Exalted
His Highness is the formal salutation for the heads of mediated reichsgräflicher sexes.
etymology
The word is a Middle High German participle to enlighten and as such loan translation for Latin illustris ; accordingly serene (igst) for perillustris . The French equivalent is Altesse illustrissime , the English illustrious highness .
Salutation
General
Since the Middle Ages , sovereign princes , especially monarchs , have been referred to as "illustrious" (adjectival) in letters and documents. When the title system was also more and more rationalized at the beginning of the modern era , the form “ Serene Highness ”, also in superlative form (“serene”), came into vogue, while “illustrious” from the official language used against monarchs, dukes and princes successively disappeared. Unlike “Your Highness”, the word “exalted” is stressed on the second syllable.
Germany
In the German-speaking area, "Erlaucht" has been the predicate for counts from the (ruling) high nobility since early modern times , while those from the lower nobility were addressed as " high born ". In the German Confederation , the heads of the former ruling, until 1806 mediatized count houses ( noblemen ) - the so-called "ruling counts" - were granted the title "illustrious" by federal decree of 1829. Unofficially, however, the later-born members of these families were also addressed in this way.
High nobility with the predicate exalted
Class gentlemen according to the following sources
"BB": State files for history and public law of the German Confederation, Second Part, 2nd edition Frankfurt am Main 1833, LXXX´, p. 347, Federal decision on the courtesy for the mediatized counts, of February 13, 1829, III. Session, § 20, published by the VII. Session § 2 on March 12, 1829. Digitized.
"1869": NN, directory (sic) of the German landlords, o. O. 1869. Digitized
"HK 1917": Gothaischer Genealogischer Hof-Kalender ... 1917, Gotha (Perthes), second section
"KB 1841": Critical yearbooks for German jurisprudence, 5th year, 9th volume, Leipzig 1841, p. 1070 with criticism of the legal decisions of the federal decrees of August 18, 1825 and of February 13, 1829 on "which mediatized or noble families are to be counted among the high nobility ”. They “name such imperial count families who were not undisputedly counted among the high nobility at the time of the German Empire, such as the imperial counts of Pappenheim. von Pückler and especially von Schlitz called von Görtz, but not that of Bentinck, although the latter at the time of the German Empire, as still now, had more extensive rights than those ". Digitized.
- Count von Bentinck - not in BB (see source KB 1841); but probably in 1869, although allegedly 1854 to Oldenburg, and in HK 1917
- Counts of Bernau-Gutburg - in none of the first three sources
- Counts of Castell-Castell - in the first three sources
- Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen - not in BB, but in 1869 and HK1917
- Counts of Erbach-Erbach: in the first three sources
- Count of Erbach-Fürstenau: only in 1869 and HK 1917
- Count of Erbach-Schönberg :: only in 1869 and HK 1917
- Count of Fugger-Babenhausen: in 1869 with the princes
- Count of Fugger-Glött: in the first three sources
- Counts of Fugger-Kirchberg-Weissenhorn; in the first three sources
- Counts of Fugger-Kirchberg-Hohenegg: only in 1869
- Counts of Fugger-Nordendorf: only at BB
- Count of Fugger-Kirchheim; only at BB
- Count of Giech: in the first three sources
- Count von Graevenitz in none of the first three sources, imperial estate only existed from 1728 to 1732 because of Welzheim, which Eberhard Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg, moved in as a settled fief in the last year and transformed it into a chamber superior office (so until 1807)
- Count of Harrach - in the first three sources
- Count von Hartig - in none of the three sources
- Count of Isenburg-Büdingen: in 1869 with the princes (Bruno)
- Count of Isenburg-Büdingen: in 1869 with the princes (Ferdinand)
- Count of Isenburg-Birstein: in 1869 with the princes
