Freiherr, a German word, is a title of nobility of lower peerage rank in the former Holy Roman Empire (in German Heiliges Römisches Reich, HRR), or in its various German successor states, like Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Hesse and others. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime The Peerage is a system of Titles of Nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in In Austria-Hungary and elsewhere, such as in the Baltic and Nordic countries, Freiherr was considered about equal to the title Baron. The Baltic states (Balti riigid Baltijas valstis Baltijos valstybės or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all members of the The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe called the Nordic region, consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Baron is a specific Title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin (liber Its literal translation is Free Lord. The original distinction to other foreign barons was that a Freiherr's landed property was allodial instead of a fief. Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing
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German title
A German Freiherr is called "Baron" in English: the function was practically the same, although the title was derived separately in the English and German languages. Even when addressed in German, a Freiherr is sometimes styled and addressed "Baron", although this is not the formal German title. In Germany there also existed the foreign rank of "Baron" , mostly used for Baltic barons, named by the Tsar of Russia, but recognized in Germany. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation.
The title Freiherr derives from the fact that the holder held free (allodial) title to his land, unlike ordinary barons, who were originally knights (Ritter), unlike peasants and serfs, and unlike medieval German ministerials as local lords. Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned Ritter is the second-lowest-ranking Title of Nobility in German-speaking areas just above an Edler, considered roughly equal to the title Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing A Freiherr usually held hereditary administrative and judgeship rights (some jurisdictions) in his barony instead of the territorial lord, who might be the duke (Herzog) or count (Graf). A duke is a member of the Nobility, historically of highest rank below the Sovereign, and historically controlled a Duchy or a Dukedom A count is a Nobleman in European countries The word count comes from French comte, itself from Latin
All sons of a Freiherr are Freiherren and can be referred to as Baron. The wife of a Freiherr is called Freifrau (literally "Free Lady"), and a daughter of a Freiherr is called Freiin (short for Freiherrin). It is considered correct in some circles to address a Freifrau or Freiin as "Baroness" (in German "Baronin"). Female former titles have been legally accepted as part of the last name after 1919 by a still valid decision of the German former High Court, the Reichsgericht. The Reichsgericht (Court of the German Empire was the highest court of the Deutsches Reich.
After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (1806), Reichsfreiherr (Freiherr of the Empire) had no particular title or rank other than Freiherr. The titles of the empire should have come to an end, but by the decision of the Congress of Vienna (1815), imperial titles continued officially. The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of the major powers of Europe, chaired by the Austrian statesman Clemens Wenzel von Metternich Before the dissolution of the empire (1806), all German Freiherren were Freiherren of the Holy Roman Empire, in short Reichsfreiherren. However nobody before 1806 used the word Reichsfreiherr for a Freiherr. After 1806 the new German kingdoms like Bavaria or Württemberg could name Freiherren. However these Freiherren were not Freiherren of the Holy Roman Empire, a. k. a. the "Reich". They were e. g. Bavarian Freiherren. Therefore some of the older baronial families (e. g. Reichsfreiherr von und zu Guttenberg) began to style their title from Freiherr to Reichsfreiherr in order to distinguish themselves from the new generation of barons. Guttenberg is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.
Noble authority was abolished in Germany in 1919 by the republican constitution of the Reich (Weimar Constitution and again in 1949 by the Bonn constitution Grundgesetz); the titles are now legally considered to be simply part of the family name (with the former title following the first name, e. For a detailed discussion of the English translation of Reich, see Reich. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland is the Constitution of Germany. g. Georg Freiherr von Platz), and they may or may not be used. They do, however, have prestige in some circles of society, in which it is considered to be correct to address a Freiherr as "Baron" (e. g. Wernher Freiherr von Braun: "Baron von Braun") and a Freifrau as "Baroness". Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23 1912 &ndash June 16 1977 a German rocket physicist and astronautics engineer became one of the leading figures in A Freiin, a daughter of a Freiherr, is also addressed as "Baroness".
Austrian title
Noble authority was abolished in Austria in 1919, as well as its titles. If "Wernher Freiherr von Braun" had been Austrian, for example, he would have been called simply "Wernher Braun" on his Austrian passport. For reasons of tradition, however, former titles are still widely in use in Austria.
