Fürst
Fürst (plural
Fürsten) is a
German title of
nobility, usually translated into
English as "
Prince"; however this translation can be misleading, since a
Fürst usually ranks
below a Duke. The female form is
Fürstin (plural
Fürstinnen).
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).
A
Reichsfürst, rendered as "Prince of the Empire", is any ruling Prince whose territory is a member of the
Holy Roman Empire (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, 'Great 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-PrimateFürst 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.
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.
*
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
