Freiherr - Freiherr Vs. Baron

Freiherr Vs. Baron

The German-language title of Freiherr is called "Baron" in English: the status was practically the same, although the title was derived separately in both languages. Even in German, a Freiherr is often styled and addressed as "Baron" in social circumstances, although this is not the official title.

In northern Germany, there was also an official but foreign rank of "Baron" (not "Freiherr"), mostly used for Baltic barons, created by the Tsar of Russia, but recognized in Germany. In Austria-Hungary and in the Baltic and Nordic countries, "Freiherr" officially came to be considered of legally equal rank to the title of "Baron". The original distinction from other barons was that a Freiherr's landed property was allodial instead of a fief.

Barons who received their title from the Holy Roman Emperor are sometimes known as "Barons of the Holy Roman Empire" (Reichsfreiherren), in order to distinguish them from other barons, although the title as such was simply Freiherr. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, a Reichsfreiherr no longer belonged to the noble hierarchy of that dissolved realm. By a decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, their titles were nonetheless officially recognized. After 1806 the now independent German monarchies, such as Bavaria, Württemberg and Lippe could create their own nobility, including Freiherren (although Prussia, as a kingdom prior to 1806, already exercised the prerogative of ennoblement). Some of the older baronial families began to use Reichsfreiherr in formal contexts to distinguish themselves from the new classes of barons created by monarchs of lesser stature than the former Holy Roman Emperors.