German noble titles

thumb|400px|The imperial prince-electors Left to right: Archbishop of Cologne, [[Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Trier, Count Palatine, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg and King of Bohemia (Codex Balduini Trevirorum, )]] thumb|Choosing the king. Above: the three ecclesiastical princes choosing the king, pointing at him. Middle: the Electorate of the Palatinate|Count Palatine of the Rhine hands over a golden bowl, acting as a servant. Behind him, the Duke of Saxony with his marshal's staff and the [[Margrave of Brandenburg bringing a bowl of warm water, as a valet. Below, the new king

thumb|160px|Image of a , the heraldic coronet of a titular thumb|160px|Heraldic headpiece of a mediatised houses|mediatised ' (; feminine: ' ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian 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").

In the German nobility, margrave was a rank equivalent to marquess. It originated as the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Empire and the title came to be borne by rulers of some Imperial principalities until the abolition of the Empire in 1806 (e.g., Margrave of Brandenburg, Margrave of Baden). Thereafter, those domains (originally known as marks or marches, later as margraviates or margravates) were absorbed into larg

thumb|Archducal hat, the coronet of the [[Archduchy of Austria kept in the treasury of Klosterneuburg Abbey]]

thumb|Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth

thumb|Heraldic crown of a landgrave

thumb|upright|Usual Crown (heraldry) of a Fürst in Crown (heraldry)#German-speaking countries|German-speaking countries

thumb|right|The Burggraf von Regensburg|Burgrave of Regensburg presiding over a [[trial, early 14th-century illustration in the Codex Manesse.]]

thumb|Typical ' coronet with seven pearls, as used on a [[coat of arms]] (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in its various successor states, including Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, etc. Traditionally, it denotes the titled rank within the nobility above ' (knight) and ' (nobility without a specific title) and below ' (count or earl). The title superseded the earlier me

landed nobility of Prussia

title of nobility in the Holy Roman Empire

Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility in Austria-Hungary and Germany, just beneath a Ritter (hereditary knight), but above untitled nobles, who used only the nobiliary particle von before their surname. It was mostly given to civil servants and military officers, as well as those upon whom the lower rank of an Order had been conferred. The noun Edler comes from the adjective edel ("noble"), and translated literally means "noble [person]". In accordance with the rules of German grammar, the word can also appear as Edle, Edlem, or Edlen depending on case, gender, and number.

thumb|Facsimile of a German periodical of 1900 titled Mittheilungen an die Mitglieder des Geschlechtsverbandes des zum fränkischen Uradel gehörigen Geschlechtes Derer von Eberstein stammend vom "Eberstein" auf der Rhön. '''' (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to Briefadel'', a term used for titles of nobility created in the early modern period or modern history by letters patent. Since the earliest known s

(; feminine ; masculine plural ; feminine plural ) is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. The word is usually translated by the English duke and the Latin dux. Generally, a ranks below a king and above a ('count'). Whether the title is deemed higher or lower than titles translated into English as prince () is dependent upon the language, country, and era in which the titles coexisted.

Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" and below "" (Baron). As with most titles and designations within the nobility in German-speaking areas, the rank was hereditary and generally was used with the nobiliary particle of von or zu before a family name.

thumb|Letter patent|Letter of nobility from 1755 to the Munthe af Morgenstierne family of the Danish and [[Norwegian nobility]] thumb|Patent from Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Joseph II awarding the title of [[Imperial Count to Anton Schenk von Stauffenberg, 1785]] Briefadel (in German; ) or brevadel (in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) is a medieval German term for persons or families ennobled by letters patent. The oldest known such letters patent were issued in the middle of the 14th century, during the Late Middle Ages.

Freigraf is a title of Germany nobility. It is derived from the German words frei ("free") and the feudal title graf ("count").