Image of aGrafenkrone, the heraldiccoronet of a titularGrafHeraldic headpiece of amediatisedGraf
Graf (German pronunciation:[ɡʁaːf]ⓘ; feminine:Gräfin[ˈɡʁɛːfɪn]ⓘ) is a historicaltitle of theGerman nobility and later also of theRussian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate amongnoble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "countess").
The German nobility was gradually divided into high and low nobility. The high nobility included those counts who ruled immediate imperial territories of "princely size and importance" for which they had a seat and vote in theImperial Diet.
The wordGraf derives fromMiddle High German:grave, which is usually derived fromLatin:graphio.Graphio is in turn thought to come from theByzantine titlegrapheus, which ultimately derives from the Greek verbγρᾰ́φειν (graphein) 'to write'.[1] Other explanations have been put forward, however;Jacob andWilhelm Grimm, while still noting the potential of a Greek derivation, suggested a connection toGothic:gagrêfts, meaning 'decision, decree'. However, the Grimms preferred a solution that allows a connection toOld English:gerēfa 'reeve', in which thege- is a prefix, and which the Grimms derive fromProto-Germanic*rōva 'number'.[2]
Thecomital title ofGraf is common to various European territories where German was or is the official or vernacular tongue, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Alsace, theBaltic states and other formerHabsburg crown lands. In Germany, all legal privileges of the nobility have been officially abolished since August 1919, andGraf, like any other hereditary title, is treated as part of the legal surname.[3] In Austria, its use is banned by law, as with all hereditary titles andnobiliary particles. InSwitzerland, the title is not acknowledged in law. In the monarchies of Belgium, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, where German is one of theofficial languages, the title continues to be recognised, used and, occasionally, granted by the nationalfons honorum, the reigning monarch.
From theMiddle Ages, aGraf usually ruled a territory known as aGrafschaft ('county'). In theHoly Roman Empire, many Imperial counts (Reichsgrafen) retained near-sovereign authority in their lands until theCongress of Vienna subordinated them to larger, neighboring monarchs through theGerman mediatisation process of 1815, preserving their precedence, allocating familial representation in local legislatures, some jurisdictional immunities and the prestigious privilege ofEbenbürtigkeit. In regions of Europe where nobles did not actually exerciseLandeshoheit over the populace, theGraf long retained specificfeudal privileges over the land and in the villages in his county, such as rights topeasant service, to periodic fees for use of common infrastructure such as timber, mills, wells and pastures.
These rights gradually eroded and were largely eliminated before or during the 19th century, leaving theGraf with few legal privileges beyond land ownership, although comital estates in German-speaking lands were often substantial. Nonetheless, various rulers in German-speaking lands granted the hereditary title ofGraf to their subjects, particularly after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Although lacking the prestige and powers of the former Imperial counts, they remained legal members of the local nobility, entitled to whatever minor privileges were recognised at the ruler's court. The title, translated as "count", was generally accepted and used in other countries by custom.
ManyContinental counts in Germany and Austria were titledGraf without any additional qualification. Except in theKingdom of Prussia from the 19th century, the title ofGraf was not restricted byprimogeniture: it was inherited by all legitimate descendants in themale line of the original titleholder, the males also inheriting an approximately equal share of the family's wealth and estates. Usually a hyphenated suffix indicated which of the familial lands a particular line of counts held, e.g.Castell-Rudenhausen.
In the medieval Holy Roman Empire, some counts took or were granted unique variations of thegräfliche title, often relating to a specific domain or jurisdiction of responsibility, e.g.Landgraf,Markgraf,Pfalzgraf (Count Palatine),Burggraf,Wildgraf,Waldgraf,Altgraf,Raugraf, etc. Although as a titleGraf ranked, officially, below those ofHerzog (duke) andFürst (prince), theHoly Roman Emperor could and did recognise unique concessions of authority or rank to some of these nobles, raising them to the status ofgefürsteter Graf or "princely count". But agrafliche title with such a prefix did not always signify a higher than comital rank or membership in theHochadel. Only the more important of these titles, historically associated with degrees of sovereignty, remained in use by the 19th century, specificallyMarkgraf andLandgraf.
