Reichsgraf, Gefürsteter Graf
A Reichsgraf was a nobleman whose title of count was conferred or confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor, and meant "Imperial Count" i.e. a count of the Holy Roman Empire. Since the feudal era any count whose territory lay within the Empire and was under the immediate jurisdiction of the Emperor with a shared vote in the Reichstag came to be considered a member of the "upper nobility" (Hochadel) in Germany, along with princes (Fürsten), dukes (Herzöge), electors, and the emperor himself. A count who was not a Reichsgraf was apt to possess only a "mediate" fief (Afterlehen) — he was subject to an immediate prince of the empire, such as a duke or elector.
However, the Holy Roman Emperors also occasionally granted the title of Reichsgraf to subjects and foreigners who did not possess and were not granted immediate territories — or, sometimes, any territory at all. Such titles were purely honorific. In English, Reichsgraf is usually translated simply as count and is combined with a territorial suffix (e.g. Count of Holland, Count Reuss), or a surname Count Fugger, Count von Browne. But even after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Reichsgrafen retained precedence above other counts in Germany. Those who had been quasi-sovereign until German mediatisation retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigning dynasties.
A gefürsteter Graf (in English, princely count) is a Reichsgraf accorded princely rank, but not title, by the Emperor.
Notable Reichsgrafen included:
- Castell
- Fugger
- Henneberg, a title merged into the imperial dignity
- Leiningen
- Nassau-Weilburg since 26 September 1366 (previously, simply Graf)
- Pappenheim
- Tyrol as a dominion of the Austrian crown
- Stolberg
A complete list of Reichsgrafen as of 1792 can be found in the List of Reichstag participants (1792).
Read more about this topic: Graf