Fürst
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- This article is about the princely title. For other uses, see Fürst (disambiguation).
Fürst (plural Fürsten) is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as "Prince"; This translation can be misleading, since a Fürst usually ranks below a Duke. The female form is Fürstin (plural Fürstinnen). The term always means a ruling prince, not the son of a king.
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[edit] 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).
In Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, Prince Tamino refers to his father as Fürst, while he is always called Prinz. Also, the Three Ladies often refer to their leader, the Queen of the Night, as Fürstin.
[edit] Derived titles
A Reichsfürst, rendered as "Prince of the Empire", is any ruling Prince whose territory is a member of the Holy Roman Empire (HRR, HRE) or Latin SRI (Sacrum Romanum Imperium) also (not only German-speaking countries, but also many bordering and extensive neighbouring regions; the precise borders changed significantly over time, but in principle it claimed to be the revived western Roman Empire), and hence is entitled to a voting seat (or in a collective voting unit, such as the Grafenbank) in its representative but not permanent highest assembly, the Reichstag ('Imperial Diet', also including some cities- not princes- and Kirchenfürsten); regardless of his style, mainly the feudal aristocratic ranks, in descending order, of King (German: König), Grand Duke (see below), Duke (Herzog), Margrave (Markgraf), the lower comital titles (Count (Graf), Landgrave (Landgraf), Count of the Empire (Reichsgraf), not lower offices ending in -graf), then the nominal 'mere' Prince (Fürst), next Burgrave (Burggraf), Baron (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 a British peerage as none is equivalent to Baronet) and even lower nominal (circa Manorial) 'Lord' (Herr) or Reichsritter ('Imperial Knight', also in a voting bench); finally, a good number of Princes of the church (German Kirchenfürst, see below), often at par with secular counterparts.
- Kirchenfürst is any Prince of the Church, i.e. ecclesiastics with a secular territory carrying princely rank, such as Prince-abbots (rather styled Reichsabt 'imperial abbot'), Grand Masters of military orders), and especially Fürst(erz)bischof - Prince-Bishop, a diocesan (Arch)bishop who also holds a temporal principality
- Landesfürst', 'prince of the land, is the term for the princely Head of state (not just a titular prince) of a Land, i.e. a country (political geographical entity) with (feudal) statehood, whether sovereign or not; in a personal union, the Monarch has this capacity in each of the states, under a different title, and indeed often in chief of a different constitutional tradition, whether coordinated over time or not; thus the Habsburg Emperor of Austria had a different style as such in each Kronland ('crown land', i.e. feudal state, normally under one provincial government), the sumof which is then to be part of the full imperial style
- A Kurfürst was a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, i.e. a Prince seating in the highest bench of the Reichstag, the only ones with a casting vote in the exclusive 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', 'Grand Prince, is the German equivalent of the Latin Magnus Princeps, in English often translated as Grand Duke, and is used for the sons of a Russian Emperor. "Grand Duke" is otherwise translated as Großherzog in German (Magnus Dux in Latin).
- Fürstprimas - see Prince-Primate
[edit] Other uses in German
Fürst is also used more generally in German to refer to a ruler anywhere, 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, Hungarian and/or Jewish (Ashkenazy) surname.
[edit] 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 in other European languages (see extensive list under Prince), sometimes only used for a princely ruler. A derivative of the Latin Princeps (ironically, a Republican title in Roman law, which never formally recognized a monarchic style for the executive head of state but nominally maintained the Consuls as collegial Chief magistrates) is used for a genealogical prince in some languages (e.g., Dutch, where a ruler is usually called Vorst, but a prince of the blood is always styled Prins), while in other languages only a Princeps-derived word is used for both irrespectively (e.g., English uses prince for both). In any case the original (German or other) term may also be used.
[edit] Sources and references
- German Empire (in German- use the English and French translated versions only with due caution)
- Danubian Monarchy Austria-Hungary (in German- use the English and French translated versions only with due caution)
- Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)
- WorldStatesmen - here Germany (with specifics on the HREmpire); see also other present countries
- Etymology Online