In Russia, the title ofGraf (Russian:Граф; feminine: Графиня,romanizedGrafinya) was introduced byPeter the Great. The first Russiangraf (or count) wasBoris Petrovich Sheremetev, elevated to this dignity in 1706 for the pacification of theAstrakhan uprising (1705–1706) [ru]. Then Peter granted six moregraf dignities. Initially, when someone was elevated to thegraf's dignity of theRussian Empire, the elevated person's recognition by the German Emperor in the same dignity of the Holy Roman Empire was required. Subsequently, the latter ceased to be obligatory.[4]
Some are approximately of comital rank, some higher, some lower. The more important ones are treated in separate articles (follow the links); a few minor, rarer ones only in sections below.
Pfalz 'palatial estate, Palatinate' +Graf. Originally ruled "with the authority of the Imperial Palace"; later, ruler of the "Palace-land", i.e., the Palatinate.
Rheingraf
Rhinegrave
Rhein 'riverRhine' +Graf. Ruled territory bordering the Rhine River.
AReichsgraf was anobleman whose title ofcount was conferred or confirmed by theHoly Roman Emperor, and meant "Imperial Count", i.e., a count of the Holy Roman Empire. Since thefeudal era, any count whose territory lay within the Empire and was under theimmediate jurisdiction of the Emperor with a shared vote in theReichstag came to be considered a member of the "upper nobility" (Hochadel) in Germany, along with princes (Fürsten), dukes (Herzöge), electors (Kurfürsten), and the emperor himself.[5] A count who was not aReichsgraf was likely to possess only amesnefief (Afterlehen) — he was subject to an immediate prince of the empire, such as a duke orprince elector.[citation needed]
However, the Holy Roman Emperors also occasionally granted the title ofReichsgraf to subjects and foreigners who did not possess and were not granted immediate territories — or, sometimes, any territory at all.[5] Such titles were purelyhonorific.[citation needed]
In English,Reichsgraf is usually translated simply ascount and is combined with a territorial suffix (e.g.,Count of Holland,Count Reuss) or a surname (Count Fugger,Count von Browne). Even after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, theReichsgrafen retained precedence above other counts in Germany. Those who had beenquasi-sovereign untilGerman mediatisation retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigningdynasties.[citation needed]
AMarkgraf orMargrave was originally a military governor of aCarolingian "mark" (march), a border province. In medieval times the borders of the Holy Roman Empire were especially vulnerable to foreign attack, so the hereditary count of these "marches" of the realm was sometimes granted greater authority than othervassals to ensure security. They bore the title "margrave" until the few who survived as sovereigns assumed higher titles when the Empire was abolished in 1806.
ALandgraf orLandgrave was a nobleman of comital rank in feudal Germany whose jurisdiction stretched over a territory larger than usually held by a count within theHoly Roman Empire. The status of a landgrave was elevated, usually being associated withsuzerains who were subject to the Holy Roman Emperor but exercised sovereign authority within their lands and independence greater than the prerogatives to which a simpleGraf was entitled, but the title itself implied no specific, legal privileges.
Landgraf occasionally continued in use as the subsidiary title of such minor royalty as theElector of Hesse or the Grand Duke ofSaxe-Weimar, who functioned as theLandgrave ofThuringia in the first decade of the 20th century. The jurisdiction of a landgrave was aLandgrafschaft or landgraviate, and the wife of a landgrave was aLandgräfin or landgravine.
Agefürsteter Graf (English:princely count) is aReichsgraf who was recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor as bearing the higher rank or exercising the more extensive authority of anImperial prince (Reichsfürst). While nominally retaining only a comital title, he was accorded princely rank and, usually,arms by the emperor. An example of this would be thePrincely County of Habsburg, the namesake of theHabsburg Dynasty, which at various points in time controlled vast amounts of lands throughout Europe.
