In Germany, all legitimate children of a nobleman became nobles themselves, and most titles passed onto all the children with few exceptions. All the children of sovereigns did not, of course, become kings or electors, but did become princes or princesses, dukes or duchesses, etc.
The German nobility as a legally defined class was abolished on August 11, 1919 with the Weimar constitution, when all Germans were made equal before the law, and any legal rights or privileges due to nobility ceased to exist.
The German nobility continues to play an important role in the various European nations that have not abolished the nobility. Most of the European royal families are descendants of the German nobility.
Most, but not all, surnames of the German nobility were preceded by or at least contained the preposition von, meaning of, and sometimes by zu, which usually is translated as of when used alone or as in, at, or to. The two were occasionally combined into von und zu, meaning of and in approximately. Other forms exist as well: von der (of the), vom (of the), zur (of the, in the, etc) and zum (of the, in the).
Like nobles elsewhere, German nobles were acutely aware and proud of their superior social position, and often had disdain for commoners. As shown in Theodor Fontane's novel Effi Briest, they referred to one another as Geborene, or "ones who have been born", while commoners were called Geworfene, corresponding roughly to "whelped", "calved", or "foaled" in English, and properly referring only to non-human birth.
German noble families almost always bore Coat of arms.
Uradel (ancient Nobility): Nobility that dates back to at least the 1500s, and originates from leadership positions during the Migration Period.
Briefadel (patent nobility): Nobility by patent. The first known document is from September 30 1360 for Wyker Frosch in Mainz.
Hochadel (high nobility): Nobility that was sovereign or had a high degree of sovereignty.
Niederer Adel (lower nobility): Nobility that had a lower degree of sovereignty.
Titles and ranks
Reigning titles
These titles were at one time used by various rulers. The titles Archduke, Duke, Prince, Margrave (and all other -graves), Count, Count Palatine and Lord were also used by non-sovereign members some of these families or by noble non-reigning families.
The heirs to some nobles or sovereigns had special titles of their own prefixed by Erb-, meaning Hereditary. For instance, the heir to a Grand Duke is titled Erbgroßherzog, meaning Hereditary Grand Duke. A sovereign duke's heir might be titled Erbherzog or Erbprinz (Hereditary Duke, Hereditary Prince) and a prince's heir might be titled Erbprinz or Erbgraf (Hereditary Prince, Hereditary Count), also Erbherr.
Heinz Gollwitzer, Die Standesherren. Die politische und gesellschaftliche Stellung der Mediatisierten 1815-1918, Stuttgart 1957 (Göttingen ²1964). (deals with the social and political rank of the former sovereign nobles of the Holy Roman Empire who were mediatized from 1803 to 1815).
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