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Noble Families of Germany: Uradel, Briefadel and the Mediatised Houses
German nobility has its own vocabulary. In the German-speaking states, a title-holder's real rank depended on more than the title itself. It also depended on how much sovereignty the family exercised, the rank of its overlord and how long the family had been noble [1].
Uradel: The "Ancient Nobility"
Uradel means families that can show they belonged to the noble or knightly class before about 1400 [2]. The term was first used in 1788 and had its present meaning by 1800. The Royal Prussian Herald Office used it officially in the 19th century [2]. The Almanach de Gotha used it from 1907 [2]. The German genealogical handbook Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels (1951) likewise counts as Uradel those families whose lineage goes back at least to 1400 within the knightly nobility [2].
Briefadel: Nobility by Letters Patent
Briefadel ("letter nobility") means families ennobled by a patent from a sovereign [2]. The Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels and, since 2015, the Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch still distinguish Uradel from Briefadel families [2].
The Gotha Pocketbooks
The Gotha Research Library describes how the Gotha publishers produced separate genealogical pocketbooks by rank [3]:
- counts (gräfliche) from 1825
- barons (freiherrliche) from 1848
- Uradel from 1900
- Briefadel from 1907
The families themselves had to keep their entries up to date. The editors received letters every day announcing births, marriages, honours and deaths [3].
The Mediatised Houses
Between 1802 and 1814, the German mediatisation absorbed nearly all the ecclesiastical principalities, free imperial cities and most minor secular principalities of the Holy Roman Empire into larger states. The number of German states fell from almost 300 to 39 [4]. A mediatised ruler usually kept his private estates and some privileges [4].
Mediatised families kept "equality of birth" with reigning dynasties for marriage purposes. This was authorised by the 1815 Congress of Vienna and recognised in Article 14 of the German Confederation's charter [5]. The Almanach de Gotha gave them their own section [5].
1919: Titles Become Part of the Name
Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution of 11 August 1919 provides [6]:
"Öffentlich-rechtliche Vorrechte oder Nachteile der Geburt oder des Standes sind aufzuheben. Adelsbezeichnungen gelten nur als Teil des Namens und dürfen nicht mehr verliehen werden."
In English: privileges or disadvantages of birth or rank under public law were to be abolished, and noble designations count only as part of the name and may no longer be granted. Wikipedia adds that the last German title was conferred on 12 November 1918 [1]. In Austria, noble titles may not be used at all since 1918 [1].
A Dark Chapter
The Gotha Research Library notes that in the 1930s the Gotha court calendar was drawn into National Socialist racial ideology. It then included only German nobility without Jewish or "coloured" ancestors after 1750 [3]. Researchers using editions from those years should bear this in mind.
Where to Research German Noble Families Today
- The Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch (since 2015), published by the Deutsches Adelsarchiv [3].
- The Perthes Collection at the Gotha Research Library, which holds almost 700 specimen volumes of the Gotha and its predecessors. It can be consulted by appointment [3].
Licence: contains material adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). This article is shared under the same licence. Primary and institutional sources are summarised or briefly quoted.