ABurggraf, orBurgrave, was a 12th- and 13th-century military and civil judicialgovernor of a castle (comparecastellan,custos,keeper) of the town it dominated and of its immediate surrounding countryside. His jurisdiction was aBurggrafschaft, burgraviate.
Over time the office and domain to which it was attached tended to become hereditary by Imperial grant or retention over generations by members of the same family.
Examples: Burgrave ofNuremberg, Burgrave of (Burggraf zu)Dohna-Schlobitten, Burg grafschaft Colditz.
Initiallyburgrave suggested a similar function and history as other titles rendered in German byVizegraf, in Dutch asBurggraaf or in English asViscount[citation needed] (Latin:Vicecomes); the deputy of a count charged with exercising the count's prerogatives in overseeing one or more of the count's strongholds or fiefs, as the burgrave dwelt usually in a castle or fortified town. Some became hereditary and by the modern era obtained rank just below a count, though above aFreiherr' (baron) who might hold a fief as vassal of the original count.
Unlike the other comital titles, Rhinegrave, Wildgrave (Waldgrave),Raugrave, and Altgrave are not generic titles. Rather, each is linked to a specific countship, whose unique title emerged during the course of its history. These unusually named countships were equivalent in rank to other Counts of the Empire who were ofHochadel status, being entitled to a shared seat and vote in theImperial Diet and possessingImperial immediacy, most of which would bemediatised upon dissolution of the Empire in 1806.[6]
Rhinegrave (German:Rheingraf) was the title of the count of theRheingau, a county located betweenWiesbaden andLorch on the right bank of theRhine. Their castle was known as theRheingrafenstein Castle. After the Rhinegraves inherited the Wildgraviate (see below) and parts of the Countship ofSalm, they called themselvesWild-and-Rhinegraves of Salm.[6][7]
When theNahegau (a countship named after the riverNahe) split into two parts in 1113, the counts of the two parts, belonging to theHouse of Salm, called themselvesWildgraves andRaugraves, respectively. They were named after the geographic properties of their territories: Wildgrave (German:Wildgraf;Latin:comes sylvanus) afterWald ("forest"), and Raugrave (German:Raugraf;Latin:comes hirsutus) after the rough (i.e. mountainous) terrain.[6][8]
The first Raugrave was CountEmich I (died 1172). The dynasty died out in the 18th century.Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine purchased the estates, and after 1667 accorded the wife and children of his arguably bigamous (morganatic) second marriage to BaronessMarie Luise von Degenfeld, the title of "Raugravine/Raugrave".[9]
Altgrave (German:Altgraf, "old count") was a title used by the counts ofLower Salm to distinguish themselves from the Wild- and Rhinegraves of Upper Salm, since Lower Salm was the senior branch of the family.[6]
The corresponding titles in Scandinavia aregreve (m.) andgrevinna (f.) and would commonly be used in the third-person in direct address as a mark of courtesy, as ingrevinnan.
German nobility, although not abolished (unlike theAustrian nobility by the newFirst Austrian Republic in 1919), lost recognition as a legal class in Germany under theWeimar Republic in 1919 under theWeimar Constitution, article 109. Former hereditary noble titles legally simply transformed into dependent parts of thelegal surname (with the former title thus now following the given name, e.g.Otto Graf Lambsdorff).[10] As dependent parts of the surnames (nichtselbständige Namensbestandteile), they are ignored in alphabetical sorting of names, as is anynobiliary particle, such asvon orzu,[11] and might or might not be used by those bearing them. The distinguishing main surname is the name following theGraf, orGräfin, and the nobiliary particle if any. Today, having lost their legal status, these terms are often not translated, unlike before 1919. The titles do, however, retain prestige in some circles of society.
The suffix-graf occurs in various office titles which did not attain nobiliary status but were either held as asinecure by nobleman or courtiers, or functional officials such as theDeichgraf (in a polder management organization).
^Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution constitutes:Adelsbezeichnungen gelten nur als Teil des Namens und dürfen nicht mehr verliehen werden ("Noble names are only recognised as part of the surname and may no longer be granted").
