Erbprinz

The German nobility (German: deutscher Adel) was a status group which until 1919 enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area.

Historically German entities which recognized or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the German Confederation (1814–1866) and the German Empire (1871–1918). All legal privileges and immunities of the nobility (appertaining to an individual, a family or any heirs) were officially abolished in 1919 by the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and nobility is no longer conferred or recognized by the Federal Republic of Germany. Former hereditary titles are permitted as part of the surname (e.g., the aristocratic particles von and zu). Later developments distinguished the Austrian nobility, which came to be associated with the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary. The nobility system of the German Empire was similar to nobility in the Austrian Empire, both having risen from the Holy Roman Empire and both ending in 1919. Contrary to Germany, Austrian nobility was completely abolished under the new First Austrian Republic and the subsequent use of hereditary titles in any form was banned, even of their legal recognition as aristocratic particles, and use as part of an individual's or family's surname.

In Germany, nobility and titles pertaining to it were recognised or bestowed upon individuals by emperors, kings and rulers of lesser rank, and were then inherited by the legitimate, male-line descendants of the ennobled person. In cases where families had been deemed noble as far back as historical records could document (i.e., the Uradel), their nobility (generally pre-dating A.D. 1400) was usually eventually recognised by a sovereign, confirming their entitlement to whatever legal privileges nobles enjoyed in that sovereign's realm. Noble rank was usually granted to men by letters patent, whereas women were members of the nobility by descent or (sometimes) by marriage to a nobleman. Nobility was inherited equally by all legitimate descendants in the male line.

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