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Fürst

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Fürst (plural Fürsten) is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as "Prince". The female form is Fürstin (plural Fürstinnen).

Use of the title in German

The title Fürst is used for the heads of princely houses of German origin. Unless he also holds a higher title, such as duke or king, he will be known either by the formula "Fürst von + [geographic origin of the dynasty]", or by the formula "Fürst zu + [name of the ruled territory]". Exceptions, however, exist to these general rules.

The actual rank of the holder of a title is, however, dependent on not only the title as such, but on for instance the degree of sovereignty and on the rank of the lord of the title-holder. But also such matters as the age of the princely dynasty play a role (note the terms Uradel, Briefadel, altfürstliche, neufürstliche; and see German nobility).

The present-day rulers of the principality of Liechtenstein bear the title of Fürst, and the title is also used in German when referring to the ruling princes of Monaco. The hereditary rulers of the one-time principalities of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania were also all referred to in German as Fürsten before they eventually assumed the title of "King" (translated in German as König).

Derived titles

A Reichsfürst, rendered as "Prince of the Empire", is any Prince (in the generic sense of monarchic Head of a feudal 'state' in the widest sense), whose territory is a member of the Holy Roman Empire (not only German-speaking countries, but also border - and extensive neighbouring regions as -all or part of- the Low Countries, Swiss areas outside the Helvetic Republic, Italy and Malta, Hungary, various Slavonic and Baltic countries and even arch-rival France; the precise borders changed significantly over time, but in principle it claimed to be the revived western Roman Empire, equal to its surviving counterpart Byzantium), and hence is entitled to a voting seat (be it in some cases only as members of a collective voting unit, such as the Grafenbank) in its representative but not permanent highest assembly, the Reichstag ('Imperial Diet'; also includes a number of cities, with a vote, but not qualifying as princes since they are fundamentally republican), regardless of his style, mainly the feudal aristocratic ranks -in descending order- King (German König), Grand duke (see below), Duke (Herzog), Margrave (Markgraf), the lower comital titles (not in a stringent order- mainly nominal Count Graf, Landgrave Landgraf, Reichsgraf; however not a few lower offices ending in -graf), then the nominal 'mere' Prince speciiclly styled Fürst, next Viscount (Burggraf), Freiherr (circa Baron, though sometimes that title is used in German too, and may be considered just half a step higher; the lowest rank equivalent to the British peerage as there is no equivalent for Baronet) and in a few cases even below, mere nominal (circa Manorial) 'Lord' (Herr) or Reichsritter ('Imperial Knight', also in a voting bench), also including a good number of Princes of the church (German Kirchenfürst; i.e; ecclesiastics with a secular territory carrying princely rank, such as Prince-(arch)bishops, Prince-abbots, Grand masters of military orders)

  • A Kurfürst was an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, i.e. a prince with a casting vote in the excluvive election of the successor to the imperial throne. Regardless of the titles attached to their own principalities, this quality made them officially the first order of nobility, directly under the Emperor. Kur, earlier spelled Chur, is derived from kur/küren, "to choose".
  • Großfürst is the German equivalent of the Latin Magnus Princeps, which in English is translated as Grand Duke, and is used, for example, for the sons of a Tsar. "Grand Duke" is otherwise translated as Großherzog in German (Magnus Dux in Latin).
  • Fürstprimas - see Prince-Primate

Other uses in German

Fürst is also used more generally in German to refer to a ruleranywhere, such as in Machiavelli's The Prince. Thus a King, Duke, and a Fürst in the narrower sense are all covered by the term. Before the 12th century, counts were also included in this group, according to how the word was used in Germany.

The child of a Fürst (in this general sense) is as a rule referred to as Prinz (Prince) or Prinzessin (Princess), although exceptionally there exist families where all or some members are Fürst/Fürstin (Wrede) or Herzog/Herzogin (Anhalt, Bavaria, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, Saxony and Württemberg)[1].

Fürst is also a German and/or Jewish surname.

Origins and cognates of the title

The word Fürst designates the head (the "first") of a ruling house, or the head of a branch of such a house. The "first" originates from ancient Germanic times, when the "first" was the leader in battle.

Various cognates of the word Fürst exist (see extensive list under Prince), sometimes only used for a princely ruler, while a derivatio of the Latin Princeps (ironically a republican title in Roman law, which never formally (re)introduced monarchic head of state, its imperial styles Imperator, Augustus and Caesar were not officially sbstituted for the collegial chief magistrature of the Consuls) is used for a genealogical prince (e.g. in Dutch 'vorst; but a prince of the blood styled Prins), while in other languages only a Princeps-derivated word is used for both irrespectively, though especially there the German Fürst as such can often be used precisely to make the distiction, mainly in the case of Princes of the Empire.

Sources and References

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