked to a specific countship, whose unique title emerged during the course of its history. These were the families of kings (Bavaria, Hanover, Prussia, Saxony, and Wrttemberg), grand dukes (Baden, Hesse and by Rhine, Luxembourg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach), reigning dukes (Anhalt, Brunswick, Schleswig-Holstein, Nassau, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen), and reigning princes (Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Liechtenstein, Lippe, Reuss, Schaumburg-Lippe, Schwarzburg, and Waldeck-Pyrmont). Although most German counts belonged officially to the lower nobility, those who were mediatised belonged to the Hochadel, the heads of their families being entitled to be addressed as Erlaucht ("Illustrious Highness"), rather than simply as Hochgeboren ("High-born"). This series is one of the most inclusive source of the German Aristocracy. Bardin - German origin. Catholic nobility played a major role in the new Centre party, while Protestant nobles were especially active in the Conservative party.[2]. Where no coat of arms is available, the file position from Siebmacher's 1605 Book of Coats of Arms is given as follows: page number of the coat of arms plate and position of the coat of arms on the plate (the page numbers of reprints are not used). Membership in organizations traditionally considered noble, such as certain chivalric orders. I have most of these German nobility in my ancestry but not on WikiTree because I can't manage how to go that far back. In some instances, a surname can include both the Von and Zu prefix, indicating that a person or family has descended from that area and are still the current occupants or residents of the estate. Or if you would like to go one step further than the suggestion of aristocracy, you could officially join the ranks of the noble classes with a genuine noble title. The nobility system of the German Empire was similar to nobility in the Austrian Empire; both developed during the Holy Roman Empire and both ended in 1919 when they were abolished, and legal status and privileges were revoked. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_nobility&oldid=1150142778, Articles with German-language sources (de), Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Articles needing additional references from January 2021, All articles needing additional references, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from November 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Young Lord (grouped with untitled nobles), Danger of extinction of the relevant noble family, Transfer or inheritance of estates to the recipient of the name, for example to the son of the daughter, Biological relation with the family giving the name, Noble ancestors (for example mother or grandmother), Virtuous personality and sufficient social standing. 50 Middle Names for Boys Youre Sure to Love - PureWow Means "noble protector." Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F026160-0002A / Grfingholt, Detlef / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons. A Markgraf or Margrave was originally a military governor of a Carolingian "mark" (march), a border province. The list is an alphabetical overview of Bavarian nobility. One reason many German surnames feature the Von or Zu prefixes is that the right to include them in a surname was one of the few remaining aristocratic privileges allowed when the nobility was abolished in Germany in 1919. Fax Number: +41 225 181 369 Noble families of Bavaria (86 C, 1 F) * Seals of German nobility (8 C, 34 F) Coats of arms of families of Germany (45 C, 160 F) Alberti Wappenbuch (4 C) Tyroff Title 9, 1 of the General State Laws for the Prussian States declared that the nobility's responsibility "as the first social class in the state" was "the defence of the country, as well as the supporting of the exterior dignity and the interior constitution thereof". This is an occupational surname related to operating a mill (milling). 308, Augsburg 1515 - 1650, Wappenbuch des churbayrischen Adels (Copie eines Originals von 1560), Vol. Noble status was usually inherited. Switzerland This List of Bavarian noble families contains all 338 Bavarian aristocratic Meaning "noble." When a person by the common occupational surname of "Meyer" received nobility, they would thus simply become "von Meyer". Last Names The more that join the easier it will be to discover patterns. Usually a hyphenated suffix indicated which of the familial lands a particular line of counts held, e.g. In regions of Europe where nobles did not actually exercise Landeshoheit over the populace, the Graf long retained specific feudal privileges over the land and in the villages in his county, such as rights to peasant service, to periodic fees for use of common infrastructure such as timber, mills, wells and pastures. For instance, members of the former royal families of Prussia and Bavaria were allowed use of Prinz/Prinzessin;[5] or Herzog/Herzogin. In