Edler (German:[ˈeːdlɐ]) was until 1919 the lowest rank ofnobility inAustria-Hungary andGermany, just beneath aRitter (hereditaryknight), but above untitled nobles, who used only thenobiliary particlevon before their surname. It was mostly given to civil servants and military officers, as well as those upon whom the lower rank of anOrder had been conferred. The nounEdler comes from the adjectiveedel ("noble"), and translated literally means "noble [person]". In accordance with the rules of German grammar, the word can also appear asEdle,Edlem, orEdlen depending on case, gender, and number.
Originally, from theMiddle Ages, under thefeudal system (in Europe and elsewhere), the nobility were generally those who held afief, often in the form of heritable land worked byvassals. To preserve the feudal naming practice, even in cases where upper-ranking bureaucrats received patents of nobility for long service or merit, as in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries (seenoblesse de robe), the old practice of denoting a noble with aterritorial designation was continued out of a sense of tradition.
Thus, landless nobles were created under the formulaEdler von XYZ: either the surname or a place-name followed the German prepositionvon, which, in this context, was taken to denote nobility. Frequently, thenobiliary particlevon (English 'of', or, more commonly, the Frenchparticule de noblesse 'de', meaning the same thing), was represented simply by the abbreviationv. to specify that it was being used to denote a member of the nobility, and not simply as the ordinary German-language prepositionvon.[citation needed]
An example of such a person's name and title isJosef Draginda, Edler v. Draginda. His wife would have been, for example,Johanna Draginda, Edle v. Draginda. Another example is the Austro-Hungarian generalViktor Weber Edler von Webenau, who signed theArmistice of Villa Giusti betweenAustria-Hungary and theEntente at the end ofWorld War I.
The wife and the daughters of an Edler were titledEdle.
InCzech this title is translated and used asšlechtic z.[1]
There is no direct translation for Edler into English. The literal and most common translation for Edler von is 'Noble of' (using the above example; Joseph Draginda, Noble of Draginda). The unusual style of the literal translation however has led Edler to sometimes be translated intoBaron, such as in the case of SS officerLeopold Edler von Mildenstein.[2]
Similarly, finding an English analogue of rank is difficult due to the nature of the title. Many associate Edler withEsquire[3] however this is technically incorrect, as in Britain (unlike in France) esquire does not denote nobility. A closer match in terms of rank is theScottish Baron, who is accepted as being noble (like an Edler) and ranks beneathBaronets and Knights in the order of precedence (as an Edler ranks beneath a Ritter).[4] This may explain the translation from Edler into Baron.
As mentioned, in France, as well as in theLow Countries, the honorifics Écuyer and Jonkheer are the most closely related as they both denote nobility and rank immediately beneath Knights,[5] however these are more akin to the untitled nobility in German speaking lands.
The titleEdler was banned in Austria with theabolition of Austrian nobility in 1919. In Germany, when theGerman nobility was stripped of its privileges under the Article 109 ofWeimar Constitution in 1919, the title was transformed into a dependent part of thelegal surname.[6]
Since that time, the termsEdle,Edler von etc. are not to be translated,[clarification needed] as they have lost their title status. These terms now appear following the given name, e.g.Wolfgang Gans Edler Herr zu Putlitz.[7] As dependent parts of the surnames (nichtselbständige Namensbestandteile), the termsEdle,Edler von etc. are ignored in alphabetical sorting of names, as is the eventual nobility particle, and might or might not be used by those bearing them. The unofficial titles do, however, retain prestige in some circles of society, where it can be used out ofcourtesy.