About this user
In pre-republican Germany all the knightly families of the Holy Roman Empire (sometimes distinguished by the prefix von) eventually were recognised as of baronial rank, although Ritter is the literal translation for "knight", and persons who held that title enjoyed a distinct, but lower, rank in Germany's nobility than barons (Freiherren). Families which had always held this status were called "original nobility" (Uradel), and were heraldically entitled to a seven pointed coronet. Families which had been ennobled at a definite point in time (Briefadel or "nobility by patent") had only five points on their coronet. These families held their fief in vassalage from a suzerain. The holder of an allodial (i.e. suzerain-free) barony was thus called a Free Lord, or Freiherr. Subsequently, sovereigns in Germany conferred the title of Freiherr as a rank in the nobility, without implication of allodial or feudal status.
Today there is no legal privilege associated with hereditary titles in Germany, and in Austria they have been banned (though persisting in social use). In republican Germany, Freiherr and Baron remain heritable only as part of the legal surname, (and may thereby be transmitted by females to their husbands and children, without implication of nobility).
In Luxembourg and Liechtenstein (where German is among the official languages), barons remain members of the recognized nobility, and the sovereigns retain authority to confer the title (morganatic cadets of the princely dynasty received the title Baron of Lanskron, using both "Freiherr" and "Baron" for different members of this branch).
Generally, all legitimate males of a German baronial family inherit the title Freiherr or Baron from birth. As a result, German barons have been more numerous than those of, e.g., France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, where primogeniture prevails.
Age
110
Country
Romania
