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The German nobility ((ドイツ語:deutscher Adel)) was a class of persons who, until 1919, enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs of various parts of what is now Germany. Governments which recognised or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the German Confederation (1814–1866) and the German Empire (1871–1918). All legal privileges of the nobility were officially abolished in 1919 by the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and nobility is no longer conferred or recognised by the Federal Republic of Germany, former hereditary titles being allowed only as part of the surname. The system of nobility in the former German Empire was similar to the nobility of Austria, as both territories long belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, although Austria, unlike Germany, legally abolished its nobility and banned use of hereditary titles in any form. ==Principles== In Germany, nobility and titles pertaining to it were recognised or bestowed upon individuals by emperors, kings and rulers of lesser rank, and were then inherited by the legitimate, male-line descendants of the ennobled person. In cases where families had been deemed noble as far back as historical records could document (i.e. the ''Uradel''), their nobility (generally pre-dating AD 1400) was usually eventually recognised by a sovereign, confirming their entitlement to whatever legal privileges nobles enjoyed in that sovereign's realm. Noble rank was usually granted to men by letters patent, whereas women were members of the nobility by descent or (sometimes) by marriage to a nobleman. Nobility was inherited equally by all legitimate descendants in the male line. Most German titles of nobility were also inherited by all male-line descendants, although some descended by male primogeniture, especially in 19th and 20th century Prussia (e.g. Otto von Bismarck, although born a baronial ''Junker'' (not a title) and elevated twice, first to the hereditary title of count (Graf), and then to the — in this case only personal — title of prince (Fürst) in 1871, his children and future cadets of his family were counts). Upon promulgation of the Weimar Constitution on 11 August 1919, all Germans were declared equal before the law.〔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").〕 On 18 March 1919 the ''Landtag'' of the Free State of Bavaria enacted the ''Gesetz über die Aufhebung des Adels'' ("Act on the Abolition of the Nobility), which eliminated (not nobility as a class or individual attribute ''per se'', but) all noble privileges, and henceforth forbade Bavarians from accepting foreign ennoblement. Other German states enacted equivalent legislation. The Bavarian constitution (of 1998) also bans the transfer, by way of adoption, of surnames containing formally noble attributes (§ 118, section 3). This caused an exceptional practice regarding surnames borne by former members of the nobility: whereas the gender differentiation in German surnames, widespread until the 18th century – colloquially retained in some German dialects – was abolished in Germany with the introduction of officially registered invariable surnames by the late 19th century, former noble titles transformed into parts of the surname in 1919 continue to appear in female and male forms.〔This practice was confirmed in a judgement by the Reichsgericht on 10 March 1926 (published: ''Reichsgesetzblatt'' (Reich's law gazette), No. 113 (1926), pp. 107seqq., cf. also Sebastian-Johannes von Spoenla-Metternich, ''Namenserwerb, Namensführung und Namensänderung unter Berücksichtigung von Namensbestandteilen'', Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1997, (=simultaneously: Wilhelmshaven, Fachhochsch., Diploma thesis), p. 137. ISBN 3-631-31779-4〕 Altogether abolished were titles borne exclusively by German monarchs, such as emperor/empress, king/queen, grand duke/grand duchess, etc. However former titles shared and inherited by all members of the family were retained but incorporated into the surname. Members of, for instance, the former royal families of Prussia and Bavaria were allowed use of ''Prinz/Prinzessin'';〔In the Free State of Prussia the ''Gesetz über die Aufhebung der Standesvorrechte des Adels und die Auflösung der Hausvermögen'' ("Act on the abolition of the privileges of rank of the nobility and the dissolution of dynastic estates") of 23 June 1920 stipulated this in § 22 (cf. ''Gesetzsammlung für Preußen'' , No. 32 (1920), 22 July 1920, pp. 367–382).〕 or ''Herzog/Herzogin'' in the cases of the former kings/queens of Saxony and Württemberg, the ducal title borne by non-ruling cadets of their dynasties before 1919; or ''Herzog/Herzogin'' for the six deposed grand dukes and their wives: These were the former rulers of Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Any dynast who did not reign prior to 1918 but had held a specific title as heir to one of Germany's former thrones (e.g. ''Erbprinz'' (Crown Prince), along with any heir to a primogeniture title of nobility, and their wives, were permitted to incorporate those titles into elements of the personal surname. However, these titles became extinct upon their deaths, not being heritable.〔Several heirs filed suits against this regulation, but on 11 March 1966 the supreme Federal Administrative Court of Germany ruled, based on Art. 109 of the Weimar Constitution and an earlier decision of the ''Reichsgericht'', that German law on names does not recognise hereditary surname variants for heads of families distinct from the legal surname borne by other family members. (cf., N.N. ''(Primogenitur – Nur eine Silbe )'' ("primogeniture – only a syllable"), in: ''Der Spiegel'', No. 15 (1966), p. 61.〕 With the demise of all persons styled "crown prince" before 1918, the term ''Kronprinz'' no longer exists as a legal surname element. Traditional titles exclusively used for unmarried noblewomen, such as ''Baronesse'', ''Freiin'' and ''Freifräulein'', were also transformed into parts of the legal surname, subject to change at marriage or upon request.〔''Das Bürgerliche Gesetzbuch mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rechtsprechung des Reichsgerichts und des Bundesgerichtshofes; Kommentare'' (=Großkommentare der Praxis ; "Civil Law Code with Special Attention to Jurisdiction of the ''Reichsgericht'' and the ''Bundesgerichtshof'': Commentaries"), edited by members of the ''Bundesgerichthof'', vol. 1: §§ 1–240, compiled by Kurt Herbert Johannsen, 12th, newly revised edition, Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 1982, § 12 (p. 54). ISBN 3-11-008973-4.〕 All other former titles and nobiliary particles are now inherited as part of the surname, and remain protected as private names under the laws. Whereas the title previously prefixed the given and surname (e.g. ''Graf'' ''Kasimir von der Recke''), the legal usage moves the former title to the surname (i.e. ''Kasimir Graf von der Recke''). However, the pre-1919 style sometimes continues in colloquial usage. In Austria, by contrast, not only were the privileges of the nobility abolished, but their titles and nobiliary particles as well.〔Thus, for example, ''Friedrich von Hayek'' became Friedrich Hayek in 1919 when Austria abolished all indicators of nobility in family names.〕 Some states within the Holy Roman Empire had strict laws concerning proper conduct, employment, or marriage of individual nobles. Failure to comply with these laws could result in temporary or permanent ''Adelsverlust'' ("loss of the status of nobility"). Until about the early 19th century, for example, it was commonly forbidden for nobles, theoretically on pain of ''Adelsverlust'', to marry persons "of low birth", i.e. commoners. Moreover, nobles employed in menial labour could, theoretically, lose their noble rank, as could nobles convicted of capital crimes. ''Adelsverlust'' only concerned the individual who was in violation of noble laws of conduct, meaning that their kin, spouse and living children were generally not affected. Various organisations perpetuate the historical legacy of the former nobility, documenting genealogy, chronicling the history of noble families and sometimes declining to acknowledge persons who acquired noble surnames in ways impossible before 1919. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「German nobility」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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