Switzerland, the title is not acknowledged in law. You can try our Family Coat of Arms Search page which would The titles of elector, grand duke, archduke, duke, landgrave, margrave, count palatine, prince and Reichsgraf were borne by rulers who belonged to Germany's Hochadel. Category:German noble families - Wikipedia As such strictly part of the surname proper (e.g. Although as a title Graf ranked, officially, below those of Herzog (duke) and Frst (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 gefrsteter Graf or "princely count". Perhaps one of the most famous examples of a noble German surname is that of the pioneering aerospace engineer, Wernher von Braun or to give him his full title: Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun. ", Hurwich, Judith J. [16] The term Uradel was not without controversy, and the concept was seen by some[who?] Wikisource: Neues allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon: Volumes I - IX, Google Books: Deutsches Adels-Lexicon German Nobility Lexicon, Verlag Friedrich Voigt, Leipzig 1859 - 1870. Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. A-03 Arnot to Azvedo. Sometimes you will only see the Von (or Zu) aspect of a German surname when the full title is given. Hochadel ("upper nobility", or "high nobility") were those noble houses which ruled sovereign states within the Holy Roman Empire and, later, in the German Confederation and the German Empire. Although nobility as a class is no longer recognised in Germany and enjoys no legal privileges, institutions exist that carry on the legal tradition of pre-1919 nobiliary law, which in Germany today is subsumed under Sonderprivatrecht or special private law. However, dispensations are granted only in the most exceptional cases, as they infringe on the rights of a theoretical future monarch. WebGraf (feminine: Grfin) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count".Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "countess").. Germany Nobility FamilySearch This means that nobility is inherited only in the legitimate male line, and wives of noblemen partake in their husbands' nobility for the duration of marriage and widowhood. German nobility was not simply distinguished by noble ranks and titles, but was also seen as a distinctive ethos. "The Titled Businessman: Prussian Commercial Councillors in the Rhineland and Westphalia during the Nineteenth Century", in David Blackbourn and Richard J. Eellung der Mediatisierten 18151918, This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 15:10. These quasi-sovereign families comprised mostly princely and comital families, but included a few dukes also of Belgian and Dutch origin (Arenberg, Cro, Looz-Corswarem). Hoffmann. The former ruling houses of these states were still considered Hochadel under laws adopted by the German Empire. Noblewomen who marry commoners lose their nobility and become commoners themselves, and nobility is only recovered if they remarry a nobleman. The word Graf derives from Middle High German: grave, which is usually derived from Latin: graphio. Freiherr This page was last edited on 29 December 2022, at 15:19. Historically, German entities that recognized or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Empire (9621806), the German Confederation (18141866) and the German Empire (18711918). Therefore, they can be transmitted according to civil law, for example from wife to husband, to illegitimate children and by way of adoption. 1. The system of nobility in the former German Empire was similar to the nobility of Austria, as both territories long belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, although the Austrian Republic, unlike Germany's, legally abolished its nobility and banned use of hereditary titles in any form. Adelsverlust only concerned the individual who had violated nobility codes of conduct. (required) Moreno Family History | Find Genealogy Records & Family Crest WebBelow are just some of the German Family Names (German Surnames) that we have on file. Category:German noble families | Familypedia | Fandom WebThe German nobility (German: deutscher Adel) was a class of persons which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other members of society under the laws and customs of The nobility is a class of people who had special political and social status. List of Bavarian noble families - Wikipedia If you wish your surname had more of a noble connotation, it may be possible to legally change your name to include that aristocratic Von or Zu prefix. May 5, 2022 | Aristocracy, Germany, Noble Titles, Royal Titles. Any dynast who did not reign prior to 1918 but had held a specific title as heir to one of Germany's former thrones (e.g., Erbprinz ("hereditary prince"))along with any heir to a title of nobility inherited via primogeniture, and their wiveswere permitted to incorporate those titles into elements of the personal surname.

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