Hochgeboren

Hochgeboren(German:[ˈhoːχɡəˌboːɐ̯n̩],lit."high-born";Latin:illustrissimus)^[1]is a form of address for the titled members of theGermanandAustrian nobility,ranking just below thesovereign and mediatiseddynasties.

The actual address is"Euer" Hochgeboren.^[2]It is the proper form of address forcounts(Grafen)^[3]that are neither heirs tomediatised familiesof theHoly Roman Empire(counts of the Holy Roman EmpireorReichsgrafen) nor families who have been bequeathed higher predicate by theEmperor.^[4]Bycourtesy,barons(Freiherr) belonging to old houses of theUradelare also addressed in the same way.

The correct term forimmediate counts(Reichsgrafen) isErlaucht( "Illustrious Highness" ),^[5]while the proper form of address forprinces(Fürsten) anddukes(Herzöge) isDurchlaucht( "Serene Highness" ).

In the Netherlands,Hooggeboren( "High-born" ) is used to addressDukes,Margraves,CountsorViscounts.In Belgium,Hooggeborenis used in Dutch andMessire( "Sir" ) in French.

Lower form of address

The title should not be confused with(Euer)Hochwohlgeboren,which ranks lower, and is the correct form of address for Germanbarons(Freiherren) andknights(Ritter); or(Euer)Wohlgeboren,which ranks lower thanHochwohlgeboren,and is the address for aVogt( "reeve" ) orBüttel(bailiff).

References

^"Enthält: Ansichten des Landes, topographische Fragmente, Volk..., Volume 1".1819.
^"addressed strictly according to their social status from Euer Hochgeboren (literally 'high-born') for scions of high aristocracy, down to Euer Wohlgeboren (well-born) for mere bourgeois", J. Jahoda,A History of Social Psychology: From the Eighteenth-Century Enlightenment to the Second World War,Cambridge Press, 2007
^"A German count must be addressed as 'High-born' (Hochgeboren), or even, under some circumstances (imperial immediacy), as Erlaucht; a Baron as 'High-well-born' (Hochwohlgeboren); and that the common herd exact Wohlgeboren."J.H AgnewEclectic magazin: foreign literature(vol.22), Leavitt, Throw & Co, 1875
^"whilst otherGrafen(those who are not immediate or were permitted higher predicate) or thoseFürstenjust alluded to, have the predicateHochgeboren(high born) "Wolfgang Menzel,History of German literature,DA Talboys (Oxford), 1840
^"Scarcely inferior in dignity to the Austro-Hungarian princes or Fürst are the members of those Comital Houses or Grafen the chiefs of which, by a decision of the Austrian Emperor, have right to the title of" Most Illustrious Count "(Erlaucht)." Constantin von Wurzbach,Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich,Smolfer Theil, Wien, 1864

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[Enthält-1] "Enthält: Ansichten des Landes, topographische Fragmente, Volk..., Volume 1".1819.

[2] "addressed strictly according to their social status from Euer Hochgeboren (literally 'high-born') for scions of high aristocracy, down to Euer Wohlgeboren (well-born) for mere bourgeois", J. Jahoda,A History of Social Psychology: From the Eighteenth-Century Enlightenment to the Second World War,Cambridge Press, 2007

[3] "A German count must be addressed as 'High-born' (Hochgeboren), or even, under some circumstances (imperial immediacy), as Erlaucht; a Baron as 'High-well-born' (Hochwohlgeboren); and that the common herd exact Wohlgeboren."J.H AgnewEclectic magazin: foreign literature(vol.22), Leavitt, Throw & Co, 1875

[4] "whilst otherGrafen(those who are not immediate or were permitted higher predicate) or thoseFürstenjust alluded to, have the predicateHochgeboren(high born) "Wolfgang Menzel,History of German literature,DA Talboys (Oxford), 1840

[5] "Scarcely inferior in dignity to the Austro-Hungarian princes or Fürst are the members of those Comital Houses or Grafen the chiefs of which, by a decision of the Austrian Emperor, have right to the title of" Most Illustrious Count "(Erlaucht)." Constantin von Wurzbach,Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich,Smolfer Theil, Wien, 1864

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