- Counts of Isenburg-Büdingen - in the first three sources
- Count of Isenburg-Meerholz; only at BB
- Count of Isenburg-Philippseich; in the first three sources
- Counts of Isenburg-Wächtersbach: only BB
- Count of Khevenhüller - not in BB, in 1869 in the "Princes" department
- Counts of Königsegg-Aulendorf - as well as in HK 1917
- Counts of Kuefstein - in the first three sources
- Counts of Leiningen-Neudenau: 1869 and HK 1917
- Counts of Leiningen-Billigheim: only 1869
- Counts of Leiningen-Amorbach: 1869 and HK 1917
- Counts of Limburg-Stirum - not in the above sources
- Counts of Lobkowicz: 1869 and HK 1917
- Counts of Neipperg - in the first three sources
- Counts of Ortenburg - in the first three sources
- Counts of Orsini and Rosenberg see Rosenberg
- Count of Pappenheim - in all of the above sources
- Counts of Platen zu Hallermund - in the first three sources
- Counts of Pückler-Limpurg - in the first three sources
- Counts of Plettenberg-Mietingen - only in BB
- Count of Quadt-Wykradt-Isny: in the first three sources
- Count von Rechberg-Rothenlöwen - in the first three sources
- Count von Reuter - in none of the sources
- Count von Rosenberg (Orsini-Rosenberg) - not in BB, but in 1869 in the Fürsten department and HK 1917
- Counts of Schaesberg-Thannheim - in the first three sources
- Count von Schlitz called Goertz - in the first three sources, although as a member of the Imperial Knighthood of Franconia no imperial class and 1806 to Hesse
- Counts of Schönborn-Buchheim - in the first three sources
- Counts of Schönborn-Wiesentheid - in the first three sources
- Counts of Schönburg (unspecified) - BB
- Count of Schönburg-Hartenstein - 1869 among the princes
- Counts of Schönburg-Waldenburg - 1869 under the princes
- Counts of Schönburg-Glauchau - 1869 and HK 1917
- Counts of Schönburg-Wechselburg - 1869 and HK 1917
- Count of Solms-Laubach: in the first three sources
- Count of Solms-Rödelheim: in the first three sources
- Count of Solms-Wildenfels; in the first three sources
- Count of Solms-Braunfels: in 1869 with the princes
- Count of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich; in 1869 with the princes
- Count of Stadion-Thannhausen: in the first three sources
- Count of Stadion-Warthausen: in the first three sources
- Counts of Sternberg-Manderscheid: only with BB
- Count of Stolberg-Stolberg - in the first three sources
- Count of Stolberg-Gedern - BB
- Count of Stolberg-Ortenberg - BB
- Count of Stolberg-Rossla - in the first three sources
- Counts of Stolberg-Wernigerode - in the first three sources
- Counts of Toerring-Guttenzell: not in 1869, but in HK 1917
- Count of Ulrichstein: in the first three sources
- Count Waldbott von Bassenheim: in the first three sources
- Count Waldeck-Limpurg to HK 1917 under Bentinck
- Counts of Waldeck-Pyrmont: only in BB and 1869
- Count von Wurmbrand-Stuppach: in the first three sources
- Count of Ysenburg see Isenburg
Ruling princes in the German Empire
In the German Empire , the Grafregent von Lippe-Detmold , Count Ernst zur Lippe-Biesterfeld , after the controversial assumption of reign in 1897, also claimed the title of "illustrious" for himself and his family. In addition, all descendants of the ducal dynasties of Waldeck-Pyrmont (†), Waldburg , Khevenhüller, Colloredo, Quadt, Starhemberg, Castell, Erbach, Fugger, Salm, Solms, Stolberg, Schönburg, Trauttmansdorff were addressed as "prince counts" with exaltation.
Usage today
After the loss of professional status and the conversion of former titles of nobility into name components by the Weimar Imperial Constitution of 1919, forms of address such as “Sublime” or “Serene Highness” are rarely used orally, but the written addressing of letters or invitation cards to SE (His Sublime) or IE (Your Sublime ) or IIEE (Your Sublime ) have remained a common form of courtesy in the social intercourse of noble families.
See also
literature
- Heinz Gollwitzer : The gentlemen. 2nd edition, Göttingen 1964.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Helmut Reichold, Bismarcks Zaunkönige , Paderborn 1977, p. 239.