German nobility

The German nobility (German: deutscher Adel) was a class of persons who, until 1919, enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs of various parts of what is now Germany. Governments 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). 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, but Austria under the new First Austrian Republic completely abolished the Austrian nobility and banned the subsequent use of hereditary titles in any form, 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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