Parallel titles
The cognate title friherre in Scandinavian languages is still used in Sweden (below greve, "count", and above obetitlad adel, "untitled nobility", all seated in the Swedish Diet's Riddarhuset 'House of Knights') and was used to some extent in Denmark-Norway. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Denmark–Norway ( Danish: Danmark-Norge Norwegian: Danmark-Norge or Danmark-Noreg is the historiographical name for a former political entity union The equivalent in Finland (once under the Swedish crown) is vapaaherra in the linguistically unrelated Finnish language. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside
Finnish title
All heads of the Finnish noble families were, since Middle Ages, entitled to a vote in any provincial Diet of Finland when held, as in the Realm's Herrainpäivät, later Aatelissääty of the Riksdag of the Estates. The Finnish nobility (Fi Aateli, Sw Adel) was historically a privileged class in Finland, deriving from its period as part of Sweden In Politics, a diet is a formal Deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Finnish House of Nobility either refers to the institution of the Finnish nobility or the palace of the noble estate The Riksdag of the Estates, or Ståndsriksdagen, was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm, or Rikets ständer, when they were assembled In the beginning, they were all without honorific titulary, and known just as Lords. In 1561, the Swedish king Eric XIV granted the hereditary titles count and "vapaaherra" to some of these, but not all. Eric XIV (Erik XIV (13 December 1533 &ndash 26 February 1577 was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1568 The rest also preserved their hereditary seats and votes in the Aatelissääty, and were still called lords. This organization was confirmed in 1625 constitutional arrangements.
In the subsequent centuries, vast numbers of families were elevated to counts, vapaaherras, and untitled nobles when Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy. Those noble families which were noble from time immemorial, so-called ancient nobility when neo-organization came in 1625, were called Original Nobility. Heads of lowest, untitled, noble families continued to enjoy rather similar "lord of parliament" position as their counterparts in e. g. the Holy Roman Empire's Reichstag and Britain's House of Lords. The Reichstag ( German for "Imperial Diet " was the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Their family members carried no formalized, hereditary title and were not entitled to vote or seat in the House. Whereas family members of "vapaaherra" families were entitled to that same title, which in practical address became Paroni or Paronitar.
All these nobles held their landed properties in allodial (free-standing) manner, rälssi (exemption of land taxes) being the origin of the entire Finnish nobility as a class. Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned The Finnish nobility (Fi Aateli, Sw Adel) was historically a privileged class in Finland, deriving from its period as part of Sweden Theoretically, all created vapaaherra families were given a barony, but these were realities only in the 16th and 17th centuries (when vapaaherra lords were fiefed with real baronies, with some taxation rights and some judicial authority). Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing Afterwards the "barony" was titular, usually in chief of some already-owned property, and sometimes that property was established as a fideicommiss. Fee tail or entail is an obsolete term of art in Common law. It describes an estate of Inheritance in Real property which cannot Thus, in Finland, vapaaherra was more like holder of a fief, whereas untitled lords, counts and barons, all were owners of allodial land (rälssimaa). Their tax-exemption of landed properties continued to 20th century, being, however, someways lessened already by some reforms of the 19th century. Nobility creations continued until 1917, the end of the grand ducal monarchy.
Swedish title
Quite like in Finland, with whom the position of Swedish nobility shares most of its origins, each head of a noble house were, since Middle Ages, entitled to a vote in any provincial diet when held, as in the Realm's Herredag, later Riddarhuset of the Riksdag of the Estates. The Swedish nobility ( Adeln) were historically a legally privileged class in Sweden, part of the so-called Frälse (a classification The Swedish House of Lords (Riddarhuset means either the corporation of the Swedish nobility or the palace of the nobility. The Riksdag of the Estates, or Ståndsriksdagen, was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm, or Rikets ständer, when they were assembled In the beginning, they were all without honorific titulary, and known just as Lords. In 1561, King Eric XIV granted some of them the titles count and "friherre", but not everyone. The rest preserved their hereditary seats and votes in the First Estate, and were still called lords. This organization was confirmed in 1625 constitutional arrangements.
Vast numbers of families were elevated to counts, to friherres, and to untitled nobles until the beginning of the 20th century. Those noble families which were noble from time immemorial, so-called ancient nobility when neo-organization came in 1625, were called Uradlig, original nobility. The German and Scandinavian term Uradel (literally original or ancient feudal nobility) refers to Nobility who can trace back their noble Heads of lower noble families continued to enjoy rather similar "lord of parliament" position as their counterparts in, for instance, Germany and Britain, holding thus each the "peerage" of their family. Their family members carried no title and were not entitled to vote or sit in the House. Whereas family members of "friherre" families were entitled to that same title, which in practical address was Baron, -essa. All these nobles held their landed properties in allodial manner, that frälse, exemption of land taxes, being the origin of the entire Swedish nobility as a class. Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned Theoretically, all created friherre families were given a barony, but these were realities only in 16th and 17th centuries (when friherre lords were fiefed with real baronies, with some taxation rights and some judicial authority), and afterwards the "barony" was just a name usually based on some already owned property. Thus, in Sweden, friherre was more like holder of a fief, whereas untitled lord was owner of allodial land, as were friherre families too.
Sources and external links
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